Essay on Identifying Communication Strategies in Broward Co. Bond Court

Introduction

Human beings are social beings. The statement means that human beings enjoy the company of each other. People like to talk to each other about very many things. They talk about their experiences, lives, difficulties, and among other things (Thorson, 2018). All of these are made possible by way of communication (Blizard, 2012). Communication is the transfer of information from one person or group to another. Thus for communication to take place, at least two parties need to be involved. The parties are the sender of information and the recipient of such a message.

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Statement of the problem

In society today, most people only know of writing and speaking as the modes of communication. The other categories, non-verbal and visual communication, are not usually thought of as a mode of communication (Thorson, 2018). Oral communication is talking by the use of the mouth, which is heavily dependent on tone, volume, clarity, and parties. Nonverbal communication is using body language, signs, and even hand signals in conveying a message. It is a non-linguistic transmission of information. Visual communication is using charts, graphs, and pictures to convey information to other persons.

Furthermore, written communication involves things like letters, emails, and books. These four categories of communication correlate with each other. The reason for this is that a person may make say one thing with their mouth, but their body language tells another thing. Hence, people must link the modes with each other in order to prevent misinterpretation of information. Communication is an essential tool in the livelihoods of professions (Thorson, 2018).

It helps develop the spirit of teamwork at jobs, it helps develop cooperation among employees, and it helps innovation take place. In the legal system, communication involving the bench, the bar, jury, prosecutors are a common thing. Most of the time, the lawyers will be doing all the communication since the outcome of their case is dependent on it. The lawyers and the prosecutors have the task of conveying the facts of the matter to the judge and ensuring that the judge understands their client's position.

Recently, I visited the live stream of the Broward county bond court and made a crucial observation of several communication strategies employed in the courtroom. The Broward court is the court of the first appearance in the state of Florida. It means that this is the court will determine whether there is any probable cause and whether the defendant should be freed on bail. In coming up with an effective determination, the judge will consider the nature of offense the defendant has been charged with, the defendant's criminal history, if any, their relationship with the society, and if they can pay the bond.

The communication involving the courtroom participant was fascinating to watch. It is because the lawyers were employing the use of various communication techniques in their augments (Seiter & Gass, 2013). Therefore, the paper will look into the different communication strategies in the cases in the courtroom of Broward County Bond Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Besides, it will be drawing parallels from the court observation and link them to the different strategies. Several strategies are employed in communication.

Literature review

These strategies may either be effective or ineffective, dependent on the party that uses it. The first strategy is image management. The strategy is about the management of a person's image concerning how the outside world operates (Dixon, 2012). In courtrooms, the way a lawyer, defendant, and a victim carries themselves is essential. For instance, in a criminal matter of James McGill in the courtroom of Broward county bond court, the victim that was testifying was moving around his chair as if it was on fire. Though the person was the victim, it is expected that they behave professionally while in court. The action by the victim is an example of an ineffective mode of communication.

The victim appeared to be disrespecting court rules and procedures, which mandate that a person conducts them with civility. Furthermore, in a matter in the courtroom of Broward county bond court, the defense lawyer appeared to be very harsh towards the state counsel. The lawyer would often interrupt the state counsel to the point of it becoming a nuisance. The scenario above is an example of an ineffective mode of communication. The lawyer seemed to be in a hurry to prove the innocence of the defendant by using aggressive tactics on the state lawyer. Also, this strategy negatively impacted the lawyer's case, as the judge became empathetic towards the state counsel.

The second strategy is the persuasion skills (Seiter & Gass, 2013). In the criminal matter In Broward County Bond Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Mr. Clark is a defendant, the prosecution counsel often asked open-ended questions. The reasoning behind this is that these questions give the witness a chance to explain. By doing so, the court will be able to know all the circumstances surrounding a case and not just a part of it. The strategy is very effective, especially to the prosecution side. However, this strategy is not effective for defense counsel. It is because open-ended questions may result in opening one to further liabilities.

The third strategy is appearing credible. In a domestic violence matter involving Miss Gold in Broward County bond court in Fort Lauderdale, the defense counsel impeached the credibility of the witness by exposing that she was a bad mother. By incorporating this effective communication strategy, the court began to have doubts about the reliability of the evidence given by the witness. As a result, the testimony of the witness will not have any probative value. In order to clean up the damage done by the defense on the credibility, the witness provided evidence that she is a good mother. It is an effective strategy for the prosecution because it will make the witness look responsible and appeal to the court that she is a reliable witness. The fourth strategy is the mode of dress. The way a person dresses tells a lot about them. Before a person opens their mouth and speaks, people will always look at how the person has presented themselves (Dixon, 2012).

Human beings always want to be judge by the content of their mouth. However, society prefers to judge by both their looks and attire. In a matter of domestic dispute matter in Broward County bond court, a witness appeared to be dressed shaggily. The witness then leaned on the table in a manner to suggest that the judge was their friend. The strategy by the witness is ineffective and makes them be perceived as people who do not care about their grooming. The impact is that the judge may decide to treat the matter with the same attitude of the witness. Also, in this matter, all the other parties were smartly dressed. The defense counsel had put on a suit, the prosecution was suited, and lastly, the defense witness was also officially dressed. The tactics employed by these three are very effective. The tactic signified that they all know what they want in life.

Another communication strategy is the use of a powerful speech (Blizard, 2012). In the matter involving Gerald tingly, the defense counsel during cross-examination made it clear that they required only yes or no answers from the witness. The loud tone used by the counsel in conveying this message intimidated the witness. The strategy worked effectively as the defendant did not become too verbose with their answers to questions. However, in certain circumstances, it may work against the defense counsel, as the court may assume that there is something that they are hiding ("Strategies for the Promotion of Effective Communication between Teachers and Students", 2016).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be noted that communication is crucial to society. It has an impact on both the professional and social life of a person. Besides, it can change the outcome of a matter, depending on the way a party presented itself. Thus lawyers must use effective communication in order to secure victory for their clients. Also, lawyers should be aware that communication involves various things and not only speaking. There is the use of gestures, body language, and many other things. Lawyers' should also ensure that their clients are well-groomed before attending court sessions. Proper grooming and having the right dress code may have an impact on the outcome of the case.

References

Akbar Khansir, A. (2014). The Study of Effect of Extensive Reading on Enhancing Reading Comprehension and Word Recognition of Iranian Learners. International Journal Of English Language And Literature Studies, 3(3). Retrieved 2 April 2020, from http://www.aessweb.com/journals/5019/September2014?ic=download&id=2962.

Blizard, J. (2012). The importance of effective communication. AORN Journal, 95(3), 319-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aorn.2012.01.007Dixon, J. (2012). Effective Strategies for Communication? Student Views of a Communication Skills Course Eleven Years On. British Journal Of Social Work, 43(6), 1190-1205. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs040

Seiter, J., & Gass, R. (2013). Persuasion on Trial: An Exercise for Understanding the Benefits of Studying Persuasion. Communication Teacher, 27(3), 127-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2013.775468

Strategies for the Promotion of Effective Communication between Teachers and Students. (2016), 5(6), 1757-1761. https://doi.org/10.21275/v5i6.nov164651

Thorson, E. (2018). Strategies for Meaningful Public Engagement. Political Communication, 35(4), 674-676. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2018.1477523