If you have ever watched a presentation and found yourself wishing the speaker would just get to the point, you already know the secret to eloquent speaking. For lawyers, speaking well isn’t an academic exercise—it’s a business tool. True eloquence means stripping out the legalese, using natural pauses, and delivering concise, high-impact messages that immediately connect with your listener’s self-interest.
Every lawyer needs to speak with colleagues, clients and prospects. Litigators need to address the court and sometimes jurors. Some lawyers give formal presentations. To develop eloquence for these situations, understand what eloquence is.
Every Word Is Important
Eloquent speakers can come up with a word that conveys meaning precisely without a bunch of explanatory fluff, showcasing their broad vocabulary. Avid readers command the broadest vocabularies.
Eloquent speakers use pauses effectively so a response is careful but not boring.
Eloquent speakers do not confuse the listener with incomprehensible jargon. Use the words you know. Amateurs think fancy words are impressive. Grammar and usage errors distract from the message. The same goes for pronunciation errors.
Eloquent speech reflects the candid view of the speaker. The eloquent speaker has something to say and a need to communicate it. Babbling in an incommunicative way, sometimes called “word salad,” is never eloquent.
Eloquence Responds to the Concerns of the Audience
In contrast, one of the first things a politician learns is the “pivot,” the knack of responding to a question by saying what the speaker wants to say instead of giving a direct answer. Have you watched a debate or interview where you wanted to scream, “You didn’t answer the question!”? What you watched was a pivot.
In public speaking, addressing the audience’s concerns directly can build trust and engagement.
Remember your frustration when a witness did this in deposition? You can move to strike as non-responsive, but it still may not get you an answer from an inarticulate witness. Don’t be those people.
Length, Volume and Speed
Don’t speak longer than necessary or go over your allotted time. This bores and upsets the listeners, not to mention the speakers scheduled to follow you.
TED talks are famously effective. One reason is that speakers are limited to 18 minutes, long enough to be informative, not so long as to bore people. If you are a CLE speaker scheduled to speak for, say, 50 minutes, of course, that is how long you should speak — but not longer.
A conversational tone is best. Eloquent speakers do not use a lot of superfluous phrases like: “So we decided, I mean, to be perfectly frank …,” and so on. Don’t read a script or slides verbatim. You will sound stilted and insincere.
Keep gestures under control. They can emphasize or undermine your message.
In every setting, every minute should be informing, perhaps delighting, your audience, not padding for time. Without reading a script or slide, the words should flow without fillers like “um” or “like.”
Just as in writing, the clarity and conciseness of your speech can significantly impact how your message is received.
Maybe you don’t need notes in formal settings. Most of us do, though, to make sure we don’t forget important points. By using underlining, bold or ALL CAPS, you can remind yourself to state certain phrases a bit more loudly to make your point. Alternatively, switching to an unexpected whisper can also emphasize the importance of your words.
Similarly, especially if your normal speech cadence is fast, slowing your pace can convey the gravity of your message. (I once represented my husband in traffic court, where I told the judge and prosecutor, “I. Have. To. Win. This. Case.” I did.)
Listen to Others — and Yourself
Paying attention to style rather than content, watch a snippet of a press briefing or talk show interview. How did those people deliver prepared remarks or respond to impromptu questioning? Whose eloquence do you admire? Who came off as smart or a doofus? What can you learn?
No one rehearses the interactions of daily life. (Some speakers obviously haven’t rehearsed their formal presentations, either!) Yet, you can be mindful of your own speech patterns. Ask others to alert you to, you know, like, annoying speech patterns. Think about slowing down, changing volume and using pauses to give yourself time to say the right thing the right way.
Modern Eloquence and Public Speaking FAQ
Public speaking is often a one-way street—like a closing argument or a formal keynote. In contrast, presentation skills are collaborative. You will have more impact, and people will learn more, when you move away from lecturing at your audience and instead focus on facilitating a conversation with them. This is true whether you are addressing a CLE audience, a corporate board or handling a media interview.
Cut the legalese and speak to the audience’s immediate self-interest. A simple way to do this is to use the phrase, “What this means to you is …” and break your core arguments down into tight, 7-to-10-second soundbites. Your listeners only need enough information to make a decision—not a summary of everything you know.
While formats like the 18-minute TED Talk prove brevity works, if you have a 50-minute block, use it wisely. Pace your delivery at a conversational rate of roughly two to three words per second. This naturally builds in room for pauses (for impact) and a Q&A, without overrunning your time.
Stop focusing on your performance and focus on serving the room. It helps to use “fear-setting” exercises before the event—write down your worst-case scenarios and logically plan how to handle them. Right before you speak, use physical grounding techniques to pull yourself out of your head and focus on your immediate surroundings.
Reading verbatim sucks the energy out of the room. It strips the natural energy from your voice, making you sound stilted, boring and even defensive. Audiences want authenticity, not a robotic, performance. Ditch the full script and rely on high-level bullet points or a strict “one-claim-per-slide” rule so you can maintain a conversational tone and engage with the people in the room.
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