Tell Stories to Help Pass the Bar Exam

I just read a very interesting article about how to use storytelling to remember things and to influence people. (Hat tip to @Mythosopher.)

I highly recommend you read the article, but the gist is that when we hear stories, the emotional and motor cortices of our brains fire instead of just the language cortex, which is the only portion activated during a dry bullet-point presentation.

When these other portions of our brains fire as we hear new information, we are much more likely to remember the information.

Why not apply this to bar exam preparation?

Let’s face it, reading outlines to learn black letter bar exam law is pretty dull stuff. After a few minutes, it is easy for your mind to drift. This loss of focus will hinder your ability to learn the material.

But what if the larger legal concepts were embedded in short stories? I bet it would be much easier to learn them.

There is probably a product creation opportunity here. Feel free to use this idea, just give credit to this blog post in your book. –Thanks 🙂

So, if you are having difficulty learning a bar exam concept, try putting it into a story. One way to do this is to modify a sample essay answer.

Let’s say you are having trouble with the constitutional law concept of speech restrictions permitted in public vs. private forums. Find a sample essay where this issue is addressed. Then, re-write the essay using language that is memorable to you.

The wild-eyed protestor stalked through the crowded streets looking for the ideal place to set up his political protest. As he trudged along the sidewalk, the smell of carne asada filled the air; it was nearing the lunch hour.

The protester initially stood on the sidewalk in front of a popular restaurant, but a police officer gruffly shoved him and told him to move along. Angered, the protester looked for another location and settled on the entrance to the local mall which was frequented by thousands each day. He stood just inside the doors to the mall and, under the watchful gaze of an elderly security guard, pulled out his protest poster: “Fuck the war.”

The security guard moved surprisingly briskly toward the protestor and, placing his leathery hands on the protestors arm, said, “Come with me, you damn hippie.”

Then, instead of conducting a dry legal analysis of public forum and maybe obscenity issues, you could write out a transcript of an appellate oral argument or a conversation between the lawyers for plaintiff and defendant discussing the law as they attempt to reach a settlement of the case.

This will take a bit more effort than simply running through outlines and flashcards over and over, but if a concept is exceptionally difficult for you to learn, storytelling may be what makes the difference for you.

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