What happens when people are given the space to think differently

A student in Doncaster came to one of my Battle of the Barrister cases whilst on studying accountancy. She got stuck into the case like everyone else, and at the end, she came straight over to me. She said she’d never experienced anything like it, that something had shifted for her. She made an appointment with her tutor for the next morning, to change her course to law.

An outcome like this is not something I promise nor try to engineer, but it happens more often than you’d think. Something clicks in people, and they see themselves differently. They realise they’re capable of more than they thought, or that they’ve been looking at things too narrowly.

Attendees continue to think about a Battle of the Barristers’ case long after the session has finished. They go home and look it up, read more, replay what they heard and what they said. Not because they have to, but because it stays with them. Others say it gives them the confidence to speak up more, whether that’s in a classroom, a meeting, or a group where they’d usually hold back. They’ve tested their voice in the room and realised it holds weight.

In my forensic linguistics workshops, I’ve had people tell me it’s sparked a genuine interest in forensic science. And across everything I do, there’s one line that comes back to me more than anything else: ‘I’ve never thought of it like that.’

Teachers have told me they can see a difference in their students once they’ve attended one of my sessions, that it encourages a kind of thinking some young people don’t often get the chance to adopt, especially if they’re not heading towards university. It gives them the space and the skills to analyse, question, and form their own view, rather than just accepting what’s put in front of them.

What people start to see, very clearly, is how much context and interpretation shape what we believe. The same information can lead people in completely different directions, and once you’ve experienced that for yourself, it’s hard to ignore.

A lot of the feedback I receive comes back to how the session is led and the way it’s guided. Creating a space where people feel able to speak, to change their minds, to look again without feeling exposed.

This isn’t about delivering information. It’s about what people do with it, and what changes because of it.