Communications Skills

Do you get nervous before speaking in front of people? Even worse, do you have trouble letting go of your performance once it's over? For lawyers especially, it can be hard to shut off your mind. So it’s useful to think about another context ...

As a judge reviews your brief, they’re evaluating your argument and your professionalism. Consider the words of the Hon. Raymond M. Kethledge, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, in an article he wrote for the ABA.(1) “When I read a brief, the first ...

A growing body of research suggests that reading fiction increases your capacity for empathy. The basic idea is that imagining the emotional world of fictional characters is good practice for empathizing with actual humans. For example, have you ...

Margaret Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” has frequently noted that with all technology, there is a good side, a bad side and a stupid side that you weren’t expecting. With major advances in technology, like the internet itself, ...

As you edit your work product, pay special attention to instances where a stronger verb could replace a verb and its direct object. Besides being less persuasive, weak verbs plus explanatory words lengthen your writing [not, “make it longer”].

It’s highly unlikely that your law practice is anywhere near as noisy and chaotic as Times Square. Quite the contrary: When you go to meetings, or present to groups of lawyers or potential clients, the space is relatively calm and quiet. Most ...

Just because you see a word or phrase in public media doesn’t mean it is being used correctly. Here are five common incorrect usages. Nicole Kidman’s husband is real. Because a person is famous does not make that person an ...

As members of a conservative industry that — literally — wrote the rule book on sexual harassment, law firms need to be ready for a day of reckoning that seems inescapable. Right now, the focus is still largely on Hollywood, mass media, Wall ...

My "Get to the Point!" columns talk about writing and speaking. But you communicate another way, too — through body language. Studies show that your gestures may speak more loudly than your words and can even contradict them. You may have ...

One fact that's always acknowledged in this column is that good content requires effort. It requires yours (which equals time and money) or someone else’s (which equals less time but more money). When speaking, I’ve railed against random acts of ...