Building Rapport: Your Key to Better Witness Interviews

Want to know what separates a great witness interview from just an okay one?

It might not be what you think.

In fact, a lot of legal professionals skip this step during the interview process. But that’s a mistake. A big one.

Ready?

The key to a really great witness interview is building rapport with the witness.

I’ve conducted approximately 12,000 witness interviews during the 30+ years I helped civil plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys prepare cases for trial and settlement.

In this video segment that comes from my free on-demand workshop: 6 Steps to More Effective Witness Interviews to Maximize Case Outcomes, I take you through why building rapport is so critical to an effective witness interview, and how you go about building rapport in a natural and authentic way.

Don’t skip this step, and jump into a “just the facts ma’am” type of approach to witness interviews. Building rapport helps you to:

• Build the know, like, and trust factor with the witness. First impressions really do matter.
• Helps you to show respect and empathy for the witness. That you understand being a witness in a case is difficult.
• Slow the interview down. The slower the pace of the interview, the greater the opportunity to learn additional information.
• Makes following up with the witness easier. This is especially important should you need the witness’s assistance further down the road during the litigation.

In this video, you’ll learn:

• How to introduce yourself to the witness in a way that creates a good first impression.
• How to demonstrate that you respect the witness’s time. Empathy is critical to rapport building.
• How to use visual clues during an in person interview to build rapport, and how to elicit, and to ask questions that get the witness to talk about herself.
• How to use reflective listening to show the witness that your are really hearing her.
• How to use non-verbal communication and body language to better connect with the witness.
• Building rapport is a critical step in the 6 steps that you need in order to conduct effective interviews.

If you find this information helpful, check out my free on-demand workshop, The 6 Steps to Conducting More Effective Witness Interviews to Maximize Your Case Results, or download my free PDF guide to the 6 Steps to more effective witness interviews.