Every other Saturday, I volunteer as a docent at a local science museum. Before I could actually do this work, I had to take a number of classes. Some were esoteric and had few applications in everyday life (e.g., “Proper Handling of Tide Pool Creatures”), but a significant portion of the training, which focused on how to engage visitors, was highly practical. Museum visitors are “voluntary” learners. While they come to the displays for a variety of reasons, almost all want to be engaged while learning something new.
During training, I was constantly struck by how many of the theories and concepts of visitor engagement apply just as easily to jurors as to museum-goers. While jurors might not be quite as eager, voluntary learners, they do share many characteristics with museum visitors. If an effort is made to engage jurors during the presentation of a case, they are both willing and capable of learning new, complex information. Success in imparting that information can be the crucial ingredient to prevailing at trial, especially in complex technology cases, where verdicts hinge on the jury’s ability to understand the nuances of a patent or cutting-edge product.
