On November 29, 2023, Associate Professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law Svitlana Holovko and Oleksandr Kripak, Head of the Legal Department at Bayer International Company, conducted a joint seminar on “The Speaker and the Audience” for 3rd year law students as part of the course “Oratory Skills for Lawyers”. аудиторія».
The discussion covered general requirements for public speakers and their appearance, subjective and objective barriers to audience-speaker engagement, and ways to overcome them. Ethical principles and norms guiding professional communication were also analyzed.
Oleksandr Kripak drew future lawyers’ attention to peculiarities of preparing courtroom speeches and interacting with legal audiences. He emphasized that legal pleadings represent addresses to the court and other trial participants when hearing civil, criminal or administrative cases, summarizing conclusions regarding the case at hand. The legal practitioner stressed that drafting comprehensive and convincing pleading theses constitutes the best preparation strategy.
During the seminar, Oleksandr Kripak shared his own experiences of participating in court hearings as an attorney and provided valuable advice to students on achieving effective speaker-audience dynamics that will enable their future success. The practical insights from this collaborative session equipped prospective legal professionals with useful skills for articulating positions and constructing arguments in professional legal settings.