Practice Makes Perfect: How to Develop Your Oral Advocacy Skills
Throughout my law school experience, I have frequently been required to practice my oral advocacy skills. In my undergraduate years, I looked forward to public speaking opportunities, but I felt a shift in law school. The shift occurred because I realized being a lawyer required an elevated cadence in my speech beyond anything required in my undergraduate years. I could no longer go in front of the class, pull up a PowerPoint and talk. Every word matters in law school, so you have to choose it wisely, and you are timed.
Initially, there seems to be a lot more added pressure. Class presentations were no longer free marks. Over time I began to find various ways to improve my oral advocacy skills that I will share with you.
1. Watch Great Speeches from Television, Movies, and Plays
First, one of the best ways to learn how to enhance your oratory skills is to watch someone who is highly regarded as well-spoken. I started to watch television shows, movies and plays that contain incredible speeches, monologues, or one-liners. By watching these actors deliver their lines, I learned the importance of articulation and how conciseness can enhance a person’s delivery.
The West Wing, written by Aaron Sorkin, is one of the best televisions you could watch when it comes to learning public speaking. A few of my favourite scenes are: when President Barlett talks to God (two Cathedrals), President Bartlett rebuttal during a televised debate (The Great Debate) and President Bartlett’s American heroes speech. If you could not tell President Bartlett made the best speeches in the show, but you would not expect anything less from a president, right? For me, this showed me that substance paired with eloquent speech could help you command the attention of any room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVgK5HKj3P4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyqzPu5pX6U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRYxQM1HHX0
In Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino delivers one of the most popular speeches in cinematic history. His speech may not be as polished as law schools would prefer, but it shows that a phenomenal speech does not have to be a showcase of your extensive vocabulary. There is power in simplicity.
2. Advocacy and Basic Oratory Skills Classes
Second, taking oratory courses offer some valuable advice.
MasterClass is one of my favourite resources. I recommend watching Chris Voss, Helen Mirren, Robin Roberts, and David Axelrod’s MasterClass sessions. They have some incredible tips about speech delivery, from performing in a play to high-pressure negotiations. The subscription is expensive, but it is worth it!
https://www.masterclass.com/homepage
Another course I’d recommend is John Hollander’s The Advocacy Club. I have personally not participated in his advocacy boot camps, but I know a ton of people who have, and they all speak about it in the highest regard. Also, I believe the course is free. I strongly recommend you check it out.
3. Read Out Loud Everyday
As many of you remember, elementary school teachers were constantly asking students to read out loud in class. As an adult, I now realize this is not a teacher’s way of getting out of doing work or trying to humiliate students but to help us improve our reading skills. This method is the best way to improve our public speaking because practice makes perfect. The more we read out loud, the less we stumble on our words, recognize when to take a necessary pause, and learn the ability to practice looking up from our books to give eye contact when we speak. So, dust off your old Shakespeare book or even Dr. Seuss and make a habit of reading out loud each night.
4. Read Books on Oral Advocacy
There are numerous books on oral advocacy; a Google search brings up thousands of articles, books, videos, you name it. One book that particularly sticks out for me is written by David Frederick called Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy: Mastering Oral Argument. Another one that I enjoyed was How to Win An Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion, which captures the speeches and techniques of one of Rome’s most well-known orators Cicero.
5. Join Moot or Debate Club
Once again, practice makes perfect, so attend clubs or functions where you can practice your oral advocacy skills in front of others regularly.
You may not want to be a barrister, which requires you have to go to court frequently, but enhancing your communicative abilities with your peers can only help your professional career in any setting.
