Secret persuasion techniques of attorneys

Attorney Howard Nations reveals some courtroom persuasion techniques. For example:

How does one change stereotypes and other belief systems that pre-existed in a particular juror and/or the community in general? Pre-existing belief systems can never be changed by directly presenting contradictory information. No matter how much evidence you present that "corporations make unsafe products" or that "doctors make mistakes", this will not change a preexisting belief system to the contrary.

In this example, an attorney is representing a client in a medical malpractice suit and is addressing the jury:

1) Acknowledge and Justify the Belief

"I know that most of you believe, as I once believed, that doctors generally do not make mistakes and that they are very careful."

2) Link to the Belief

"My client Mary used to believe that too. When she went to Dr. Jones...she thought that he would not make a mistake, that he would not let the scalpel slip and cut her ureter during her hysterectomy."

3) Build a New Belief System

"While it is all right for you and Mary to have this belief and to feel comfortable relying on doctors, the truth is that doctors are human beings...He made a mistake, a mistake which the law requires him to be responsible for."