Witness statements are a core feature of international commercial arbitration. In current practice, they have become a vehicle for the making of legal submissions, quoting from and commenting on documents, and speculating on all manner of things, including third parties’ conduct. In this form, witness statements impede arbitral efficiency, drive up costs and waste time. This article argues that the preparation of witness statements in international commercial arbitration should be reformed. Witness statements should give the tribunal a factual account of what a witness heard, saw or thought at the time of the events the subject of the arbitration. No more, no less. Combined with a memorial approach to the presentation of evidence, a reformed witness statement procedure can assist the arbitral process. Arbitration practitioners can learn from recent reforms to the preparation of witness statements in the English courts, which seek to attain similar objectives. A draft procedural order is appended to this article, to assist arbitrators and counsel to start immediately on the path of making witness statements focus on the real issues in dispute and serve arbitral efficiency.