ABSTRACT
The Art and Science of Expert Witness Testimony shares the fruits of a multiyear research project with in-depth interviews of attorneys, judges, and seasoned forensic experts from multiple disciplines including neurology, psychiatry, orthopedics, neuropsychology, economics, history, and psychology. The book weaves together practical insights and advice from the multiple courtroom stakeholders with applied neuroscience, linguistics, and sociology literature, highlighting and offering bridges for the areas where the communication needs and expectations of the courtroom collide with expert witness’ communication habits developed over years of academic and professional training. In this chapter, the academic tradition of dry, inaccessible expert presentations during direct testimony is challenged by following Judge John Fader's advice to “set the truth on fire” through vivid, engaging language and visuals on the stand that allow expert witnesses to create moments of genuine, productive communication with jurors and other triers of fact.
