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July 2025
THE TRUSTED ADVISOR
YOUR VOICE MATTERS Break Free From Stage Fright
Public speaking is one of the most common phobias but also one of the most necessary life skills. As lawyers, we must constantly speak in front of others, whether it’s during opening and closing statements in a trial or working with new clients. Even seasoned communicators like us still feel the nerves before putting ourselves out there. July is Freedom From Fear of Speaking Month, and it’s the perfect opportunity to step outside your comfort zone, hone your skills, and face that anxiety one word at a time. Zac: Everyone, to some extent, has experienced anxiety when they have to speak in front of others. We get our first taste of public speaking in elementary school with class presentations, and build on that through college. One of the things that helped me improve my skills was a public speaking class in college that provided good tips. The more you speak in front of others, the more comfortable you get. Even for us, no matter how many trials we’ve spoken at, we have
a bit of that nervous energy, but once we begin, it starts to go away. My pre-speech preparation typically starts by outlining what I’m going to discuss. But the most crucial part of all is practicing out loud. There’s a big difference between hearing yourself say the words and reading them in your head. You may need to memorize material based on how many notes you plan to use during your presentation. Practice as though you were on stage or in front of an audience, using the notes or outline you’ll have. Public speaking is a valuable skill, regardless of your career. No matter what, you will have to speak in public at some point, whether in a large crowd or a smaller social setting. You don’t have to be the best orator in the world, but everyone should strive to be proficient in this necessary skill so you don’t feel like a nervous wreck when you have to do it. The audience may not realize you’ve made a mistake, but they can pick up on it if you’re anxious or uncomfortable. Nick: Growing up, performing always made me nervous. I didn’t consider myself a great public speaker and felt like I was constantly forgetting my lines. In middle school, I took a speech and debate class, where I started to pick up a few good tips. I learned that practice makes perfect, and the anxiety comes when you don’t feel prepared. Knowing your topic before you begin talking will make the whole process smoother. Your anxiety can make you speed up, so I’ve found that making
a conscious effort to speak slower helps me keep up with my words and thoughts. Understand what kind of learner you are because everyone is different. I do best by reading something and then writing out every word I want to say. I’ll practice reading it out loud in front of the mirror multiple times until I can turn that full speech into bullet points. Body language is a key element of public speaking, so I will practice which hand gestures and facial expressions I think would be best to drive my point home. The phobia of public speaking affects many people. If you don’t start doing it at a young age, it gets harder to overcome that fear, so I think the more experiences people can have early on, the better. But even if you don’t have many public speaking opportunities, you still have time to hone your craft. Whether you want to coach your children’s soccer team or have to participate in a work meeting, you’re going to need this skill. Every one of us has unique perspectives to share with the world, and if you can effectively share your opinion, you could impact someone’s life.
– Zac Leacox & Nick Norden
NordenLeacox.com | 407-801-3000 1
The Unexpected Discoveries of Everyday Items When Serendipity Leads to Innovation
Looking around your house, you’ll spot countless inventions you couldn’t imagine living without, from your television to the refrigerator. We like to imagine the inventors behind these ideas were intentional with their actions, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the latest and greatest discoveries occur by happenstance. The proof? Three everyday items that are nothing more than happy accidents! Play-Doh Before gas and electric heating became commonplace in homes nationwide, many people used coal to stay warm. Unfortunately, this left the walls covered in soot. Kutol Products produced a soft, pliable compound that acted as a wallpaper cleaner to counter this. As other alternatives
gained popularity, Kutol Products saw their sales fall. A Kutol employee’s sister-in-law thought the product would be great for modeling. After testing it with kids, she found they loved molding it into various shapes. Thus, Play-Doh was born, saving a floundering company on the verge of bankruptcy. The Microwave In 1945, Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer, was leading a radar project when he discovered a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while testing a piece of equipment called a magnetron. Wanting to see if he could reproduce the same results, Spencer placed some popcorn kernels near the equipment. Within seconds, the popcorn popped. He tested it once more with an egg before confirming his findings. Understanding that the magnetron cooked
food quickly, he crafted a metal box around the device, creating the first microwave oven. Potato Chips Many Americans eat potato chips daily, but most don’t realize they’re simply an accidental product of spite. In the 1850s, George Crum was a chef at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. On one fateful day, shipping and railroad baron Cornelius Vanderbilt stopped in for a bite. He quickly complained that his french fries were too thick and soggy. Crum disagreed with Vanderbilt, but he remade the french fries — slicing the potatoes very thin and frying them until they were crispy and golden brown. Vanderbilt loved the new creation. Potato chips became Moon’s Lake House’s specialty until Crum opened his own restaurant. The rest is history!
Was Singapore’s Gum Ban the Right Move? CHEW ON THIS
2 NordenLeacox.com | 407-801-3000 Lee Kuan Yew felt differently. He stated, “Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don’t open, I don’t call that creativity. I call that mischief-making.” He had a good point. The Housing and Development Board reportedly spent $150,000 in Singapore dollars each year solely to clean up gum While some argued that chewing gum stuck to the pavement outside a business might mean a new burst of creativity was taking hold, Have you ever walked through a parking lot and stepped on gum, causing your foot to stick to the pavement with every step? Or have you felt somebody’s disgusting, chewed gum on the underside of a table at a restaurant? Experiencing one of these situations is enough to make you wish gum were outlawed. While chewing gum will likely always be legal in the States, there is one country where you’d have difficulty finding a single citizen chewing gum. In 1992, Singapore officially banned the sale, importation, and manufacturing of chewing gum. To understand the reasoning behind the chewing gum ban, you need to go back to the mid-1960s. Singapore had just gained its independence and was trying to find a way to establish itself on the world stage. Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s first prime minister, designed a plan to make Singapore a “first- world oasis in a third-world region.” The country quickly became known for its cleanliness, but chewing gum remained a problem.
litter. Furthermore, there were countless reports of vandals sticking chewing gum on the door sensors of trains, disrupting their services. While citizens were divided over the chewing gum ban, it proved effective. In February 1993, there were only two chewing gum litter cases per day, as opposed to the 525 daily cases before the ban. While the ban remains in effect today, Singapore’s government partially lifted it in 2004 to allow dentists and pharmacists to prescribe and sell therapeutic gum such as nicotine gum. Even so, you shouldn’t expect to see many people walking around Singapore chewing gum and blowing bubbles!
RIVALRY, RESOLVED Help Your Kids Grow From Foes to Friends
There’s a certain charm to old Hollywood movies — glamorous stars, sweeping orchestral scores, and, of course, that oddly posh, vaguely British way of speaking. You know the one. The voice makes Katharine Hepburn sound like she’s perpetually midway through an important luncheon and Cary Grant appear to deliver a one-liner while also sipping afternoon tea. This isn’t just a coincidence; it’s the Transatlantic accent, and for a while, it was the gold standard of sophisticated speech. Unlike normal regional dialects, the Transatlantic accent wasn’t something people naturally developed by growing up in a particular area. It was an acquired accent drilled into the minds of upper- crust New Englanders at elite boarding schools and embraced by stage actors who wanted to sound refined. Essentially, it was the linguistic equivalent of wearing a tuxedo at all times. Hollywood, never one to pass up a trend, adopted this cultivated accent in the early days of talkies.
Why? Because it made actors sound polished, articulate, and, quite frankly, fancy. The crisp, clipped tones worked wonders for those speedy, back-and-forth screwball comedy exchanges. Just watch “His Girl Friday” and try not to be dazzled by the machine-gun dialogue between Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell! And then, just as suddenly as it arrived, the Transatlantic accent packed its bags and vanished. By the 1950s, Hollywood started shifting away from aristocratic dramas and high-society stories, opting instead for gritty realism and everyday characters. The era of Marlon Brando and James Dean meant mumbling was in, and sounding like you vacationed on the French Riviera every summer was … well, out. Of course, we can still enjoy the legacy of the Transatlantic accent in classic films. Want to master it yourself? Pick up “Speak With Distinction” by Edith Skinner, the holy grail of old-school
elocution training. Soon enough, you’ll drop your R’s, crisp your T’s, and stretch your vowels until “dance” becomes “ dahnce .” After all, old Hollywood may be gone, but its impeccable enunciation will never go out of style.
Have a
Chocolate-Covered Banana Brownies Inspired by OMGChocolateDesserts.com
Laugh
Ingredients Banana Brownies •
• •
1/2 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup flour Chocolate Topping •
• • • • •
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp salt 1 large egg
• • •
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3–4 large bananas
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan with cooking spray. 2. In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and salt. Add egg and vanilla and whisk. Add mashed banana and whisk, then whisk in flour. 3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the center has set. 4. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
5. Bring heavy cream to a boil, pour over chocolate, let it sit for 1–2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. 6. Slice bananas and arrange over cooled brownies. 7. Pour chocolate mixture over bananas and place in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.
3 NordenLeacox.com | 407-801-3000
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Inside This Edition
2 1 Conquer Public Speaking Anxiety
The Accidental Origins of Everyday Products Singapore’s Bold Move for a Cleaner Future
3
Turn Sibling Rivalries Into Sibling Alliances Chocolate-Covered Banana Brownies
4
Kanye West Faces Legal Trouble Over ‘Blindside’ Sample
KANYE WEST’S CONTROVERSIAL SAMPLING German Artist Sues Over Unauthorized Track Use
4 NordenLeacox.com | 407-801-3000 As it became more well-known that West sampled “Blindside,” he and his record label finally approached Merton to request approval to use the track, but Merton quickly denied the request. When asked for a reason, Merton’s legal team stated, “Alice Merton was unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with [West] in any manner. Of significant concern to plaintiff Merton were defendant [West’s] antisemitic, racist remarks, Kanye West is no stranger to controversy. Many probably remember the iconic moment at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when the rapper interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video to claim that Beyoncé deserved the award. West’s behavior has only become more erratic and controversial in recent years. This past February, West was dropped by his talent agency after making countless anti-Semitic remarks on social media. His Yeezy website was also shut down after he sold a swastika T-shirt that violated Shopify’s terms. Now, the rapper behind “Stronger” and “All of the Lights” faces a new lawsuit. This past March, German artist Alice Merton and two German corporations filed a lawsuit against West for “unauthorized commercial exploitation” of the musical composition “Blindside.” In 2022, Merton released her track, “Blindside,” which West sampled without authorization for his track “Gun to My Head.” The public first became aware of the sampling in December 2023 when he debuted the song at an event in Miami.
which were made publicly and continue to be made publicly.” Merton is a German resident and a descendant of Holocaust survivors. If you thought West’s putatively illegal sampling was bad enough, some of his fans took it to another level. After the song was left off the “Vultures” album, West’s fans started sending death threats to Merton. West has done nothing to stop his faithful legions from harassing Merton. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to determine relief and damages.
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