PSC Explained: Practice Skills
- Raphael Jucobin
- Tuesday 07th December
- 2 min read
The four elective modules that you’re expected to take during the Professional Skills Course can be split into four general categories. The first of these is Practice Skills, which focuses on refining skills you can apply to the various scenarios a solicitor can face in their profession.
The University of Law offers a wide range of modules within this subsection, which includes the following:
- Advanced communication skills,
- Being a resilient lawyer,
- Effective written communication,
- Impact and influence,
- Knowledge management - improving research skills,
- Presenting to persuade,
- The skilled negotiator.
As with other elective modules, each of these components are covered over six hours of training sessions over the course of a single day, usually once you’ve completed the initial three compulsory modules.
What kind of skills will I develop?
Practice skills are ideal for developing an effective sense of decision-making and clear communication skills, whether that’s with a client or with colleagues at the office. In ‘Being a resilient lawyer’, you’ll learn about how the psychometric makeup of a person affects what stresses them as well as how you can thrive in a legal environment and build up resilience to improve your client service.
There are also practical workshops that can help you to perfect your legal writing style and adapt this to different situations. ‘Impact and influence’ will look to explore how behaviour and image can shape success, including developing relationships and self-awareness. You can also learn about the frameworks through which you can better structure you research to provide clear and well-informed reports.
You could also be led to develop your presentation skills and adopt persuasive techniques in the way you lay out your points, so as to get your points across more convincingly, while you could also choose to develop your negotiation skills, developing the different styles and tactics involved in this practical situation.