Which of us today couldn’t voice this complaint: “I’m so bogged down by the details of my job I don’t have any time to THINK about what I’m doing!” Call it The Professional’s Lament.

Or worse: not seeing the forest for the trees. A minor problem in some professions, perhaps. For lawyers, however, this situation can lead to one of the most serious of errors. It’s not a problem that most lawyers think about often, however. Yet in terms of courtroom performance, it’s something that practically guarantees problems, and maybe even a loss.

What is this nightmare-in-waiting? It’s forgetting that jurors are the reason you and your client are in court. The solution? It’s a basic one, really: You must learn to see yourself through the jury’s eyes in everything you do and say in a courtroom.

If you’re thinking that’s easier said than done, perhaps. Though like any change in behavior, it contains a simple yet elegant truth: Once you adjust your attitude, it’ll seem as effortless as breathing. Here’s a baker’s dozen of easy-to-remember principles to get you started identifying with the jury:

• Your performance starts early and ends late. Actors know that audience see everything that occurs on stage—they don’t just watch the person speaking, or for that matter, the person being spoken to. You as lawyer should be performing in the lobby, the cafeteria, and anywhere else the jurors can see you. In the courtroom, of course, you will do well to believe that some juror is watching you at all times. Trials are slow-moving affairs. You, your client and your trail team are the best show in town.
• Establish and maintain a communication bond with jurors. Do you ignore the venire during the jury selection process? Why? It’s an excellent time to show future jurors that you’re a human being, not the shark they’re expecting. A smile or a nod when you’re introduced might do wonders for you later on. And once the main event begins, don’t forget to look at jurors at all phases of the trial. You’ll be reminding them that all of this is for their benefit. Who else?
• Treat your co-counsel and legal assistants with respect. Jurors see everything, remember? And the last thing they’ll enjoy is the big-time lead attorney treating subordinates like dirt. Think “equals” instead. That goes for the court reporter, too. “Strike that, please” is the way to say it.
• Don’t let a scowl be your umbrella. Imagine this scenario: Your opponent is smiling and upbeat, chatting pleasantly with his client while the judge confers with her clerk at the start of the day. You, on the other hand, have been wearing a fright mask since you walked in the door, screaming to the world how you feel about this dubious action that’s been dumped in your lap like a plate of cold spaghetti. Who do you think jurors will instinctively feel has the stronger case?
• Dress for comfort and humility. You’ve heard the advice about two-thousand-dollar suits and dripping jewelry. Along with all that about modesty, you should try to dress for comfort. Don’t show up in an outfit that you discover, during open argument, makes you move like Frankenstein’s monster. Choose clothes that know and like you. You’ll look good to the jury AND be able to breathe!
• Talk to jurors, telling them your story. Successful presenters know a simple fact: audiences like to feel that they’re having a conversation with the speaker. Think in terms of dialogue not monologue, in which nonverbal feedback is the jury’s response. Imagine you’re telling your client’s story with a discerning yet sympathetic friend. That’ll bring out the best in both you and your story.
• Beware small triumphs. Jurors are captive audiences, and not by choice. They don’t like anything that keeps them away from their lives without a very good reason. That includes, in their minds, most objections. Use them sparingly for the jury’s sake. And when you score, treat your “triumph” as a victory for the law, not your client. And certainly not you.
• Listen to witnesses. What lawyer doesn’t listen to the witness they’re questioning? Plenty. Actors use the phrase “a phoned-in performance” to describe a performer on automatic pilot who isn’t really present when the play is performed. If that describes you, hang up immediately and rejoin everyone else in the courtroom. You never know, for instance, what a witness is going to come out with when you expected something wildly different.
• Show confidence at all times. You may prefer to be anywhere else on earth (or in deep space) than at this trial, with this client. But the jury must never know it. When you show confidence in everything you say and do, you are sending jurors two messages: 1) the facts are on your side, and 2) you are expecting victory. Whatever else your case is about, giving the jury these signals can’t hurt, right?
• Don’t say the same thing twelve times. Or twenty. With too many witnesses, either. Jurors want to go home, period. Don’t you be the one keeping them here.
• Nice not nasty wins the prize. Fortunately or unfortunately for your client, jurors are not lawyers. Fortunately for you . . . jurors are still not lawyers! This means they often look beyond the law to the human elements of a trial. And they will sometimes judge your client based on how they feel about you, the lawyer. Help them. Try not to be ugly with witnesses, no matter how hostile they may be. Regardless of the outcome of the case, your mother will be proud.
• Shorten your opening and closing. Few are the jurors who will appreciate your oratorical prowess. Cutting your statement and argument in half will make them twice as good. Remember Lincoln’s famous two-hour speech at Gettysburg? I didn’t think so.
• Show Mr.-or-Ms.-Big-Shot the door. Though many jurors will never have seen the inside of a courtroom before, they’ll have heard all the stories about big-shot attorneys. Here’s your chance to prove them wrong. Everything you do in court is part of your “courtroom performance.” As in acting, the lawyer who serves truth in court rather than him- or herself, is the one who deserves the garland. If not in this case, then in the next; and if not in the next, then in your career.