Brandon Peters brings more than two decades of experience as a highly-respected civil litigator to his mediation career, which began with a successful solo practice and continues with Upchurch Watson White & Max. He takes a data- and evidence-driven approach to resolving disputes without ignoring the all-important human factors. To schedule a mediation with Brandon, please call his case manager, Cathy McCleary, at (800) 863-1462, or visit our online calendar.
Florida Mediator Brandon S. Peters
My family and I love to watch sports on television. In college sports, one of the most frustrating phenomena is the tendency of one’s favorite team to lose the game just after the one in which it knocked off the undefeated rival, defending national champion or top-ranked opponent. Sports writers call this the “letdown effect.” Fans call it aggravating.
We experienced a similar phenomenon during this week’s class at Florida A&M University College of Law. After last week’s incredible guest lecture by a veteran crisis negotiator from the Orlando Police Department, my lecture this week felt “flat” by comparison. The visiting detective truly was a tough act to follow.
It’s not that the material we were covering this week was boring or unimportant – we examined the types of cases suitable for mediation, learned how to prepare for mediation and studied the value of delivering mediation services in an organized and reliably sequential process. I just never got the feeling that our group discussion gained the type of momentum my students have come to expect from me in previous weeks.
I demand excellence from myself every day; I demand the same from everyone else around me. But I have to admit that I feel a bit like the elementary school teacher who has to tell the students to sit down at their desks and take out their math books after returning from an awesome field trip to the local zoo. So, I turn to you, my blog readers, for your advice: How do you avoid the letdown effect when addressing repeat audiences? Frankly, I’m stumped.
For the previous installment of Brandon’s adventures at FAMU, please click here.
