You've seen it, right? Tens of millions of people have. It's the video of plain, middle-aged Susan Boyle, stunning the "Britain's Got Talent" judges and then the world with her lovely voice.
Exceeding expectations
There are at least two jury lessons in her story. One is already covered at the Situationist and at Eric Turkewitz's New York Personal Injury Law Blog, so I can be quick with it: expectations are critical. If Susan Boyle had been beautiful, beautifully made up and coiffed, and presented to us as a professional opera singer, no one but her family would have watched her YouTube video. (The Situationist describes an experiment "in which persons listen to acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell–either while he is disguised as a subway peddler or while performing normally at a symphony," and the difference "enormously influences how they regard his music.") It's what some researchers call the "talking platypus phenomenon" -- the idea that we judge people not on their skill and talent alone, but on their skill and talent as compared to what we expected.
Eric explains ways to use this knowledge. It's not only the strategic tool he describes, though; it's also a confidence builder. If you're, say, a woman, and concerned about the research suggesting that jurors perceive male lawyers as more competent than women, here's your answer. Exceed expectations -- and if you're good, you will -- and the research suggests you'll actually get a "bump" in jurors' perception. The same is true for anyone whom jurors might judge harshly at first sight.
The eye of the beholder
The second lesson doesn't have much to do with Susan Boyle -- which is the point. When everyone is talking about somebody, it's easier to see something we often miss. Each person is different, and therefore each person's impression of the thing we're describing is different.
So Susan Boyle changes depending on who's looking at her. The New York Times notes that she's "become a heroine not only to people dreaming of being catapulted from obscurity to fame but also to those who cheer her triumph over looks-ism and ageism in a world that so values youth and beauty." Meanwhile to an unromantic Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel business reporter, she's a sales driver; an article there this week describes how her fame has boosted local sheet music sales. An op-ed piece in the Washington Post collects other reactions.
My favorite demonstration of the Susan-Boyle-is-what-you-make-her effect was in the roundtable discussion on This Week With George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. (The Susan Boyle conversation starts with about 2:40 left in the video.) From four well-known pundits, we got four Susans:
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To Peggy Noonan, she was about reality television and the way we respond to it. "Sometimes you know you're being manipulated a little bit; you know it, you watch, and you still burst into tears."
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To George Will, she was all that's great about democratic government. "It plays to a perennial belief that democracies are bumpy with undiscovered talent, and it happens to be true."
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To Sam Donaldson, she invoked our personal ambitions. "All of us Clark Kents want to be Superman. We want more Harry Trumans to be great presidents. I myself want to sit down and play piano at the Kennedy Center, and play so that Rachmaninoff's ghost turns up his ears."
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To Cokie Roberts, she was about authenticity. "I couldn't get over the contrast between her and the judges. . .. They were Barbie and Ken; they were the most fake-looking people I've ever seen. And there she was, this totally genuine person. It was so refreshing."
To me, she's about us -- how different we are, and how differently we see things. One of the biggest mistakes lawyers make in jury trials is to assume that if they like the key witness and think the evidence is strong, the jurors must react the same way. They won't, because each juror is different. Call it the Rule of Susan Boyle.
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(Photomosaic image by Gilberto A. Viciedo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/viciedo/3450613461/; it's amazing at full size, tiny tiles of butterflies, flowers, and birds. License details on the Flickr page.)
