The Audience Gap

• Author: Daniel Small
• Profession: Is a partner in the Boston and Miami of ces of Holland & Knight LLP
• Pages: 15-17

Dening the Audience Gap

The Witness: “Why doesn’t he understand?”

The Lawyer: “Because he’s not listening!”

Understanding the Audience Gap

“Come have a seat at the table!”

“Come talk with us!”

We are social animals, and we treasure invitations to join others.

• Your spouse or relative invites you for a meal;

• Your friend invites you for a drink;

• Your coworker invites you for a meeting.

From a very young age, we learn—and enjoy—being social. We respond

to and interact with those at the table. Maybe they’ll agree with us and

maybe they won’t, but we know they will listen. We know who we are

talking to—our audience is clear and is right there in front of us. Our mis-

sion is to communicate with them, to understand them, and to help them

understand us.

But what if the table we are invited to is the witness table—a deposition,

a hearing, or whatever? The most common and fundamental mistake many

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Chapter 5

The Audience Gap

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