What can a winning athlete's mindset teach you about becoming a better trial attorney?

In this episode, Kristi draws inspiration from Tom Brady and his approach to preparation, practice, humility, and personal responsibility; learning how to stop focusing on what he couldn't control and start maximizing the opportunities he did have.

Then, in this week's Communication Tip, Kristi tackles melody—specifically monotone delivery and repetitive vocal patterns. Subtle melodic variation can add clarity, meaning, and engagement to a presentation, while repetitive ascending or descending patterns can fatigue listeners over time.

LISTEN HERE...

Key Takeaway

Make the most of the opportunity you're in—even when it's not the opportunity you wanted.

Whether you're sitting second chair, watching someone else lead, or simply developing your courtroom communication skills, there is always something to observe, practice, and learn. As Tom Brady puts it: Work hard. Have humility. Have self-awareness. Know you can do better.

Favorite Moment

"Do you see those moments as just another way you're getting shafted in the deal? Or do you lean into the learning, and the curiosity?"

Links & Resources

Tom Brady winning mentality

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DSPzVvbUC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

FREE VOCAL SNAPSHOT SESSION: https://calendly.com/fostervoicestudio/30-minute-assessment-clone

Want More?

👉 Get weekly tips and techniques delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to "The Foster Files" Newsletter: https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/contact

👉 Follow me online for behind-the-scenes voice tips, mindset shifts, and strategies to help you lead with your voice in and out of court:

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/fostervoicestudio
• FB: https://www.facebook.com/fostervoicestudio
• LI: https://www.linkedin/in/fosterthought
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fostervoicestudio/

Want to know whether your voice is helping your jurors listen, learn, and stay engaged?

Kristi offers a free Vocal Snapshot Session where she'll assess your vocal delivery, tell you what she's hearing, and help you identify opportunities for greater vocal variety and impact.

And if you know a trial attorney who could use this reminder about preparation, humility, or vocal variety, share this episode with them.

TRANSCRIPT:

Hellooooo!! Hello Foster Fam! Welcome back to the Foster Your Voice Podcast. I'm, of course, your host, Kristi Foster.

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you'll know that I'm in my Sporty Spice era. I did not grow up playing ANY sports. We were a piano lessons and youth group family. So, to find myself, I mean, I'll say it, completely obsessed with following sports NOW, in my 50's...it's kind of crazy.

I marvel, really, at all the life lessons that I'm learning NOW that I missed out on learning because I didn't play a team sport growing up. There IS some cross-over of lessons that are also found in putting together theater productions, but I have just really, I don't know...had my eyes opened to the mental toughness and resiliency that athletes have developed.

I see it in cycling, which I've followed for 20+ years. And in the last couple of years I see it in basketball and hockey and...my favorite...NFL football.

It's football season baby!! We're back! Technically, it's pre-season, but we'll be into the full season in a couple of weeks. I'm ready! Okay, so I have to know...who are your teams? Do you have a loyalty to any one, or maybe a couple? I'm, of course, a Seahawks fan. I grew up in the Seattle area so they've been my team and the primary team I'll be cheering on...hopefully...to a super bowl repeat! Email me or send me a DM to let me know who you're rooting for this season.

With the regular season fast approaching, I wanted to share some of the insights from, arguably, one of the greatest quarterbacks of our this generation, Tom Brady. Love him or hate him, he has a legacy of success fueled by a winning mentality that I know I can learn from, and I think has benefit for you too.

A couple of months ago he was on the New Heights podcast, hosted by Jason & Travis Kelce. I've linked the excerpt in the show notes for you to check out.

Now, even though I'm a massive NFL fan and watch 5 games a week during the season, I dont' really have a good mind for all the stats and all the rivalries and who's in what conference, etc. I just love watching and learning from the athlete mindset and the winning mentality. So, i didn't know that during Tom's college career, he spent his first 3 years at Michigan NOT playing.

In the podcast episode he talks about how easy it is for a blamers mindset to creep in and how he always had an excuse — "coach doesn't want me in there" "they're not giving me the opportunity." Finally, it was a sports psychologist who kinda laid into him and said, "how about you start worrying about what YOU can control? stop talking about the coaches or the other players and start taking advantage of the opportunities you DO get. Do the best with what you're given. treat practice like it's the game."

And so that's what Tom did, and as his attitude and work ethic improved, so did his skill.

And he learned to watch other great leaders. He loved the preparation, loved the practice, loved the leadership of it. And he was "open to learning, curious about everything."

I saw this similar situation play out in youth theater. Students who felt like they weren't given lead roles when they thought they deserved them. Many times over i had the hard conversation with students to remind them that by NOT being the lead (this time), they had a unique opportunity that leads never had. If they were serious about their craft and wanting to grow as young performers, they would watch. They'd watch the directors and listen to what they were trying to draw out of the stage actors in a scene. They'd be ready to take notes and hear the questions that the strong lead actors were asking to get to character motivation, and watch how they were getting in character in the wings. They'd use the opportunities with the ensemble in the green room to practice leadership and grow in those skills—helping the younger students navigate the experience and rise up to higher levels of responsibility, growing in servant leadership. Leading actors didn't get to do any of those things. They could only focus on themselves and their immediate stage partners.

Can you see how Tom's winning mentality can also translate to your experience as a trial attorney?

Maybe you're in a firm where you always are 2nd chair for cases. Maybe you've been waiting...a long time...for your chance to lead the case instead of support the case. Have you made the most of your time with those responsibilities and opportunities? Maybe it's even that you look to people outside your firm, some big shot attorneys and you wonder why they get all the good cases. How is it that they get to waltz into the late stages of prep and then run the show and get 8-9 figure verdicts one right after another? What about the people behind those verdicts and all the work they, YOU, have done? Do you see those moments as just another way you're getting shafted in the deal? Or do you lean into the learning, and the curiosity? Do you, like Tom Brady, love the preparation, love the practice, love the leadership of it? Do you watch closely to how the jury responds to lead counsel, and observe the relationships and interactions with opposing counsel? Do you draw lessons for yourself by being just a little bit on the outside looking in; glean as much as you can from the perspective that only you have?

I love how Brady kinda wraps up the interview segment with a bit of a mantra. I don't think he meant it to serve as that, but i thought it was a good quote. He said, "Work hard. Have humility. Have self-awareness. Know you can do better."

THAT'S a winning mentality.

—BREAK—

I realize that I maybe have a more refined ear than many. I don't mean to be persnickety, and honestly, people don't KNOW I'm being persnickety most of the time. But, I'm just really attuned to noticing HOW people speak AND...how their speaking affects me—my ability to learn from them, yes, but also just how their speaking affects my mood. Am I sensitive and reactive? Maybe. But you have to know that I'm not the only one who is affected by how people speak. I maybe just am able to articulate WHY I'm bothered better than most.

So, there are two things (maybe there are more than 2, but i'm focusing today on two)...there are two things that affect me as a listener. And they both have to do with MELODY.

This first one you'll probably be quick to say, "oh yeah, that's me." It's monotone speaking. Now, here's a disclaimer...you're not REALLY monotone. Actually being monotone is a physiological and/or a neurological condition, called dysprosody. Dysprosody is a speech disorder that directly impacts the pitch, intonation, and rhythm of speech, which then makes the voice sound mechanical or flat.

That's probably not you. YOU might be someone who is limited only because of habits. You're not physically incapable; you just don't have varied melody as your default. And I get it. You're talking about very serious and important things so you use your serious and very important voice. But you’re NOT aware of it, nor are you aware of how a prolonged flat voice fatigues your audience (jurors in your case) and makes them tune out JUST when you need them the most engaged.

You need to increase your melody. Now, I”m not asking you to be sing-songy. No one wants you channeling your inner Disney princess in opening statements. But you’ll be amazed at how subtle melodic shifts can elevate your presentation, infuse more clarity and meaning into your key points, and keep your jury attentive.

The second thing that has a profound affect on my ability to listen and really hear a presenter is vocal patterns. Even for people that I WANT to be listening to, if they lock into certain vocal patterns where there melody gets stuck…? I really struggle to stay with them for the duration.

There are two social media folks that I follow. Well…I follow more than that, but I have two that I want to tell you about. Haha! There’s a food vlogger who has creative healthy recipes that look appealing to me but he has a repeated vocal patterns using only descending melody. “This is my high protein, low carb salad that takes less than 5 minutes to make. First you’re going to prep all the veggies. I like to include cucumber, tomato, red onion, and apple for some sweetness.” Can you hear how everything goes down? Everything landing on the same pitch. I tell ya, it’s a good thing he only does 90 sec or less short form videos cause I couldn’t stand to listen to any more.

On the flip side, I follow a vanlife influencer who only speaks in ascending melodies. “I live in a van and haven’t had a permanent home for almost for years. And recently I decided I wanted a home base to plan my travels out of. These are the things that I’m most excited about, having a home base and not being on the road full time.” Hear how every phrase goes up? Again, landing on the same pitch?

These are people that I WANT to follow. I WANT to consume their content. I purposefully seek them out online, even though they fatigue my ability to listen to them for any longer than the post allows. So...At least it’s short-form content.

YOU are not creating short-form content. You are creating VERY long form content. And in our current, modern way of consuming information and attention span deficits, your repetitive vocal melodies place additional demands on attention and processing.

You’ve got to first, create more shape to your melody, but then you also need to listen for repetitive patterns that might be sabotaging you. And, of course it’s hard to hear all that for yourself. It’s hard to be self-aware while you’re in presentation mode. You need feedback and you need to practice in a way that builds new muscle memory and new neural pathways for new habit formation that is more animated and engaging.

I’m happy to help you. Start with a free vocal snapshot session to determine if limited melody and/or overly repetitive melodic patterns are a problem for you. I’ll tell you the truth…in a loving way and I’ll make it fun. Haha! If you want to grap a free session spot, I’ve put the sign up link in the show notes.

Don’t go into your next trial wondering if you’re accidentally turning off your jurors ability to listen and learn from you. Let’s fix it quick. Get on my calendar, and until next time…keep fostering your voice.