Rush. Keep calm and speak with deliberate speed. Read an argument. Memorize your preferred order of ideas and approach with those simple outline points. Miscite the record or authority. If your opponent miscites something, then carefully and respectfully point it out – but you’d better be right! Guess. If you don’t know the answer, admit it. Try to avoid this by anticipating every question the judges might ask. (Actual practice tip: If necessary, offer to write a supplemental brief if it would help the court.) Speak over a judge. Even if the judge interrupts you, stop taking. Immediately. Chew your fingernails. Or twiddle your thumbs. Or any other distracting habits: playing with your tie or necklace, fiddling with papers, swaying at the podium, etc. Nervous ticks can be very distracting to the judges on the bench; experts say that 55% of your impact on an audience is your appearance, not your words. Ask how much time you have left. It’s your job t