High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In the context of a trial or a hearing, a presiding judge may issue a ruling denying a party the right to proffer evidence. The party aggrieved by this ruling then has the right to indicate for the record what the evidence would have shown had the adverse ruling not been issued. This is necessary in order to preserve the issue for appeal. If you begin to offer evidence and, before you can get it before the court, the other side objects and the court sustains the objection, you must move the court to allow you to make clear on the record what the evidence was. This is called an offer of proof. If you don t get your evidence in and don t offer the proof, you ll have nothing to appeal if the court rules against you, because the record will not show what the evidence would have been!