It’s nice when one of my practices or procedures is validated in the public. For years I have coached clients to look at the judge or jury when testifying and not at the lawyer. This was validated on Dateline on Thursday night, 4/16/15. When you testify, you are not talking to the lawyer, you are communicating with the trier of fact. So, look at them.
This can be done in two ways. If you are comfortable, look at the attorney when the question is asked and then look at the judge or jury when answering. If an opposing lawyer is intimidating, don’t look at him at all; just look at the Judge or Jury. On Dateline, one juror in a criminal case said he believed a defendant and acquitted him of murder, simply because he looked at the jury when testifying.