Improving oral advocacy / getting into court while articling

[Byzantine]

I'm a 3L that will be articling at a big law firm in Vancouver. During law school I've been able to improve my public speaking / oral advocacy skills quite a bit through legal clinic work, mooting, and course work. I want to continue improving, but I'm a bit worried that this progress will stall during the next few years as my perception is that most of the court appearances are done by more senior lawyers. 

I know there will be some opportunities to get into court on small claims files, pro bono work, and perhaps some simple applications. I'm going to jump on that. I'm sure a lot of this is firm dependent, but does anyone have other suggestions to keep improving on this during articling and my first few years of call? Perhaps I should also start attending Toastmasters again... 

[LMP]

Not an expert of course but as someone who has always pushed for the same type of opportunities, here is what I have found. It depends on your rotation but if you can work with a group that does a lot of smaller motions or tribunal based stuff you'll have better odds of actually getting your feet wet. There's also stuff like scheduling court which I am sure you could do, but I don't know if I would call that a chance for advocacy (most of the time). The issue with doing things like being second chair is that you really don't get to do much in terms of active advocacy. It is a great learning experience but  isn't quite what you are looking for. Which is why those practice groups that touch on more active areas are likely your best bet. 

[Psychometronic]

When you're in your litigation rotation, ask to shadow people going to chambers. Ask to speak to quick, uncontested matters like leave to file a third party notice, or leave to amend a pleading. Also, ask to court-watch (if time permits). Most of the actual advocacy work is in research and writing. Oral advocacy is not so much about speaking eloquently (although it helps) but more so being able to think on your feet and knowing the file well enough to answer questions. 

Edited April 6 by Psychometronic