Preparing a witness for a deposition is definitely a necessary part of the process. This is all the more true when it comes to a video deposition. Many people often ask if they have tips when it comes to readying a witness to go on camera to record a video. When it comes to a deposition and planning to get a witness ready, what do you do?
So you know that you should prepare a witness for a deposition, but what do you do? In case you’ve never done this before, there are a few key things that you should definitely pay attention to. Okay, it is slightly more than a few.
For one, you want to pay attention to the clothing that your witness is going to be wearing. You basically want something that is respectful and put together. The clothes that they are going to wear should be somewhat comfortable, but should really fall in the realm of professional outfits more than casual. Anything but casual and sweatpants should definitely be a no go.
You also want them to cut back on the patterns as well as the colors. For women, do not have them wear anything that is too revealing or is low cut in nature. For men, have them hold off on colored shirts that are too loud or ties that have a lot of patterns going on. It will look bad and look bad on camera too.
The video person needs to get a good balance of color. Try to avoid black and white as well to get everything right on the video. Posture should be natural and as comfortable as possible. Get the witness to be in a chair and sit up, getting them to have good posture to look good on camera.
Have them try to have a pleasant expression on their face that is as natural as possible. Have them try not to react and to be polite. Do not have them fidget or move around too much. Keep focus on the camera and do not have them look away.
You want all cell phones off too for this. Make sure that the back wall is also blank and not distracting. No ringing or colors or patterns with windows behind should be used. They are too distracting. The light needs to be good and you should be sure that you are working with a quality team that knows what they are doing.
They should be certified and know how to record a deposition. This is very important when you are going into a court room or recording a video. Prepare your witness and you will know that everything is going just the way that it should. You will be then likely to have a better result and be happy in the end.