PUBLIC SPEAKING, RANDOM THOUGHTS AND IMPROMPTU SPEAKING

I. PUBLIC SPEAKING

Read the following:

1. VALUING THE SPOKEN WORD: PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR LAWYERS SAMUEL H.

PILLSBURY* law.capital.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=20787

2. Public Speaking is Important - http://www.aaepa.com/2015/10/public-speaking-

is-important/
3. Mastering the Nuances of Persuasion by Becky Beaupre Gillespie
Law School Communications March 10, 2015 -
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/mastering-nuances-persuasion

II. ACTIVITY: RANDOM THOUGHTS

In addition to the three articles, read: Why Random Thoughts are Actually
Important, Backed By Science @ https://www.powerofpositivity.com/this-is-why-
random-thoughts-are-actually-important-backed-by-science/

For this activity, each one will be given a topic. You should be able to write your thoughts
about that topic that will be assigned to you.

Assignment of Topic Mr. Tarmago, there are 42 topics enumerated in the list I
separately provided you. Assign to your classmates each topic. The assignment must be
alphabetically done (SURNAMES of your classmates). Send to me the list with
corresponding names of your classmates.

Specifications Font: Calibri (Body); Font size: 11; Font Color: Black; Spacing: 1; Margins 1 inch.
No reference or citation is needed. Not more than 2 pages. Send the soft copy of your RANDOM
THOUGHTS to cyrus1158@yahoo.com not later than twelve noon of April 22, 2017. This will be
the subject of your email Random Thoughts_Legal Technique_FEU_Your Surname_First Name.

Hard copy will be submitted on April 22, 2017. NO NAME PLEASE. JUST YOUR FOUR DIGIT
NUMBER - TOPIC NUMBER AND THE TOPIC ONLY - (Example: 1234 - 1. We Are All Born Free
& Equal.)

Limitation: All thoughts should be in the context of human rights.

Example: In relation to the Articles I required you to read.

MY THOUGHTS ON PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR LAWYERS

By:

Atty. Cyrus Victor T. Sualog

There is no one right method of advancing ones idea, argument or advocacy. There are
many useful methods, and each of them has its own distinctive approach which suits to
different personalities. Thus, some methods are effective in their different and respective
ways.

Public speaking is just one of them. It is not fully accurate to say that a lawyer should be
good at public speaking in order to succeed in the legal profession. However, being good at
public speaking is more beneficial for a lawyer in litigation or corporate practice. But again,
public speaking skill is not a requirement. It is enough that a lawyer is able to speak
clearly and logically.

A lawyers public speaking skill is not a bullet proof that works 100% against the contrary
views or counter arguments that may be fired against him by an opposing party, but it may
lessen their impact. For a lawyer in litigation, what is more important is that he knows the
facts and the law of his case thoroughly because a judge probes a case deeply as it develops.
Answering the questions accurately and properly draws the difference between obtaining a
favorable judgment for a client and losing of a clients cause especially during the oral
argument of a case.

One of the skills that a lawyer can utilize in answering the questions is a straightforward
public speaking. Another good advice is simply to prepare for his case thoroughly. It is like
what a good billiard player does, he hits the cue ball not only to pocket the target ball, but
prepares it for the next shot that he will do. The more prepared he is, more confident he
becomes in answering the questions. Nevertheless, he should also consider that no matter
how familiar he is with his arguments and case, the judge, who is hearing them for the first
time, would ask questions which he might not have encountered during his preparation. If
the latter situation happens and he does not immediately know the answer, he must stay
calm and maintain his composure. There is no room to panic. He can stop for a while, and
think about it.

When appearing before, and speaking to a judge including answering questions, the rules of
public speaking do not apply. Simply the ordinary rules on speaking apply. A lawyer
should appear calm and confident. Like in any public speaking, good eye contact with the
judge is vital. This gives an appearance of confidence, implying that he knows what he is
saying, he is convinced by it, and thus, the judge should be convinced too. He avoids the
different signs of nervousness (e.g. mumbling, uncontrolled body language, etc.).

A lawyer who has a good speaking skill, but not necessarily a public speaker, gives a
statement or answer that is clear and well organized. He delivers it at a reasonable pace.
Timing is a key factor to him - he knows when to speak slowly enough to be understood,
and when to emphasize a point. He is on guard if he is already too forceful in his delivery,
because his aim is to persuade the judge and not to force him. He is mindful in injecting
any unnecessary and excessive joke because he knows that he is inside a court of law
presenting a case, and not in a comedy bar.

Finally, again, public speaking is just one of the methods by which a good lawyer can
convince and even influence a person including a judge, client and an adversary. A law
student should not be disheartened if he is not that good at public speaking. He only needs
to develop or enhance his speaking skill.

IV. ACTIVITY: IMPROMPTU SPEAKING

Read: How to Ace the Impromptu Speech by Andrew Dlugan

@//sixminutes.dlugan.com/how-to-impromptu-speech/ech

INSTRUCTION: Each student will pick a topic and will provide an impromptu speech about
it. He has 30 seconds to organize his thoughts and 2 minutes to express his thoughts. We
will utilize the topics provided in the previous ACTIVITY, but you will pick the topic on
April 22, 2017, Saturday.

REMEMBER: If the judge ask a question and the lawyer does not immediately know the
answer, he must stay calm and maintain his composure. There is no room to panic. He can
stop for a while, and think about it.