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On 12 July 2022, I visited the office of Law Business Research (LBR) – LCN’s parent company – to speak at the launch of LBR’s Neurodiversity Network. I was invited to share my experiences of life as a neurodivergent aspiring lawyer, how I can be supported to achieve my goals, and things to think about to support and include other neurodivergent staff and aspiring lawyers so that we can thrive in the profession. (see here).

It was also great to meet some colleagues who I’ve been working with to create these amazing articles for you!

I’m always looking out for opportunities to get involved with neurodiversity advocacy work because it's my life, whether I’m in work or not, and because I know that my efforts can directly benefit me and so many others in my communities.

I'm autistic, and some of my difficulties include taking a little while longer than my peers and friends to warm up or gauge the feel of social settings. Due to our divergent perceptions of the world and how we process and interpret information, this isn’t uncommon for many of us.

Public speaking is one of those social settings as it involves speaking to a large number of people with their attention fixed on me for long periods of time. While public speaking for many of us can be incredibly anxiety-inducing, for autistics that anxiety can be overwhelming and even result in sensory overwhelm or meltdowns where our bodies and minds simply can’t process the intense amount of information around us.

It can happen because our hyperempathetic characters mean we can feel too much (whether from ourselves or our audience) and it can overwhelm us. Be it nerves, excitement, a potential lack of interest, intense stares of concentration, or over-interest and the need to perform to that.

Or perhaps our sensory sensitivities can make bright lights, loud sounds or background noises like the hum from fluorescent lights overwhelming and can catch us off guard or derail us. 

But since I’ve been thinking about it, there are a number of aspects of public speaking and the preparation that I enjoy and that align with how my brain works.

Read Phil's Blog post: 'How can you be a good ally for diverse lawyers?'.

Lots of preparation

For pretty much all of my speaking engagements (presentations, panel events, podcast appearances etc), I’ve had lots of time and lots to prepare so I can make it good and memorable, and so that I know what I want to talk about. Having that chance to really immerse myself into the preparation, the subject matter, the opinions, the dissents, facts, figures, and everything else means I can develop a really good level of knowledge and expertise about what I’m presenting on, which in turn means I’m much more confident in my delivery. This works well for my analytical mind and my creative and divergent thinking.

It can perhaps become a 'special interest' too! I know of another autistic aspiring lawyer who, when making applications and preparing for assessment centres, developed a special interest in the subject matter.

Memorising lines/scripts

Some of us neurodivergents (NDs) can struggle with working memory. So I find it helpful to have a script/talking points with sub-points that I want to talk about so that I know where I’m at in the delivery of my presentation/speech. That’s how I’m able to handle information well on the day.

But other autistic people can have very good memories and so are able to memorise their 'lines' exceptionally well and are able to present 'from the heart'. Particularly if they're presenting on a topic that they have a real interest in, that desire to showcase our knowledge and expertise and confidence is a real advantage for us.

Neither is wrong as it all depends on what works well for each of us, so this is very much a case of 'you do you' and having in place what we need to help our brains work magic.

Style

We’re all unique and have our own style, and what I’ve found is that when I’m preparing for events, I make sure to bring some of my own character to it. That way, I’m able to make it a unique and memorable experience and one that my audience will remember.

Let’s be honest, presenting does need some flair, doesn’t it! If you’re just bombarding the audience with information, you’re going to see a lot of glazed eyes! So being able to bring your character to your presenting means the audience will remember you and what you’re saying to them.

I like to tell a story when I’m presenting. So my style is that I incorporate the information I want to put across, stories with some light-hearted jokes (especially if there are negative stories to tell), a few memes, some audience participation, and a call to action at the end. For me, it's important to make it fun and make it into a bit of a show and an occasion because, as the saying goes, people won’t remember what you said but they will remember how you made them feel. And if the audience feels good about what and how you present, you’ll be remembered.

Top tip, bring some memes!

This is a classic example of breaking down an activity into parts that are ND brain-friendly, and recognising that the component parts can be quite fun! So next time you look at a goal, like a speaking engagement, think about how you can make each part that leads up to the goal enjoyable. This will in turn give you that bit more confidence to actually present and perform.