22 March 2010

Ego Busting 101

Our local court uses video records, so you can see the arguments you made. Recently, I was in a rather intense argument after which the judge agreed to do what I asked. I felt pretty good about it and 3 or 4 people told me how well I did. So, I decided to get a copy of it.

Maybe some of the rest of you are so telegenic and make arguments so perfectly that watching yourself just feeds your ego. Me? Not so much.

First of all, if there is something that is the opposite of telegenic I'm that. Short, overly round, and wearing goofy glasses - they're not going to be modeling any TV drama attorneys after me and nobody who isn't a juror or judge should be forced to look at me too long. Yeesh.

Then there was the argument. I stumbled. I stuttered. I stopped in mid-sentence. I made statements which made perfect sense to me (and the defense attorney) because I know the facts, but which had to leave the judge thinking, "Huh?" AAAaaarrrgggg!

Now, I have been told that my arguments work better when witnessed in person rather than watched on video. I hope so. Good gracious, I hope so.
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2 comments:

Mark Bennett said...

I can't stand to watch myself on video. Or listen to recordings of myself.

J. Martelino, Jr. said...

I am not fond of reading transcripts, either, especially those transcripts that have put in all of the participants' "Um"s, "Uh"s, and "OK"s.