Valerie Madamba

I help lawyers make better presentations to grow their practices and get noticed as the go-to advisors in their fields. Here's how we can work together:

1️⃣ My self-paced course, Legal Presentation Fundamentals: the only toolkit you'll ever need to make outstanding presentations, tailored just for busy legal professionals.

2️⃣ Individual coaching: 1-1 feedback to make your next talk a smashing success. Choose either a live video call or asynchronous review (no meetings required!).

3️⃣ Support for your firm: customized packages to amplify your BD and help your firm or practice group stand out on the speaking circuit. DM me to learn more.

////////////// WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY ////////////////

💜 "Val's coaching is exceptional. What impressed me most was her ability to offer substantial and effective advice within a tight deadline, ensuring my presentation was impactful and well-received. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to elevate their presentation skills – her coaching is a true game-changer."
-General Counsel

💜 "Val helped me clearly define what I wanted to create with my talk, why and how. I gained so much clarity and excitement to get started! I’d recommend working with Val to anyone who wants to discover where they can bring most value as a speaker."
-Legal & Regulatory Executive

💜 "Val helped me feel more confident than I ever thought I would in front of hundreds of people. I got great feedback on my style, delivery, and content!"
-Law Firm Director

💜 "So helpful! Thanks for helping me figure out the purpose of my talk - I feel more confident already!"
-In-house Corporate Counsel

💜 "I reached out to Val for help preparing a speech in English, which is not my mother tongue.
Her patience and exceptional professionalism helped me far beyond my expectations. She helped me structure my speech in a lively way, with rigor and flexibility, and guided me through creating my deck in PowerPoint too. I highly recommend her!"
- Educator

Legal Presentation Trainer | Principal Consultant

Foodwit

Senior Regulatory Consultant

I helped food companies sort out regulatory and food safety compliance so they can focus on getting their products to market.

Principal, Regulatory Compliance & Affairs

Blue Apron

Senior Counsel, Regulatory Compliance and Government Affairs

Brooklyn Law School

I developed and taught this food law and policy course together with a leading consumer class action attorney.

Adjunct Professor of Food Law

Bayer

Legal Counsel, Women's Health

Novartis

Senior Associate Director - Drug Regulatory Affairs Advertising & Promotion

Hogan Lovells

Associate, FDA Practice Group

Assistant Chief Counsel for Food

Lawyers: your next presentation could make or break your brand.

But most lawyers blow the opportunity. That's because no one taught us how to connect with business audiences in the real world.
 
Law school and conventional practice tell us to:
🔴 Dole out case names and litigation updates
🔴 Blast the audience with everything we know
🔴 Fill our slides to the brim with text and bullets
 
Truth is: your ideal client doesn’t care about any of it.  
 
Instead, she's looking for:
🟢 A solution for tackling her biggest problem
🟢 A way to meet her targets without costly surprises
🟢 A practical partner and advisor who can help her figure it all out
 
Your clients don't want to hear from yet another talking head.

You need to stop leading with the law and start leaning into what matters to your audience.
 
When you do, you'll stand out from the pack. You'll be authentic and relatable, authoritative and compelling - because you know how to deliver a presentation that isn't about you, but entirely about your audience.  
 
Show your audience they come first, and they’ll never forget you.

👉  I help lawyers design and deliver compelling presentations to become go-to experts in their fields and grow their practices. 

🟢 Ready to stand out? DM me and let's make it happen.

5 ways to boost your executive presence as a presenter:

1. Take up space. Abandon the podium, ground yourself between moves, and stand tall.

2. Slow down. Act like you own your time. Don't rush.

3. Speak at the lower end of your comfortable vocal range.

4. Make sustained eye contact with audience members to create the feeling of a conversation.

5. Pause deliberately, closing your mouth between ideas so filler words can't escape.

Executive presence isn't about changing your personality style but bringing out your best.

Be intentional about using your time, body, and voice, and you can command any room.


Valerie Madamba, JD

I help lawyers make great presentations to become go-to advisors and grow their practices. Former BigLaw, FDA, and in-house lawyer.

I just hit 20k followers.

So to celebrate, I’m giving you something extra special.

🎉 20,000 Top Tips for Better Legal Presentations! 🎉 

Heh, no.

What would you even do with a list of 20,000 tips? Or twenty, or even ten?

That’s not a useful format for anything, whether it’s a Linkedin post or a CLE webinar.

Instead, I’m just going to give you one thing. My favorit reminder for improving your Legal presentations:

👉🏼 Always focus on one clear, specific, actionable theme that will make a difference for your audience.

That’s it—simple and effective.

Instead of trying to cover every detail, zero in on a single, relevant message, then devote your time and energy to illustrating its applications, nuances, and possibilities.

No audience will remember everything you say, but they can always take home one thing—especially when you’ve brought it to life in several different ways during your talk.

And the best way to make an impact is by focusing on one clear, compelling theme.

One powerful theme beats 20,000 scattered ideas every time.

P.S. Thanks for following along and helping save the universe from mind-numbing Legal presentations. I appreciate you!

P.P.S. If your firm or Legal team is ready to start giving talks that stand out, I’m booking workshops through the fall. DM me “CLE” and I’ll send you everything you need to know.

The Legal Presentation Coach | I help lawyers make great presentations to become go-to advisors and grow their practices | Former BigLaw, government, and in-house lawyer.

Simple tip for better presentations:

Hide your slides by pressing the “B” key. Then press “B” to show them again.

When you do this at the right moments in your talk, you will:

- Stand out from every other presenter
- Project uncommon poise and confidence
- Highlight your message by eliminating visual distractions

This is a power move that very few speakers will ever attempt.

Try it next time you:

- Take audience questions
- Tell a story you know by heart
- Want to reinforce your main point or audience connection

Remember: your slides should enhance your message, not compete with or replace it. 

Hide your slides strategically so you can shine.

P.S. It’s “B” in PowerPoint and might be different in other programs. 
P.P.S. Want more simple tips for better legal presentations? Get my free email course here: bit.ly/3wOna5q

The fastest way to make your legal presentations forgettable:

Position the law, rather than the audience, as the hero of your story:

"The statutory language requires X."
"The regulatory climate suggests Y."

Too much impersonal language tells your audience that you care way more about legal concepts than their needs.

But if you want to inspire action and build trust, you need to make your audience the hero instead.

To start: use more personal pronouns.

▪️ Use more "you" to emphasize how your audience can apply your guidance.

"You can start mitigating risk by making three key updates."

▪️Use more "I" to highlight what you do.

"Every day, I see how this approach simplifies compliance."

▪️Use more "we" to create common ground.

"By adopting this training program, we can bolster our reputation and create new opportunities."

Sure, everything you've learned about legal and formal business writing taught you that personal pronouns will destroy your credibility.

But you're a real-world speaker now. It's time to shake off those dusty old constraints and let yourself talk like a human being.

To make a genuine connection with your audience, you must bridge the gap between you and them. Using more-personal language will help you do that.

Because memorable legal presenters always speak to and about people, and they know that every word counts.

So use language that delivers what your audience is really looking for: an experienced guide who can help them become the heroes they want to be.

P.S. If you want to start standing out as a go-to advisor through your presentations, get my free email course here: bit.ly/3wOna5q


A standard, forgettable Legal presenter leaves the audience thinking:

“She’s a real expert on that subject.”

But memorable Legal presenters leave them feeling:

“She’s the expert for me.”

That's because forgettable presenters rattle off everything they know, while memorable presenters help solve real problems.

As a presenter, you could be just another expert in your field.

Or you can be the one your audience remembers long after they leave the room.

In your next talk, which will you be?


Preparing a presentation doesn't mean putting together a slide deck.

The real work is creating an experience for your audience.

A deck just adds dimension, texture, and color. It can't do the work for you.

So if you want to give a memorable presentation that will resonate with your audience:

▶️ Identify the main problem the audience is facing
▶️ Choose the ONE thing you’ll address to help them solve that problem
▶️ Curate stories, examples, and exercises to illustrate that one thing 

…before you go anywhere near PowerPoint.

Focus on creating an experience that leaves your audience in a better place, and they’ll never forget you.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 
👋🏼 Hi, I'm Val, ex-lawyer and Legal presentation coach.
✉  Get my free email course for engaging Legal presentations: bit.ly/3wOna5q


Lawyers: to be known as a practical, reliable advisor, you need to go beyond presenting "best practices."

Anyone can find a list of best practices or legal updates—but these will never solve the problems your audience cares about.

Your job is to help them understand what to do next.

And that means distinguishing must-haves from nice-to-haves. (I know, the corporate-speak, sorry!)

Too many presenters jumble these concepts together, leaving their prospects, clients, and colleagues stuck and overwhelmed.

Don't do this to your audience. Instead, be the guide who makes it easy to act.

Give them a framework for prioritizing next steps, not just an aspirational laundry list.

Help them make progress now, and they'll keep turning to you for direction later.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 
👋🏼 I'm Valerie, ex-lawyer and Legal presentation coach
✉  Get my free email course for engaging Legal presentations: bit.ly/3wOna5q


My favorite way to end a workshop or training presentation:

👉🏼 Ask the audience to share one thing they've learned and are excited to try.

This simple closer is awesome for two reasons:

1 - It closes your event with a bunch of ways that your content was helpful and actionable. 

And that rundown of value is extra legit because it comes from your audience, not you.

2 - It gives you a concrete motivation to make your presentation great.

When you know you'll be asking everyone to share something practical and useful that they're excited to try, you'll work extra hard to make sure they have something to say.

What's your go-to way to close your presentations?

Standard legal presentations are all about the speaker.

➤“All about our world-class global team”
➤ [Here’s some inscrutable statutory language]
➤ [Here’s a list of updates that are interesting to me alone]

Standout legal presentations are all about the audience.

➤ “Let’s look at how this framework can help you mitigate risk.”
➤ “I’ve put together a checklist you can customize for your teams right away.”
➤ “You might be wondering: what does all this mean for your marketing goals?”

The days of standard legal lectures are over.

Focus on what your audience wants and needs—not just what you want to talk about—and you’ll be top of mind when they need support.

Your legal expertise is a given. 

But your ability to give the most practical, relevant guidance will make you irreplaceable.


Most legal presenters never teach you anything useful.

That's because they make this common mistake: teaching everything by lecture (and hoping that a few fun pictures will keep their audience awake).

But you won't learn to swim just by watching a few YouTube videos.

You won't learn to throw pottery just by admiring a stack of bowls.

And you won't learn how to protect an IP portfolio or reduce securities-litigation risk just by listening to a 60-minute lecture.

So if you want to leave your audience with something useful, you must match what you're teaching to how you're teaching it.

Start with your learning objectives, then identify the most effective way to accomplish them.

Do you want to:

🟢 Teach a practical skill? Then create a hands-on exercise.

🟢 Build wisdom and judgment? Then invite the audience to work through a relevant scenario.

🟢 Share background theory, stories, or examples? Go ahead and lecture. Just keep it brisk and concise. 

The key is to lecture intentionally, not habitually. Make lecture a tool in your teaching toolbox, not the default setting.

So next time you're prepping a presentation, ask yourself: what's the best way to help my audience learn and integrate this content right now?

Then choose your teaching tools accordingly. 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

👋🏼 I'm Val, ex-lawyer and Legal presentation coach. Want to make better, more engaging Legal presentations? Head to my profile and get my 5-part email course. It's free. 


Lawyers: bad presentation visuals will always undercut your value.

Do not let this happen.

You don't need any special design skills or PowerPoint wizardry. 

You just need some focus.

Eliminate visual noise and let your value come through.

P.S. For more simple ways to radically upgrade your Legal presentations and start standing out, get my free course here: bit.ly/3wOna5q


Creating premium presentation slides

You know your law firm’s presentations should reflect your brand. 

But they rarely leave the right impression.

Like one night out, when a few friends and I splurged on dinner at a hyped-up new place.

The first course arrived, and it was gorgeous: a black plate with colorful, striking shapes at the center and a tasteful sprinkling of something pink. 

I was ready to be wowed.

But after the first few bites, I realized that the flavors were insipid, underwhelming. The substance didn't match the style. I could have easily made that dish myself. 

And at the price point the restaurant commanded, I couldn't help but feel disappointed and annoyed.

This is exactly what I see happening every day with law-firm presentations.

Marketing teams invest in prettying up their presentation templates. Maybe they'll bring in the occasional public-speaking trainer.

Sure, aesthetics and delivery are critical. But focusing just on these aspects will never help lawyers give the presentations that make them or their firms stand out.

That’s because this approach ignores the real work: tailoring content to each audience and translating complex legal material into an experience that resonates.

So the substance of these presentations is predictable, dry, and bland. It doesn’t move anyone to act.

Like a mediocre dish on a pretty plate: it might look nice, but it won't create the impact you're after.

If lawyers are going to make presentations that elevate their personal brands and their firms, they need more than just a polished slide deck or a one-off training on how to stop saying “um.”

They need a system for creating presentations that strike a chord with each audience and position the speaker as a must-have advisor. 

So stop serving up bland dishes on fancy plates.

Start taking a systematic approach to legal presentations: focus on getting the content right, structuring it to resonate with the target audience, and telling the right stories. 

Then bring it all together with visuals and polished delivery.

That’s how your firm’s presentations become experiences that leave the audience craving more.

Pictured: me digging into something at a Kyoto restaurant where they got style + substance exactly right.

#lawyers #presentationskills #legalmarketing

Lawyers aren't getting the support they need to be great presenters.

This was true for me as a junior lawyer, and I'm hearing the same thing now from so many of you.

One former BigLaw associate put it this way: "I spent a year trying to find an internal expert to help me make better presentations. No luck."

Another associate: "There's so much pressure to present well, but no help on how to do it."

When I was a newer lawyer, I couldn't find this kind of support either, even when I was surrounded by brilliant colleagues and huge Marketing teams.

And I really needed it, especially as someone who had never raised her hand in law school, piped up in meetings, or felt like she could share her perspective with authority.

Like so many of my clients, I felt lost when it came to:

▶ Handling tough questions
▶ Standing out in a crowded field
▶ Creating visually appealing slides
▶ Speaking with confidence and influence
▶ Planning presentations when I had no time
▶ Promoting my services without being salesy
▶ Earning and keeping an audience's attention
▶ Using stories and case studies appropriately
▶ Making dry, complex material more interesting

Creating better, more engaging legal presentations is not intuitive, and I spent years trying to crack the code and build my confidence.

Investing in my presentation skills helped me attract and serve clients powerfully, boost my confidence, and open up so many opportunities. 

But I wish I'd found the support I needed many years earlier.

If any of this resonates with you, DM me. 

I love working with firms and legal departments to help their lawyers stand out as speakers, and I'll send you everything you need to know about how we can work together.


Making better presentation slides doesn't have to be complicated.

You just need to ensure that each one has a clear spot for the eye to land.

Typical slides are jam-packed, so the audience has to work hard to figure out what the point is. They hate that. And they stop listening.

So always make sure each slide has a single, obvious focal point.

When you do this, your visuals will be clear, accessible, and helpful—just the way you want your audience to see you.

P.S. For more simple tips on making engaging Legal presentations, grab my email course here: bit.ly/3wOna5q. It's free.

#lawyers #legal #presentationskills

Presentation skills are not "soft skills."

They are power skills.

When you know how to turn complex legal concepts into actionable insights, your audience will see you as an indispensable resource.

When you know how to leave an audience feeling empowered and excited to implement what you've shared, that audience will never forget you.

When you know how to deliver a message that sticks long after you've left the stage, your audience will become your most enthusiastic advocates.

Better Legal presentations mean being at the top of your prospects' lists. Being the first one they call when they need an expert. Positioning yourself for bigger opportunities.

There's nothing soft or fluffy about that.

Your legal expertise is only as good as your ability to communicate it. 

Do you have the tools to make every presentation work for you?

P.S. I help lawyers raise their profiles and differentiate their brands through better presentations. To learn more about bringing this training to your team, DM me “CLE” and I’ll send you everything you need to know.

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