Simplify, Simplify, Simplify Simplify
The hardest thing a trial lawyer does is also the most important thing a trial lawyer does. It is to distill her case down to its essence so that it can be clearly and easily communicated. Yet simplifying doesn't just ensure that your jurors understand your position; simplifying makes it much more likely that your jurors will believe your account to be true.
In a discussion of their recently published findings about how ease of understanding affects judgments about the information being conveyed authors Song and Schwarz report that something as seemingly minor as the font in which a statement is printed can have a profound effect on people's judgments about whether that statement is correct. Judgments about risk are affected by ease of communication as well. For example, a food additive with an easy to pronounce name was repeatedly perceived to be less risky than one with a difficult to pronounce name, despite the fact that the rest of the information, much more substantive information, about the two additives was identical.
Lastly, from this and other research, the authors conclude that easily communicated information will benefit in one other aspect. Specifically, from our tendency not to scrutinize those things which we "get". So if you want your narrative nitpicked be sure to use big words and complicated demonstratives. On the other hand, if you want your jurors instead to be digging through the testimony for facts that confirm your account be sure to communicate simply and clearly in every avenue of communication.
