Crafting Call to the Bar Speeches | Call Speech Series
I have moved pupils’ calls to the bar since 2006, which was when I crossed the seven-year threshold of being senior enough to take a pupil on and move their calls. I must have moved quite a number in the first couple of years because I reflected on the experience as early as 2008 in a piece titled A Meditation about Moving by an occasional Mover. Upon reflection, when I wrote that, I was at a high point in my idealism and outlook. That prescription of mine found its fullest expression in the call speech I prepared and delivered for my friend, Aston Paiva, where I interviewed his parents over dinner, and then his friend from university who happened to be Syahredzan Johan, also a lawyer, also over dinner and had extensive conversations with him. It was a great experience but difficult to pull off consistently. Over the years, I have climbed down considerably from the approach I prescribed there for myself. After about 14 years of crafting call speeches, I have worked out my call speech prep. I know what information I want from the pupil. I send them a list of 16 – 20 questions for them. I change up the questions every now and again. I tell them to write a lot for their answers. The more they give me, the more I have to work with. I sift for illustrative quotes from their answers and use them in the call speech. The soon-to-be lawyer’s voice is heard in the courtroom before they appear as an advocate and solicitor in their own right. Their words contrast with mine and keep the speech interesting. If they tell me that they like a book, movie, song, etc. I will look it up and try to find a quote from it that can liven the speech or reflect or resonates with the pupil. If I have time, I will invite the pupil over for a chat over tea near my office just to get to know them better. Sometimes I do suss out some useful material from our conversation. But it is mostly to experience what they are like in person. How close or far do they differ in person from the person responding to my questions by email (if I haven’t met them)? When I first started writing call speeches, it took me about five to six hours to prepare one. And I have never looked back. Since preparing my own call speeches, I have never ever used a standard call speech format. I take the responsibility of preparing a call speech seriously and still do. My desire to make a memorable call speech for each pupil I agree to move hasn’t changed. The only difference between now and then is that now I can whip up a speech in an hour if I need to. I said it in 2008, I can still say it in 2022: It is easy to deliver a stand-out call speech because many don’t bother to make the effort. The vast majority go by the call speech format or have the pupils write it for them or as often is the case, both. I once heard a mover mindlessly read out the call speech and end up with the following: ‘The Petitioner would also like to thank his Master, Mr X of ABC & Associates, as well as everyone at the law firm. And finally, the Petitioner would like to thank, the mover of his call, Mr Z, oh, that’s me, Yang Arif The pupil thanks me too! Oh, you’re welcome.’ Truly a face-palm moment. One cannot escape the impression that the mover was reading the speech for the first time while he was on his feet. An uncommon but regular thing. I still labour with the habit of compulsively revising the draft call speech right up to the point I deliver it. My mind keeps generating ideas about how to make it better. A lot of it is revising sentences to make them as concise as possible. I am removing a word or two here. Putting them back in again. Take one out. Adding a sentence there. Rearranging a few sentences here and there. Nothing major. It’s too late to do anything major by then. But I can’t stop the fuss. One thing I always try to include in my speeches is a touch of humour. Roaring, thigh-slapping laughter, if possible, but that’s tough. And it’s best I leave that to the professionals. Humour is also difficult because most times I don’t know who is in the gallery that morning. So humour has to be generally accessible. The humour I intend may not be palpable felt in writing because it is not just about the writing but the delivery as well. A few chuckles and smiles always liven up the room a little. Get the endorphins flowing kind of thing. Sometimes it has a cascading effect and motivates others to be humourous as well. A touch of humour lifts the serious and dour atmosphere. If I can eke out a smile from the presiding judge, lawyers or gallery, I count it as a good performance. If I get a laugh out of them, it’s a fist-pump performance. If I don’t even get a smile, it’s a bad one. It doesn’t matter if the pupil thanks me and is happy with it. To me, it’s a miss. That is my own personal KPI. I have more or less settled on a template that I use for my call speeches now. I don’t always follow it and try to experiment when I am bothered to. It is useful, especially at the end of a long working or weekend day when I am not at my creative best. Anyway, that structure is more or less as below with a more or less explanation for each section. Each square bracket is its own section. It is up to you how long or short each section
