The Five Stages of Courtroom Performance by the Expert Witness
| Stage I | Entrance into the courtroom with intent to be informative and performative |
| Stage II | Initiating the performance: act of accrediting through introduction; establishment of credentials and experience |
| Stage III | Direct examination: interactive exchanges to facilitate the telling of the expert witness's story—the narrative. Use of techniques to tell the story with voice and body; use of other visual aids |
| Stage IV | Cross examination: the process where the expert's story will be challenged and where the expert must work calmly to buttress the story—with techniques employed in the preceding stage |
| Stage V | Transitioning to the end: the direct examiner seeks to underline the major points of the expert's narrative and signals to the audience that the performance is coming to a close and the curtain will fall |
Throughout, the performance will still be influenced by professional ethics, identity, and representation.