Testifying Made Simple Prepares Witnesses For Trial
By Julie Unger
Attorney Michelle Santamaria used her criminal prosecutor experience to create her successful company, Testifying Made Simple. “That’s where I found my niche. It’s a system that I’ve worked in personally,” she explained. “I’m passionate about trials in the criminal system, and I’ve focused on that audience.”
Her name might seem familiar. She has worked for television news stations, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office and even run for the Palm Beach County Commission seat previously held by her father, Jess Santamaria.
Santamaria’s bring a long list of accomplishments to Testifying Made Simple, a company designed to help law enforcement witnesses. A quick glance at her résumé, and you might expect Santamaria to be much older than 39. Not only did earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and a law degree from Stetson University, she earned an MBA from Rollins College and has studied at several other institutions, including Harvard Law School and Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Aside from her work with the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, she has worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Training Force USA, the Florida Public Safety Institute, the Regional Organized Crime Information Center and more. She worked as an assistant state attorney in West Palm Beach and, in 2009, started Testifying Made Simple, which has trained witnesses from more than 100 law enforcement agencies, academies and organizations, including the FBI.
At Stetson, Santamaria was drawn to its top-rated trial advocacy program, she said, adding that their “competition program… really helped me prepare for what I do now, because it’s such a phenomenal program.”
Santamaria’s volunteer work has spanned many venues, including volunteering at Youth Court and American Heritage High School’s Mock Trial competition, emceeing for My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper Scholarship Foundation and working with many other organizations.
“I’ve always been interested in public speaking, and trial advocacy is a great way to get in front of the people, get involved, and do something more active in the court system,” she said.
After graduating from law school, Santamaria became a criminal prosecutor. “I loved being involved in the court system and helping people, along with doing trials,” she said.
When working on trials, Santamaria noticed that witnesses sometimes have a difficult time expressing themselves. After each trial, she’d receive feedback from the witnesses and discuss what needed more work.
She often asked whether anyone helped to prepare witnesses and was told that there wasn’t such a program, but many people wished there was.
“I filed that in the back of my head,” she said. “After doing trials for many years, I decided to move on and created exactly the curriculum that I wished the witnesses knew.”
Testifying Made Simple is designed to explain exactly how the trial works and everybody’s role in it. “If they know what to expect ahead of time, they’re able to effectively communicate in court,” Santamaria said.
It helps law enforcement witnesses, specifically, but others as well.
“If you can spell everything out ahead of time, then a person, regardless if they’re law enforcement, or any type of witness, a medical doctor, an accountant, can effectively communicate,” she said. “You teach a law enforcement officer how to shoot a gun, how to collect evidence and how to write a report. But if you don’t teach them and prepare them for what to expect in court, the whole case can end. It really completes the circle on the criminal justice system.”
Positive feedback for Testifying Made Simple is the norm for Santamaria, who often hears about how well someone’s testifying has improved.
The company started in Palm Beach County, then expanded to Florida, and then across the country. Within just a few years, Santamaria was approached by the FBI due to their interest in her program. “I was really excited to have such a wonderful opportunity because the FBI is the gold standard,” she said.
Santamaria now has a dream job where she takes what she is passionate about and combines the components to give people the confidence to testify effectively.
“I love being able to help people, regardless if it is in one trial today or it’s throughout the course of their life,” she said. “It’s something that transcends criminal and civil law.”
As a result, she explained, being a witness is a more efficient and effective. When a witness is nervous, be it because of public speaking issues or lack of practice, Santamaria’s classes, seminars and program offer a way to speak more efficiently in a comfortable, confident manner.
Santamaria runs the class with high participation and interaction, and very little lecturing, to keep it exciting and interesting. After each class, she asks for feedback, seeking suggestions on what participants like and what does and doesn’t work.
“What I’ve had from the very beginning is positive feedback such as, ‘Best class I’ve had in 30 years of law enforcement,’” Santamaria said. “These individuals have taken many, many courses. To hear that, many times over from the beginning, makes me feel great. It makes me feel like I’m contributing and helping people out.”
To learn more about Testifying Made Simple, visit www.testifyingmadesimple.com.
