UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE.

Yes, each participant is expected to have 10-minutes of an opening statement prepared and ready to be presented to the group. You’ll be able to apply new tools to your performance to see instant improvement. Whether you write out every word of your opening, just write the major bullet points, or have a consultant or colleague write it- you’ll learn how to own it in the courtroom.

Actually, that’s not the reality at all.  Audiences can easily tell when an actor is not authentic. The job of an actor is to connect as truthfully as possible to their roles and deliver the most honest performance.  We’re introducing these tools to lawyers so they can ensure the same experience with their audience.

This workshop is part of your trial prep, so if you have a new case you’re working on, then it’s a great time to revisit this course. Although you may not be surprised by the material covered, you’ll be surprised at how much more you’re able to master these techniques by revisiting them over and over again. Many of our participants return to class 3-4 times per year.

Yes!  Just like depositions or trials via Zoom have become an effective way to conduct your practice, so has learning trial skills.  We’ve perfected the experience so the virtual environment melts away. The win- all the benefits of a trial skills class without sitting in traffic. Plus, you can meet attorneys from all over the country!

Check out these quotes from participants about the zoom environment:

I like seeing other attorneys from other areas work and learning from their opening and their feedback to my opening–new faces and voices instead of local colleagues.- Fred B., Kansas City, MO

Since the onset of Covid, I have been amazed at how effective Zoom workshops are. In this instance, I learned a great deal by observing and the group critiquing the presentations of the other lawyers’ opening statements.- Mike W., Atlanta, GA

People complain about Zoom, but I think it’s great! It’s the platform where busy lawyers can fit workshops and feedback sessions into their schedules.- Susie I., Berkeley, CA

Yeah, as much as I enjoy the in-person stuff, I can’t travel as much anymore and need to warm up to Zoom as a ‘reasonable accommodation.’ And frankly, the HOI teaching, coaching, and mentoring is very engaging via Zoom.- Kevin K., Northampton, MA

Many of our most successful clients have taken other presentation skills courses before and that’s OK. You can take what works best for you from every class. The difference- we’re introducing skills that are rooted in the techniques that modern actors use. It will give you an engaging and honest delivery of your opening statement that you won’t get anywhere else, because we’re career actors.

“I thought the exercises getting us to think about the feelings we want to evoke and the ways to get there were most illuminating, because that kind of instruction isn’t available anywhere else.”- Susie I., Berkeley, CA

Yes! We’ve worked with a number of attorneys who have an opening statement prepared by their consultant. Very few trial consultants have the background to help you deliver someone else’s words with familiarity and honesty. This workshop is essential to making words that aren’t yours sound natural. Because after all, you’re the one that has to own them in the courtroom.

That’s good because we don’t want to turn you into one either.  Your work is serious and we want to empower you with techniques and strategies that will make a serious difference in your practice.  That being said, we can’t say you won’t have any fun taking this class because we believe that the more fun you are having in our programs, the more you’ll take away.

Olivia Espinosa is an actor, director, and playwright.  She has over two decades of experience teaching performing arts, playwriting and dramaturgy (helping playwrights revise their play in preparation for production).

In 2022, she was nominated for best supporting performer in a play by BroadwayWorld San Diego for her performance as Lore/Nena in Azul (Diversionary Theater); American Mariachi (Denver Center New Play Summit); The Astronaut Farmworker, A Lonely Boy’s Guide to Survival… (La Jolla Playhouse POP Tour).

As a director, Olivia was honored as the recipient of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s most prestigious award- The Phil Killian Directing Fellowship where she was assistant director to Bill Rauch on Off the Rails by Randy Reinholz, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure highlighting the haunting and resilient stories of Native Americans during the U.S. Indian Boarding School movement. She’s also an ensemble member of Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles.

Olivia has assistant directed under many prominent Broadway directors at the La Jolla Playhouse, including Tony award winning director, Tina Landau. www.oliviaespinosa.com

We’re not lawyers. Isn’t that refreshing? In fact, your jury members are almost never lawyers, either. So isn’t it just as important to get non-lawyers input? As actors we’re in the business of using genuine emotions to perform a compelling story for an audience. This isn’t based on the latest science. These tools are based on emotion and, as actors, we’re in the business of emotions. In fact, some researchers have found that emotions account for up to 90% of decision-making.

Although we have geared this class towards prepping opening statements, you’re absolutely welcome to use an upcoming or past oral argument. The tools you’ll gain are exactly the same. In fact, some of our first experiences teaching these acting techniques were for oral argument presentations.