Senior Partner
Before I stood in front of juries, I stood in front of 40-45 strangers from all over the world (mostly folks from the U.S., the U.K. and Australia) —guiding them through museums, mountains, and historic landmarks during 8-to-10-day motorcoach tours of the Canadian Rockies. The tour folks almost never knew one another before boarding the bus at a downtown Seattle hotel to start the adventure. I had to learn all their names and get them to come together as a group in very short order.
Back then, I wasn’t thinking about voir dire, cross-examination, or closing arguments. But what I didn’t realize at the time was that being a tour guide was quietly preparing me for life in the courtroom. In hindsight, my years working as a tour guide taught me skills that no law school textbook could replicate. Here’s how:
Audience Awareness Is Everything
As a tour guide, I learned to “read the room” quickly. Is the group restless? Curious? Confused? (Or, more importantly, hungry?) Just like jurors, tour groups respond to tone, pacing, and authenticity. If I droned on with rehearsed facts, I could lose them. But when I told a story from the heart—full of human detail and narrative tension—I had their full attention. The same holds true in trial. Jurors are not legal analysts; they are people. And people engage with story and sincerity.
Clarity Beats Complexity
Explaining history or geology to a group of strangers forces you to sharpen your clarity and to make things interesting. I learned to strip jargon, simplify explanations, and lead with what matters most. As a trial attorney, I do the same. My job isn’t to impress jurors with legalese; it’s to help them understand what happened, why it matters, and how the law applies.
Grace Under Pressure
Anyone who has led a walking tour up a trail to see Peyto Lake in the Canadian Rockies in the rain while trying to keep 40+ people engaged and enthused knows what it means to adapt on the fly. That ability—to stay composed when things don’t go as planned—has served me well in trial. Witnesses go off-script. Judges rule unexpectedly. You need to think on your feet. Tour guiding taught me to improvise with grace and confidence.
Connection Builds Credibility
A good tour guide earns trust by being personable, respectful, and real. That same philosophy guides me in trial. Whether I’m speaking to a jury, cross-examining a witness, or addressing the court, I know that credibility isn’t just about facts—it’s about how you carry them. Tour guiding taught me to connect first, and then persuade.
Timing Is a Form of Advocacy
The best tour guides—and trial lawyers—know when to pause, when to push forward, and when to let silence do the work. In both roles, timing is subtle but powerful. It keeps people engaged, underscores key moments, and gives your words space to resonate.
Today, I no longer carry a mic or guidebooks, but I still use the skills I honed as a tour guide every time I walk into court. It’s a reminder that great trial advocacy, like great storytelling, starts with empathy, clarity, honesty, and respect for your audience.
After all, whether you’re leading tourists or speaking to a jury, you’re asking people to take a journey with you—and to believe in the story you’re telling.