You — Yes You! — Can Teach a CLE

by Meryl Carver-Allmond, BIDS Training Director

Particularly as a newer attorney, there is a lot of mystery about what it takes to teach a CLE, but it’s not as hard as it seems. It’s also a great way to make connections with other attorneys, give service to our greater legal profession, and build up your resume. You – yes you! – are absolutely capable of teaching a CLE. Here are the basic steps.

Pick a topic.

First, you have to pick a topic. As I’ve heard long-time appellate defender, Korey Kaul, tell new attorneys for years: We should all have at least one nitty-gritty area of criminal law that we are the go-to expert on. So what’s yours? Are you a fines and fees wonk? Do you nerd out about DNA? Do racially motivated car stops make you particularly angry? Think about the issues you are passionate about or the issues you are constantly working on, and chances are a good topic will quickly come to you.

Another way that you can find a topic is by thinking about what is needed. Is there something you wish your colleagues would do differently? Have you found a particularly smart way to approach a shared issue? Those ideas can also make great CLE.

Consider your audience and learning goals.

Next, think about your audience and what you want people to learn about your topic. Who is your presentation aimed at, and what do you want people to walk away being able to do?

When you’re thinking about your learning goal, try to think of a takeaway more specific than “people will learn something about this topic”. What will people be able to do after your class that they couldn’t do before?

As to audience, even among public defenders there are different audiences. Are you targeting a problem specific to your region or is it statewide? Are you focusing on new public defenders or those with more experience?

For one session of our recent BIDS CLE, for example, the goal was that the broad audience of statewide public defenders and assigned counsel would walk away being able to better challenge experts through the use of Daubert motions. At a CLE I presented this summer, my goal was to inspire the judges I knew would be in attendance to use their discretionary authority to limit the unjust impacts of procedural default. It may seem basic, but clarifying your audience and your goal at the start will save you work later because it anchors the direction of your presentation.

Decide appropriate format and content.

Once you have those two questions answered, think about the format that would work best for achieving your learning goal. Is this a CLE that will be more successful in person or will it work online? Should you be the only person speaking or is there a co-presenter or panel you can enlist to add to the discussion? Do you want to use a lecture format or is there a way that you can involve your audience more?

While a lecture format may seem easier – and it’s unavoidable for some topics – working in some degree of audience participation keeps people more engaged and ultimately helps what you’re teaching sink in better. Ask a few questions and give people time to answer them. Enlist a co-presenter you like, so that you can have some banter back and forth. In addition to helping your audience learn, working in some audience participation will take pressure off of you to speak the entire time, and – particularly for online CLE – will help give your presentation more energy.

Once you’ve figured out these structural issues, it’s time to start working on the content of your class. How you do that may depend on how you’ve answered all the questions to this point, but, for me, a basic outline is a good way to get my thoughts out of my head and into an organized form. From there, you can make a power point if you want to, or not, but, either way, you’ll have a map of where you’re going. This content will guide the direction of your lecture or discussion, but does not need to be a script – in fact, it’s always better if you’re speaking conversationally rather than reading.

Think about helpful written materials.

At some point, you will also need to think about materials. Kansas Supreme Court Rule 805(c)(4) requires that “thorough, high quality, readable, useful, and carefully prepared instructional materials must be made available to all participants by the time the program is presented….” The rule says that “[a] brief outline without citations or explanatory notations will not be sufficient.” It also provides that, while blogs and websites can be used as supplemental material, they cannot be the sole written materials for your CLE.

So what can you use? While an outline without citation isn’t sufficient, one with citations and explanation works just fine. If you’ve already done that in preparing your content, you may be all set. Other helpful materials may be relevant based on your topic, such as sample motions and briefs or on-point law review articles for people who want to take a deeper dive.

Practice out loud!

The last step is to practice your presentation. And don’t just practice it in your head, go through the process of saying the words out loud. First, you need to make sure you have the right amount of content to fill your time, but not go over. But talking your presentation through as if you’re giving it will also help you catch any problems and adjust. One thing I find particularly helpful to do is to record myself. It’s easy to do using Zoom, and – while it can be painful the first few times – would you rather catch the fact that you rock back and forth weirdly in the privacy of your own office or in front of an audience?

Teach your CLE.

That’s it – mystery unveiled! If you’ve gone through the steps of this process, you should be ready to get out there and teach your CLE. And afterwards, be sure to reach out for feedback from the organization you presented for or a trusted colleague in attendance. Hopefully, once you see how easy it really is, you’ll want to teach again, and constructive feedback is crucial for helping you to improve. Good luck and happy teaching!