The Preparation Paradox: High-Stakes Meetings with David Rudolf, 'The Staircase' - MS006

Meeting Strategist - Conversations on Leadership & Communication

My guest on this episode is criminal defense attorney David Rudolf. I’ve been wanting to interview David ever since I watched ‘The Staircase’ on Netflix. In this documentary series, David represents Michael Peterson, an American novelist whose wife was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their North Carolina mansion.

When watching the documentary, I was deeply impressed with David’s professional performance. Not only because of his legal expertise, but also because of his communication skills and his ability to connect with people – both in and outside the courtroom.

Our conversation offers interesting ideas and lessons for professionals who regularly find themselves in high-stakes meetings. We discuss the questioning strategies David uses during cross examination and jury selection, why transparency is key in bad news conversations and how he's able to perform at his peak when the stakes couldn’t be higher.

You’ll also learn how David gets buy-in from his clients for the crucial decisions in a case, which I think is useful for anyone managing or implementing change in organizations.

Here are some of the episode’s highlights with timestamps:

• 12:02 – “You can’t expect people to be completely honest with you the first time they meet you”

• 19:17 – Putting on a protective cape: the role of preparation in building confidence

• 24:44 – The structure David used as a young attorney when interviewing jurors

• 35:42 – Wiping down the blow poke: the importance of listening in court

• 40:30 – Behind the scenes of a challenging meeting in a potential death penalty case

• 53:40 – Selecting jurors: a personal click is more important than the profile

• 1:02:15 – Good fact, bad fact: how to tackle tunnel vision

For more detailed information about this episode and relevant links to people and resources, visit the show notes on www.meetingstrategist.org/david-rudolf

About this podcast

Welcome to Meeting Strategist. On this podcast, Marcel van de Hoef interviews professionals and thinkers from the worlds of investment, business and arts about their approach to business conversations. You'll hear inspiring stories about impactful meetings, while also learning about the strategies, tactics and mindsets these guests rely on to make meetings more constructive.

Marcel is an Amsterdam-based communication advisor and trainer and the curator of the Meeting Strategist blog. His mission is to help senior professionals think more strategically about meetings, ask better questions, improve their listening skills and have more meaningful conversations in business and life. Learn more and stay up to date at meetingstrategist.org