Last week, the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) hosted its latest Titans Series breakfast with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia as keynote speaker.
Greg Baroni, Chairman and CEO of Attain, LLC, introduced Justice Scalia at the packed Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner. In his introduction, Baroni highlighted Justice Scalia’s many accolades and achievements as the longest currently serving Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court-including that he has 19 children and 33 grandchildren.
With one-liners such as “don’t use words that would make people look at you funny at a cocktail party” and “if you find writing easy, you are probably not writing well,” Justice Scalia was a dynamic and engaging speaker at the 500-person event.
Drawing on his most recent book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges, Justice Scalia acknowledged that most attendees were not lawyers by trade, and so he worked to make the themes in his book relatable to the audience.
A few takeaways from Justice Scalia’s presentation:
1. In order to become a great writer, you must read often
2.During a presentation, never talk down or up to your audience: always treat them as an equal partner
3. Master the use of pauses to draw the audience to your cause
Each attendee received a copy of Making Your Case and was able to have it signed by Justice Scalia. Sudhakar Kesavan, Chairman and CEO of ICF International, opened the formal portion of the program as NVTC’s 2013-2014 Chairman.
Photo credit to Blane C. Perry/NVTC.
