Conrad & Metlitzky litigator Ellen Richmond recently argued a major motion from home over Zoom. Here are her top ten tips:
Don’t move too much. Colleagues commented after a dry run that it was visually distracting to have the speaker moving around the screen. Pacing or gesturing, as you might in a courtroom, doesn’t work on video. Instead, it’s best to stay in one place and appear as a “talking head.”
You’ll probably want to sit. I considered standing up while speaking, hoping that standing might mimic the court experience. After testing this, however, I found that when standing I could not stay still enough during my 60-90 minute argument. When standing, I had to shift my weight in order to be comfortable, and that movement was too visually distracting for a small video screen. To achieve the “talking head” effect (see tip #1), I found I had to sit down.
Slow down (even more). Audio quality is of supreme importance for online communication. Speaking slowly really helps listeners. On video, you’ll need to speak even more slowly than you might in a courtroom.
Reduce reliance on notes. On video, it’s more distracting and awkward to refer to notes than it might be in a courtroom. If you need to dive for your notes or binder, you may disappear from view. I prepared my remarks even more than I ordinarily would, to eliminate these sorts of distractions.
Place any notes upright. Bending to read from notes may look OK in a courtroom, but it doesn’t come across well on video. I used a book stand to prop up my notes (out of camera view) so that if I did need to refer to them I wouldn’t have to bend my head.
Have an audio backup. I relied on my computer speaker for my audio connection, as I found, after testing, that it worked fine. But I had backup headsets available in case I needed to troubleshoot on the fly.
Use an external webcam. Laptop cameras sometimes provide footage from an awkward angle. Consider an external webcam, which will show you from straight on and will look more professional. If you do use a laptop camera, prop the laptop with books so the view is head-on.
Consider your surroundings. Once I settled on my vantage point, I reviewed my workspace to make sure that notes and papers were out of the camera range, and I removed other visual distractions.
Have a plan for on-the-fly comments. Talk ahead of time with clients and colleagues who may be listening in about whether and how they can communicate with you during the presentation. When colleagues are in different locations, there’s no way to write notes as you might at counsel table. Think about whether you can accept texts or emails midstream in a way that doesn’t look obtrusive on video. Obviously, any related notifications must be silent.
Practice at least twice. Use your moot to test not only your substantive points, but also your audio setup and camera angle. Then, once you’ve adjusted your setup, practice again, at least for a brief sound check, to test anything you change. I substantially altered both my physical positioning and my audio setup after both the first and second tests.