Let them know it's all right to talk about these things. It's a lot better for them to say how they feel when you can find out about it than it is to wait for jury deliberations where they will write it in their verdict. You want to be in touch with their feelings, not their rationalizations. Besides giving you an idea how to exercise your peremptory challenges, you need to know to whom you are talking. That's the only way you will know how to present your case so it will speak to the people who will be deciding it.
Many jurors are so bored by voir dire that they are sick of the case before it starts.
That is our fault, and it is unforgivable. It is one of the reasons why we are losing lawyer-conducted voir dire in a number of states as well as in most federal courts. There are some things we can do about it. Use questionnaires to speed up the process. Learn to work the panel as a whole instead of asking each potential juror the same series of questions.