Key Skills To Becoming A Lawyer
There are several key skills that help an attorney be successful in the courtroom
. If you aspire to become an attorney you should recognize these skills early and develop them to a level that sets you apart from others.
One of the first skills that you should work on is communication. Oral communication is of the utmost importance for someone who talks in the court of law for a living.
To help you develop this skill you should not shy away from social events and public speaking opportunities. Having good social skills among your peers is very important to help you get comfortable with talking to people from all different viewpoints and social niches.
If you are comfortable with one group of people, you should expand your horizon and branch out to get to know more people. Being outgoing and charismatic is very important to being a persuasive person in the courtroom.
Getting to know people at parties and in college is great, but the pressure is different when you are the only one standing and a room full of people are staring at you and listening to your words. This means that public speaking should be practiced as often as possible.
You can join school teams like speech and debate team to help you hone your public speaking abilities. There are many opportunities that high schools and colleges offer to help students get better at their communication skills in fact.
Things like student body government, sports teams, and other clubs that the schools offer are all opportunities for leadership positions where you can learn to be a more effective communicator. If you want to be an attorney you should work on these skills early so you get a jump start and walk right into law school with the right characteristics for success.
Another form of communication that you should focus on improving is writing abilities. Written communication is vitally important in the judicial system as you will not only have to interpret it, but be able to send it out as well.
Taking English and literature classes throughout school will help you get better at writing and interpreting the work of others. Understanding how people communicate in terms of words and tone is an important analytical tool that will help you succeed in the judicial system.
You should practice writing essays and outlines very efficiently as you will have to write long dissertations throughout your legal career. Make sure that your writing is very thorough and that you include details about everything you can.
Lawyers must be very specific in order to be successful; they cannot leave out any details no matter how small. When going through school you should also make sure that you read as much as you can.
Reading books, articles, and essays will help you become a better write and communicator as you learn from the people whose work you spend time. Another class like Civics is important as because it focuses on the government and how it works.
You will learn about the Constitution, which is the basis for all law in the United States of America. You should know that document by heart know only in word but in interpretation.
This document will serve as the foundation for almost every other law that you come in counter with throughout your career. In addition, you should work on your people skills throughout your life.
This means that you need people to be able to trust you and believe that the words coming out of your mouth are the truth. This type of charisma that you put off will help you gain the trust of clients, colleagues, the jury, and the judge.
You can practice this in how you talk and how you act towards people everyday. You need to be responsible, respectful, and have the ability to get people to instantly like you.
This all has to do with the intangibles that will really make all the difference when it comes to arguing your case to the court. Take all of these things into consideration as you strategically prepare yourself for the role of an attorney.
by: Tom Selwick
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