The Little Book on Oral Argument - Essential Guide for Legal Debates & Courtroom Speeches | Perfect for Law Students, Attorneys & Public Speakers

In order to prepare for oral argument in an important federal appeal, I ordered numerous books on oral advocacy. This book may be "little," but it was actually the best of the five books that I read. (Second best was "Winning on Appeal" by Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert). It was somewhat surprising that this book was best, because it was the smallest of the lot and, to some degree, is geared toward law students participating in moot court competitions, rather than to practicing lawyers. But this book had the most practical suggestions and I skipped over the parts applicable to moot court competitions (coordinating argument with a partner, etc.) I also liked the fact that this book had practical suggestions about dealing with "stage fright." Some of the other books I read suggested that if you don't feel totally comfortable with public speaking, perhaps you should find someone else to argue your appeal (gee, thanks). This is the book that I read over again the night before oral argument, and its upbeat tone and concrete suggestions really calmed my nerves. I highly recommend this book to any lawyer preparing for oral argument or for any law student participating in moot court.