Courses

This course offers a quick but intensive training course in effective verbal communications. Lawyers of all practice areas are called upon regularly to persuade clients, colleagues, and decisionmakers both in and out of court by using verbal presentation skills. Consequently, many law school classes contain a rhetorical component upon which you are graded, and most legal employers place a heavy premium on your ability to articulate your ideas aloud. This class will arm you with the fundamentals of verbal persuasion to help you become a more effective communicator in law school and beyond. Each class will consist of two components: faculty lecture, followed by a workshop session in which you will be able to practice what you have learned by making oral presentations and receiving detailed feedback. The class will be particularly useful for students who want to improve their interviewing skills, or who have little public speaking experience. Suitable follow-up courses include Hallmarks of Distinguished Advocacy, Oral Presentations In and Out of the Courtroom, Rhetoric, Advanced Verbal Persuasion or a trial practice class.