As public speaking is becoming an unavoidable part of a lawyers’s job, Catherine Baksi spends a day at the acting school that is teaching solicitors to become powerful orators

The rarefied bohemian atmosphere of Bloomsbury’s renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is perhaps not the first place one might expect to find a collection of lawyers. But for the past five years, RADA in Business has been offering solicitors and other professionals courses on presentation and public speaking skills.


So it was that eight members and employees of Surrey Law Society (SLS) recently assembled in a third-floor studio, not for traditional advocacy training, but to develop ‘personal impact’.


Lis Hughes, chief executive of SLS, says solicitors are increasingly being called on to give talks and presentations to clients, colleagues and schools, but there is a curious paradox that while they may be confident doing court advocacy, many are more uncertain when it comes to the art of public speaking.


Andrea Boulter, a family solicitor at Aldershot firm Herrington & Carmichael, is a case in point. ‘I do a lot of court advocacy, and I am happy doing it, but I am terrified of speaking in public,’ she says. But public speaking is something she will have to get used to, as she takes over as SLS president this autumn.


The one-day course consists of practical, theatre-based exercises designed to improve solicitors’ communication and personal presentation skills. It begins with a traditional ice-breaker, in which the eight participants, who today all happen to be female, stand in front of the class to introduce themselves and explain why they are there. This gives the tutor, Sandie Miller, a RADA-trained actress and presentation skills consultant, her first opportunity to assess the personal impact made by each person.


On average, an audience determines whether or not a speaker is credible within seven seconds, Ms Miller tells the group, and this judgement is based not on what the speaker is saying, but on the way they are saying it. Research by American psychologist Dr Albert Mehrabian revealed that only 7% of an audience’s attention is focused on the content of a speech, continues Ms Miller in her own deep, well-trained voice, while 38% is on the speaker’s voice, and 55% on their body language.


‘That means 93% of their attention is focused not on the message but on how the message is put across,’ she emphasises.


The class begins in earnest with relaxation techniques. ‘When an athlete competes in a race, they wouldn’t do so without warming up their body – the same should apply before speaking in public,’ intones Ms Miller as she leads everyone through a series of stretching, tensing and relaxing exercises.


For the face, she instructs the group to protrude their tongues – that’s to say stick them out – point them and move them up and down and from side to side. Next, the lawyers are instructed to open and shut their mouths, then blow kisses.


On to breathing – ‘the foundation of all good speech’ – with the obligatory deep inhaling and exhaling exercises, before the part everyone dreads: singing. Next, everyone has to speak for one minute on a subject they are passionate about, which for this group includes swimming, technology and fly-fishing. The object is to demonstrate that when you talk on a subject you are passionate about, your voice looks after itself.


‘And if you can’t be passionate about the subject matter, you can be about the need to get it across,’ encourages Ms Miller.


Giving the appearance of being confident is, to a large degree, the key to successful public speaking, Ms Miller says. To improve the group’s confidence, she has what she calls her three-card trick. Everyone writes three different nouns on cards, which are collected and mixed up. Each person takes three cards and, before looking at them, must stand up and begin to tell a story based on something that has happened to them. At three points during the story, the speaker looks at one of the words, which they must incorporate seamlessly into the story.


While this initially sounded impossible, everyone performs extremely well and it is hard to detect most of the ‘trick’ words – which included dinosaur, bubble and handbag.


One of the most interesting exercises involves standing in front of the group in complete silence for one minute. The point here, Ms Miller explains, is: ‘Don’t be afraid of silence – as the speaker, you are the one with the power.’


During the day her advice ranges from the esoteric – ‘keep your voice in the front of your mouth’ – to the more straightforward and obvious, such as ‘open your mouth when you speak’.


Her top tip for being a successful public speaker is to rehearse out loud, and preferably in front of a mirror – advice the group finds particularly liberating. Never wear anything brand new, she says, but wear something appropriate that you are comfortable in, that you know will not ride up, fall down or squeak.


‘Adopt an open relaxed posture with your feet grounded to the floor – don’t fold your arms, put your hands in your pockets or fiddle with hair. If you’re going to move, move with intention – don’t do the soft-shoe shuffle. And if you move your arms, do so from the shoulder not the elbow.’


She carries on: ‘Maintaining eye contact with the whole of your audience is essential, but avoid the lighthouse effect, where you look everywhere and see no one. And above all, enjoy it.’


Some of her advice is more psychological, and aimed at changing negative mindsets. ‘See nerves as excitement – as a positive thing and use the energy that nerves provide. Recognise that fear is normal, realise it can be controlled and does not have to show.


‘Think about yourself positively and visualise yourself as an impactful speaker.’


Ms Miller has advice for controlling the frequent symptoms of nerves too. If you have a dry mouth, she says, run your tongue over the front of your teeth or gently bite your tongue to cause saliva to flow. Or if you have excess saliva, put the tip of your tongue behind your teeth and breathe in.


To get rid of butterflies in the stomach, Ms Miller recommends tensing the muscles of the abdomen and buttocks, hold, release and repeat. And for facial tension, open the jaw wide, and relax and smile.


So you have done your preparation, your breathing exercises and relaxation, visualised yourself receiving a standing ovation, but what if the worst happens and you dry up?


Breathe in and out slowly, look at your notes, which will of course be on memory cards with concise bullet points (do not write on the bottom part to avoid being unable to read the vital words underneath your thumb), and collect your thoughts, is the expert advice.


‘If you act confidently, you will feel confident,’ says Ms Miller.


But how confident did the unaccustomed public speakers feel by the end of the day, and what will they take away from it?


Janet Hoyle, president of SLS and a conveyancer at Palmers in Kingston upon Thames, says: ‘It has made it seem acceptable to prepare and practise – we can often feel we should just be able to do it naturally. It’s shown us small things we can all do to make a big difference.’


Danielle O’Malley is scheduled to start a training contract with Kingston firm Howell Jones Partnership. She attended the course because she had to retake the advocacy part of the legal practice course and felt she needed more practice.


‘I found the vocal and breathing exercises most helpful. Now I feel more confident and I am looking forward to putting the skills in to practice,’ she says.


Ms Hughes sums it up: ‘For me this has demonstrated the truth of the saying “it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it”’.