Course · Interpersonal Skills
On Your Feet
Speak so that people understand and trust you: know your audience, build a clear structure, use plain spoken language, control your voice and handle questions with honesty.
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A lawyer's words are the product, and most lawyers are never taught to speak. This course teaches the craft from the ground up: who you are speaking to and what they need, how to find the one message, how to open, shape the middle and close, how to use plain words and short sentences, how to use your voice, breath, eyes and posture, how to build slides that help and not hinder, how to answer questions, including hostile ones and a judge's, and where persuasion must stop for honesty. It is built to be practised aloud, with the Public Speaking simulator and the Speaking Room on this site, and with practice rooms that answer back.
The Curriculum
Why lawyers speak: audiences, purposes and the one thing to say→
Audiences, purposes, the one message and why nerves are normal. Practice: Know Your Audience and Find the Message.
Structure: opening, shape, signposts and an ending that lands→
A strong opening, a middle of two or three points, signposts and a closing that lands. Practice: Build an Opening and Talk Parts.
Spoken language: plain words, short sentences and numbers by ear→
Plain words, short sentences, analogies, numbers and fillers. Practice: Say It Plainly and Explain It.
Voice and presence: pace, pause, eye contact, posture and being on camera→
Pace, pause, volume, breath, eye contact, posture and speaking on camera. Practice: Delivery Habits and Delivery Choices.
Slides and visuals: when to use them and how not to bury your message→
When to use slides, one idea per slide, charts and timelines, handouts and bundles. Practice: Slide Surgery and Slide Titles.
Questions, interruptions and nerves under pressure→
Listening to questions, answering directly, hostile questions, 'I don't know', interruptions and recovering. Practice: Question Types, Hard Questions and a practice interview.
Special situations and honest advocacy: courts, clients, networking and different audiences→
Oral advocacy, client briefings, networking, different audiences and the limits of persuasion. Practice: Honest Advocacy and a practice room explaining a deal to a baker.
Capstone: Capstone: the five-minute briefing, and your own speaking plan→
Plan a five-minute briefing step by step, then speak it and review. A checklist and a practice room.
What It Covers
“You will not be taught to perform. You will be taught to be clear, steady and honest in front of people.”
- Seven modules and a capstone briefing that follow a talk from audience and message to delivery and questions.
- Legal settings throughout: a judge, a client, a board, a jury, a hearing bundle, a remote hearing, and the ethics of what a lawyer may say.
- Practice labs and rooms: an audience sorter, an opening builder, a plain-language editor, delivery choices, slide surgery, hard-question responses and two interview rooms where you answer under pressure.
- Built to be spoken: a capstone that asks you to record yourself and review, and links to the simulators for practice.
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Other Scrolls in This Chamber
Across the Table$15 →Interests, walk-away numbers, offers, trades, pressure tactics and professional limits, with practice rooms and calculators.
Cooling the Room$15 →How conflict escalates, mapping a dispute, de-escalation, hard conversations, choosing a process, mediation, power, culture and ethics, with practice mediations.
The Client Conversation$15 →Trust, the first meeting, fees and scope, updates in plain words, advice and decisions, bad news, boundaries and ethics, with practice meetings.Module 1 is free to try. Sign in, pass each module quiz and the course average, and your Certificate of Completion is emailed to you automatically. This course teaches method and technique with invented people and figures; it is general education, not legal advice, and professional rules differ from country to country.
Common questions
- Is this only for courtroom advocacy?
- No. It covers oral advocacy, and also client briefings, board presentations, webinars, networking and speaking to non-lawyers. The method is the same: audience, message, structure, plain language, delivery and honest answers.
- Does it teach court etiquette?
- It describes common principles and tells you to learn the rules and customs of the court where you appear, since they differ by court and country.
- How does it relate to the Public Speaking simulator?
- The course teaches the method and the simulator lets you practise aloud and review. The two are meant to be used together.
- Do I need to be a lawyer?
- No. It is written for law students and lawyers, but the method applies to anyone who must explain something clearly and honestly to others.
- How do I get the Certificate of Completion?
- Sign in, pass each module quiz and keep a course average of at least 75. The certificate is then issued and emailed to you automatically.
- Is any of it legal advice?
- No. The people and situations are invented for teaching, and this is general education, not legal advice. Rules of court and professional duties differ by place.
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