Speech Patterns Make or Break Lawyers’ Arguments

Whether offering counsel, brokering a deal or arguing before the bench, attorneys must draw upon every available resource in order to best serve their clients. It is especially important that they develop a speaking voice that will create trust and help sell their version of the truth.

“Lawyers are the ultimate sales people – they routinely sell legal arguments to clients, colleagues, opposing lawyers, judges and juries,” says Renee Grant-Williams, author of “Voice Power,” and coach to professional speakers, business leaders and some of the recording industry’s biggest stars. “As with all sales, it’s often not what you say, but how you say it that is most important,” says Grant-Williams. “You can have the best strategy and the best arguments in the world, and still fail – if your voice does your message a disservice. A skilled speaker knows how to work an audience so that listeners absorb only what the speaker wants them to receive.”

Grant-Williams says the first order of business for any attorney is to build trust. A warm, confident voice signals that the speaker should be taken seriously. “It’s important that attorneys convey they are deeply committed to what they are saying,” says Grant-Williams. “And the way to get that committed-sounding voice is to breathe low – and support the voice with the lower body. Shallow breathers sound anxious and insincere.”

Grant Williams says that one of the secrets to effective speaking lies in the skilled use of consonants. Emphasizing and lingering on a consonant at the beginning of a word can help communicate the intention behind that word. For example, “I want mmmmore money” indicates the speaker has been offered an amount of money, but not enough. Whereas “I want more mmmmoney” might indicate the speaker has been offered something other than money (like stock options), but that is not acceptable. The same four words convey two distinct meanings.

Another tip from Grant-Williams is to use a liberal dose of variety in regards to pacing, volume, tone, rhythm, pitch, silence and pauses. Once a speaker has established a pace, volume, rhythm and tone, they can catch listeners off guard by making attention-grabbing alternations to their expected flow of words.

“An attorney might, for instance, suddenly pause before dropping a bombshell,” Grant-Williams says. “This unexpected pause creates anticipation in the listeners. And if there is an additional pause again after the bombshell, listeners have time to digest what has just been said.”

In addition, Grant-Williams says that speakers should maintain vocal intensity through the end of every phrase. “The most brilliant-minded attorney will likely leave the courtroom with an unhappy outcome if they are unable to sustain volume through every sentence,” says Grant-Williams. “It’s amazing the number of speakers who consistently unintentionally let their voices trail off at the end of a sentence. Not only does it become difficult to hear what is being said, but this speaking pattern conveys weakness and a lack of confidence.”

Grant-Williams offers more advice in her book, “Voice Power: Using Your Voice to Captivate, Persuade, and Command Attention” (AMACOM, New York). This book is endorsed by Paul Harvey and was selected for inclusion in the “Soundview Executive Book Summaries” program.

She coaches business executives, sales professionals and celebrities including Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Faith Hill, Keith Urban, the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, and Christina Aguilera. She presents speaking programs to organizations throughout the United States and has been quoted by Cosmopolitan, US Weekly, TV Guide, Business Week, Southern Living, the Associated Press, UPI, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She has appeared on many broadcast outlets including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Bravo, USA, MTV, CMT, GAC, BBC, PBS, and NPR.
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For more information or to schedule an interview with Renee Grant-Williams, call 615-244-3280 or visit www.DynamicVoicePower.com.

10/09/2007