Have you been invited to give remarks recently, to members of your firm, to a bar association or to a client gathering?

If that sounds scary, it does not have to be.  You do not have to shy away from volunteering to make a presentation, and you should never refuse an invitation.  Public speaking can make a big difference in your career, and it requires the kind of preparation that makes it look easy.

I have given a lot of speeches during my career, especially after I started the Best Friends at the Bar project.  My last speaking engagement was #99, and I will top off #100 when I address a law school audience in early 2025.  I speak at law firms, law schools and law organizations throughout the country, and I always enjoy it.  I also always use written notes, with the exception of Q and A.  There is no way of preparing notes for Q and A because you never know what to expect.  But that is what makes it so enjoyable as a true free-wheeling experience.

For a formal presentation, it is always notes for me.  I don’t want to stray from my message, and notes is the way to prevent that from happening.  Notes can be in the form of an outline, or they can be excerpts from your speech text.  Notes also can be colored highlights on your speech text — or any other method that keeps you on message and transitioning when you need to as part of a comprehensive subject matter presentation.

What notes cannot be is a visible crutch.  In other words, you cannot be stuck to your notes.  You MUST maintain eye contact with your audience — significant enough eye contact that you are truly connecting with your audience.  Audience members know when that is happening, and that is what they want to see.  Practice your speech enough so that you feel like you do not need notes, but do not give up on the notes.  At least that is what works for me.

So I was interested when recently I saw a blog by a friend of mine on the subject of notes or no notes.  That friend, Jezra Kaye, is an expert on all things related to public speaking, and I wondered what she thought about the notes or no notes debate.  As it turns out, Jezra and I are on the same page when it comes to the use of notes.

Jezra’s recent blog, “Is It (Ever) Wrong to Use Speaking Notes?” on her Speak Up For Success website also included reference to two former blogs, “Don’t Hide, Read with Pride” and “How to Make Speaking Notes Work for You.”  Jezra has been training speakers for many years, and all of these blogs are helpful to the novice speech giver.  It should be obvious from the blog titles that she does not oppose the use of notes.  In fact, she is in favor or them if they are used correctly.

Here are a few of Jezra’s tips on the use of notes:

• An audience takes its cues from the speaker.  If you do not act like your notes are a crutch, your audience will think your use of notes is perfectly acceptable;
• Practice your remarks a lot to enable good eye contact with your audience; and
• Format your notes so that the transition from audience eye contact back to your notes is seamless.

All of the information on Jezra Kaye’s Speak Up For Success website is useful, and I recommend the content as you take advantage of some of the speaking opportunities that come your way.  Challenge yourself in 2025.  Give that first speech.  You will be glad you did.