Trial is war. It is war by a certain set of formal rules. The lawyers know and understand the rules. The participants and jurors may or may not. This article is intended to give you a rough road map of what will happen.
Different states have different rules of civil procedure.
The things I describe here may happen differently in your trial depending upon their rules. First, a jury will be selected. This is called Voir Dire. Jury selection may be done by the lawyers or by the Judge depending upon the rules for your state. In my state, Texas, the lawyers ask the jurors questions and then select who will NOT be on the jury.