FYV #27 - The Primacy & Recency Effect: How First and Last Impressions Impact Your Case
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
Release Date: 07/14/2025
FYV #55 - How to Revive a Dragging Courtroom Without Saying a Word
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, Kristi explores how subtle shifts in presence—rather than words alone—can revive a dragging courtroom. Drawing inspiration from a Trevor Noah and Simon Sinek conversation, she reframes how attorneys invite juror participation by distinguishing between niceness and kindness. The episode then moves into a practical communication tip on using breath to regulate energy in the courtroom, helping attorneys re-engage jurors, manage stress, and intentionally shape the emotional tone of the room without ever calling attention to it. In this episode, you’ll learn: The...
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FYV #54 - How to Empower Jurors: Teaching Before Telling
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
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FYV #53 - The Missing Signals: How Physical Transitions Help Jurors Stay With You
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, Kristi explores why lists are more than just an organizational preference—they’re a powerful neuroscience-backed tool for reducing overwhelm and increasing follow-through. She breaks down the Zeigarnik Effect and explains how unfinished tasks quietly tax the brain, fueling stress, imposter syndrome, and mental fatigue. The episode then offers a practical communication tip for trial attorneys: using physical punctuation to help jurors track transitions, prioritize information, and stay engaged without verbal signposting. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why...
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FYV #52 - Energy Mismatch: The Silent Credibility Killer
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, Kristi reflects on an unexpected insight sparked by a late-night podcast listen—and how it reshaped her thinking about goal-setting, motivation, and decision-making in business. Drawing from philosopher David Deutsch’s idea of “following the fun,” she explores the tension between long-term strategy and genuine curiosity. The episode then shifts into a practical courtroom communication tip, unpacking how mismatched vocal and physical energy can quietly erode credibility—and how trial attorneys can use intentional energy to help jurors truly feel the weight of...
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FYV #51 - The Breath Mistake That Keeps Jurors on Edge
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
Season 2 kicks off with intention, clarity, and momentum. Kristi welcomes listeners into the new year by sharing her 2026 Word of the Year—Action—and reflecting on how tracking, planning, and consistency only create change when they lead to movement. This episode, also, sets the tone for the season and introduces a foundational communication tip on how to use breath effectively, not just take it in, so your voice carries authority, ease, and connection in the courtroom. In this episode, you'll learn: Why tracking without action can quietly stall growth How “functional...
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FYV Bonus - 2025 A Recap. 2026 An Intention.
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this special year-end bonus episode, Kristi invites you into her personal annual process of reflection and intention-setting. She recaps meaningful moments from 2025 — professionally and personally — and shares how consistency, seasonality, learning deeply, and honoring life outside of work have shaped her year. This episode offers perspective for trial attorneys who carry heavy work, reminding you that leadership, growth, and sustainability are built through intentional reflection and aligned priorities. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why taking stock of where you are is...
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FYV #50 - Motivation Isn’t a Feeling: How Jurors Decide and How You Stay Grounded
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, we explore motivation from two critical angles: what motivates jurors to stay engaged and move toward a verdict — and what actually motivates you to show up grounded, prepared, and consistent in high-stakes moments. Jurors don’t get motivated in isolation; they respond to your energy, clarity, and intentionality. And before jurors ever lean in, you have to generate momentum for yourself. This episode bridges courtroom communication with personal practice, showing how relevance fuels juror engagement and how motivation is built through small, repeatable actions — not...
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FYV #49 - RBF, Thinking Face, and the Juror’s Subconscious
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, we zoom out from pure vocal technique and dig into one of the most overlooked communication tools in the courtroom: your face. With 43 expressive muscles firing even when you’re not speaking, your facial expressions reveal more than you think — especially to jurors who instinctively read micro-cues for safety, sincerity, and credibility. You’ll learn why your “resting face,” thinking patterns, stress habits, and unintended microexpressions can either support your message or sabotage it — and how to intentionally build a neutral, open, trustworthy facial baseline...
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FYV #48 - The Two Personalities That Shut Down Your Jury
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
In this episode, Kristi unveils the two personality types that quietly shut jurors down long before your story ever gets a chance to land: the know-it-all and the chronic apologizer. Both create emotional friction that drains jurors' attention and engagement — just in opposite ways. Kristi breaks down how each style shows up vocally and nonverbally in the courtroom, why jurors feel instantly exhausted by them, and how even small shifts in vocal presence, humility, and breath-supported delivery can completely change how jurors perceive you. This is a mindset-and-voice tune-up every trial...
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FYV #47 - Cognitive Load in the Courtroom: How to Give Jurors a Fighting Chance
Foster Your Voice Podcast with Kristi Foster
Jurors don’t get real breaks. Not mentally, not emotionally, and certainly not socially. In this episode, we explore how cognitive fatigue shows up inside the courtroom and why even small, intentional pauses in your delivery can dramatically improve juror engagement and listening stamina. You’ll learn how micro-pauses, grounded transitions, and light moments of levity create essential “brain rest” for jurors—without derailing your momentum or weakening your command of the room. This episode reframes pauses from something to fear into one of your most strategic storytelling tools....
info_outlineWhether onstage or in the courtroom, the way you start and the way you end deeply shapes what people remember.
In this episode, we explore the neuroscience-backed principles of primacy and recency—why jurors remember your opening and closing far more than the middle—and how to use that knowledge to structure your case with clarity, impact, and emotional resonance.
From voir dire to final argument, your first and last impressions aren’t just about style—they’re strategy.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
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What the primacy effect and recency effect mean for trial attorneys
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How early “micro-impressions” shape juror trust before opening statements even begin
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Why your opening must be structured with rule, roadmap, and relatable storytelling
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What a powerful closing should include—and how it echoes long after you leave the courtroom
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How to use emotional anchors to make your case human and memorable
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Why planning your entrances and exits isn’t about performance—it’s about leadership
Key Takeaway:
Your first impression is a neurological anchor. Your last impression is the one that walks into deliberation without you. Use both to guide, teach, and move your jurors with clarity and heart.
Favorite Moment:
“You won’t be in the room during deliberations—but your voice can be.”
Links & Resources:
🔉Want more on building emotional and cognitive anchors into your case structure? Check out Episode 23: Balancing Logic & Emotion at https://www.fostervoicestudio.com/blog/23
📕 Malcolm Gladwell – Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Book site: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/blink/9780316010665/
✍️ Primacy & Recency Effects in Trial
https://www.litigationgroup.com/2015/03/01/winter-2015/
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