Delivering facts, perspective, and context clearly and effectively is what wins the case - whether you're in a courtroom, or delivering a speech, or even an article. Learning how to tell your story could be what your brand needs to help you achieve your business goals, no matter how or who you serve.
The Lawyer Skillset of Effective Communication
Learning reactionary communication ensures clear, concise, and effective communication.
Robbie Crabtree explains that, as a lawyer, particularly in criminal trials, you enter the story after the nightmare has ended. You learn to be reactive, to put the pieces in order, and to connect with the audience in an instant. This teaches you how to read people, how to speak well, and how to deliver your message most persuasively.
One thing you learn in the courtroom is that you're not arguing, you are helping people communicate stories - but there’s very little room to help build dreams. After more than 100 trials as a prosecutor and defence lawyer, Robbie Crabtree perfected the art of public - or performative - speaking.
It’s Not About the Pitch But The Delivery
It’s not always about what you offer, but how you craft your narrative and style.
Founders and entrepreneurs often feel that what their business offers is the story, when there’s a deeper level that needs to be communicated - no matter what you, or your business, is providing. The understanding of what clear communication entails is the first step in effective storytelling.
What comes after the rough draft of the big picture, is not the details, but the delivery. Learning how to respond to questions clearly - with and without specific media notes - and have informal dialogue is just as important as being able to pitch your idea. Learning how to craft your narrative and style in a safe space with constructive feedback is deep work that any founder, entrepreneur, and really, individual, can benefit from.
Narrative Transformation is Essential to Quality Storytelling
The reason why speaking is an art is because it’s about the performance.
Robbie teaches that the best way to start and end any talk is to start strong, and finish even stronger. This means using strong words - support your narrative with impactful quotes, statistics and/or questions that help seed a thought in the audience’s head - and close the loop to the story you started, for the climax that’s eagerly awaited. The strong start and end helps with conviction.
Sandwiched in-between the hook and closure is connection. Use pop culture, music, movies, art. These are all the topics that you know, you love, and cause, well, feelings. These sources will create structure, storytelling, and emotion. If you’re all in the same boat, your message is more easily heard, and can transform the relationship. Stop reacting, transform your story and learn how to perform.
This article was first published on Disco.co to promote former trial attorney Robbie Crabtree's 5 week course on the Art of Performative Speaking on the Disco Learn community. When it comes to performative speaking, or writing, one must truly understand their audience and connect with that audience intentionally. Some really useful knowledge for any brand or business to learn to communicate effectively!