| Summary: | This book is about the psychology of the cross-examination, considered within the totality of testifying in court; how to think on the stand, which patterns of words to use and not use, what behaviors work, and how to understand interchanges between attorney and witness. This book is equally about fearfulness on the stand and mastering that fear. This book focuses on approaches to cross-examination testimony in the light of new conceptual and empirical understandings. By drawing on my experiences and those of many other witnesses in court, it addresses how to broaden your repertoire of cross-examination testimony as well as how to approach and master testifying in depositions and trials. What this book does, in particular, is look at what attorneys seek to do in cross-examinations in depth and in breadth, so that both novice and advanced expert witnesses have an appreciation for what is unfolding and for specific replies. Empirical literature on assessment of expert testimony has begun to emerge. This book includes advice and applications from these research foundations. This book is divided into three sections. The first section is the introduction to testimony and cross-examination issues, consisting of this chapter and the following chapter titled "Ten Things You May Not Know About Testifying." The second section is titled "Testimony: Narrative and Style" and discusses testimony and responding to the cross. It has three subsections: Telling a Clear and Compelling Story, Obstacles and Pitfalls, and Cross-Examination Attacks and Bullying. The narrative describes the forms and patterns in which testimony and replying to cross unfold not only to tell a story but also how to think, talk, and present the story or response in a way that promotes constructive processing of the content by the listening audience. The third section is titled "Expertise and Bases for Testimony," and it too has three subsections. The first subsection is Professional Dilemmas and Boundaries and describes the common quandaries of experts and their resolutions. The second subsection is Attorney Extrapolations and Demands, a particular genre of cross-examinations. The final subsection is "Clarity and Focus", which addresses particular applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).
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