Help Your Jury Choose the Story that Works for You

What’s a Jury’s Job?

A jury chooses, and your job as an advocate is to help your jury choose the story that works for you. When I was a young trial attorney I realized this truth. And that’s when my law practice changed. Before that, I thought the jury was there to judge me and my client. That made me a little nervous. It’s harder to like a jury when you think they’re ready to judge you.

But when I was still in law school I got to assist my mentor through a trial. And somewhere in that two week trial, I realized that the jury’s job wasn’t to judge. Their job was to choose a story and call it true. The lawyers presented two very different stories. Each story had evidence to support it, words to develop it, and questions to challenge it. And each side advocated for their story. Then the jury had to choose. This was an epiphany. It meant my job, and my clients’ job, wasn’t to be judged by the jury. We just had to help them choose the story that worked for us and made us win.

Now I could serve my jury. They no longer scared me. I was excited to tell them my story, and to advocate for it. If truth is simply the story with the best advocate to support it, I could be the best advocate. I could collect the best evidence. Then I could listen and present with focus. And I could give the jury what they needed to choose the story that worked for me. I could advocate to win.

You Have a Jury Too

You have your jury as well. Your jury might be your clients, your customers or your investors. It could be your family, your friends, your patients or your students. And your jury’s job is to choose you–to hire, to buy from, to invest in and to love. No matter who you jury is, your job is simple. Help your jury choose the story that works for you. That’s what I help my coaching clients do.

After working with me, my coaching clients have given their juries the ability to choose things like more money, better jobs, more support, and more loyalty for them. They’ve helped their juries choose to invest, to refer, and to respect. With words, perspective, evidence, questions, credibility and presentation, my clients have advocated for their stories. And they’ve won.

Your Inner Jury Chooses Your Life

This works on your Inner Jury as well. Your Inner Jury is the part of you that decides and chooses. Scarcity or abundance? Fear or faith? Mistake or discovery? Your Inner Jury isn’t there to judge. She’s there to choose. If you want to make the choices that work for you, your dreams and your goals, give your Inner Jury a story she can believe in. Let her choose the story that works for you. And collect your winnings.