Lucy Cornell, a director of Voice Coach, will speak to a group of lawyers below the partner level in the firm's Sydney office.

"Your voice is a function of your entire being," she said. "It is an energetic expression of you that comes through your body and your presence. What is your body doing to disarm you from being connected with someone?"

Cornell has a high profile client list that includes Volvo, the Macquarie Bank, Ernst & Young and Cricket Australia.

She has also worked with a number of law firms and legal associations, including Freehills, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sparke Helmore, the Victorian Bar and the Australian Bar Association. Internationally, she has worked with the South African Bar and with barristers in the UK as part of an advocacy course run by Keble College at the University of Oxford..

She notes that for law firms, which are so dependent on relationships from both an internal perspective and with regard to client interaction, the ability to communicate confidently is related to performance and career progression.

"When moving up the rungs of the ladder, such as the senior associate level and the next level beyond that, that is really when you need to start being able to communicate," she said. "It is all about relationships and the influencing capacity, and those skills aren't really developed.

Cornell uses a whole of body approach incorporating yoga, breathing exercises and meditation into her speech training. She believes relaxation techniques influence communication styles and how people interact with each other

"I now have barristers who meditate before going to court when that would have never happened five years ago."

See Lawyers Weekly 558 for an in-depth interview with Lucy Cornell, including how lawyers can find their authentic voice