Can You Still Hear Me, Now?

Over-connected. In the history of human life, we have never been so connected to one another. In fact, with the explosion of the internet and social media, social scientists caution on the impact to our over-connected brains.

Per Brandwatch, the world’s leading social intelligence company:

• LinkedIn has 500 million members
• Facebook has 2.4 billion monthly active users
• Twitter has 1.3 billion accounts
• Instagram has 800 million monthly active users
• YouTube sees around 1,148 billion mobile video views per day

With all this connection, even the most efficient communicators are taxed. According to Gigoam, an international digital tracking firm, Americans consume 31.4 gigabytes of data monthly, primarily on mobile devices. How does that equate to words? Statistically, that’s roughly 100,000 words per day, on average, that Americans consume. Wow!

As technology brings more avenues for communication to our personal and work lives, it’s important for lawyers to keep an eye on their personal communications practices to remain effectual.

In a reasonably short timeframe, people have gone from snail mail to email to messaging each other via social media platforms. And, our society has embraced the new ways of communication in everyday life. The fun fact remains that we are caught in an evolving new normal.

A 2014 Gallup surveyed 1,015 people on how frequently they used various communication methods the previous day. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported they had read or sent a text every day. Eighty-two percent had made a phone call on a cell phone. Seventy percent had sent or received an email, and 55 percent had used social media to communicate.

Recognizing that communications platforms continue to emerge with essentially an infinite number of data and media messages incessantly bombarding us, we must be highly sensitized to our communication styles if we ever want to be heard by our desired audiences.

Lawyers rely greatly upon the spoken word in their work so perfecting their communication style is a wise investment.

Below are five quick tips:

1. Think before you speak. No, really. Humans have a tremendous capacity to listen, absorb and respond to messages at a relatively high rate. Because of this, it is very tempting to get caught up in the fast-paced process (depending upon in what part of the country you live) and instead of actively listening and absorbing your audiences’ messages, you volley back and forth in the interaction, sometimes faster than your mind can compute.

To become a more effective communicator, one must demonstrate a disciplined approach in your oral communications. Before responding too quickly, put the brakes on to consider the impact of your words, verifying whether it is in your or your audience’s best interest to respond so quickly as to either short circuit the communications process and/or suffer the consequences of an ill-timed response. We adapt a 20-second rule. Before you respond, take 20 seconds (at minimum) to consider the implications of your words. Better to be a bit delayed with our response than to kick ourselves later for the words that impulsively escaped through your lips.

2. Consider your audience. The same message is not appropriate for every audience. As a private practicing lawyer, what you say to a referral source about your legal focus may be different then how you would explain it to a client or contact. The question to ask is “why would anyone care”? and “what is most important to my audience”? Let these questions guide your communications, both verbal and written.
3. Listen first and second, and then speak. We do not learn when we are speaking. It is imperative that as professional services providers that we actively listen to our audience to learn how we may help them.

• Remove distractions immediately. Check the room temperature and light and sound in the room and within proximity. Create a positive environment in which to assure maximum attention and exchange of ideas.
• Turn off your mobile device (even on vibrate, it can be distracting and disruptive) or leave it in your office.
• Learn from your speaking partner (whether this is a client, referral source or other valuable contact) by asking select open-ended questions and then really listen to his/her responses to guide further conversation. Be curious.

4. Speak to be heard; message sent/message received. Mind the communications gap. Too many miscommunications occur when we “think” we told someone (message sent) but found out later either did not and/or the listener did not remember it (message received) as we remembered sending it. It matters not where the miscommunication occurred but rather how to avoid miscommunications. First, refer to tip #1 above: think before you speak to ensure that you are in control of your message. Second, to become a more effective speaker, you are well advised to confirm with your audience that the message received is the message you intended to send.

How do you do this? Ask for feedback “are you with me?” “Does this make sense?” Adapt these feedback questions to your natural communications style and you will likely see eyes light up when you speak.

5. Accentuate the positive; look inside first. Individuals who choose to lead with the negative often find they are talking only to themselves. Nobody wants to listen to negativity, especially when there is so much coming at us from the media and various social media channels. Learn the positive approach via disciplined practice and/or having a pal send you a signal if you “go off the ‘positive’ reservation”.

BONUS: Make every word count. KISS – – keep it short and simple. Do not offend your audience by offering too many examples when they understand your point in one. Treat words as the golden charms that they are. We simply have too many words in our day to waste the excess unnecessarily.

Becoming a more effective communicator requires a concerted effort, practice and willingness to adapt to new ways of thinking. There are few things more impactful than to present your well-crafted message and to be understood through the spoken and written word.

The post Communicate with Clarity and Precision: Five Steps to Improve Your Efficacy appeared first on The National Law Forum.

Speaking provides credibility and visibility, both of which are very helpful in terms of acquiring new clients. Yet, despite the significant time and effort that it takes to prepare presentations, many attorneys find that speaking events are not producing as much business as they had hoped. The following tips are intended to help lawyers identify areas to fine-tune their approach, in order to produce better results going forward.

1. Find the Best Audience – Speaking to a wide range of groups just to get experience can be a very good idea. However, once an attorney becomes more comfortable and skilled at communicating to groups and managing the dynamics of a room, it is important to start actively seeking the ideal audience. This may take some trial and error. The best organizations for reaching a particular niche may not be as obvious as one might think. If you are not getting the business you want, this is the first place to look.
2. Choose a Critically Important Topic – Even if you are speaking to an ideal audience, you may not be addressing an issue that would inspire them to hire you. They may attend simply because they are curious about the subject and want to be prepared for the future, rather than because they view the issue as a serious concern on which they are willing to spend money. It may take some experimentation in order to identify topics that hit the sweet spot, both resonating with the audience, and showcasing your passion and expertise.
3. Choose an Enticing Title – A well-crafted title increases attendance and enthusiasm for the topic dramatically. On one hand, this could be seen as superficial; but on the other hand, if a speaker goes out of her way to choose an amusing or compelling title, it is reasonable to assume that she made similar effort with the entire presentation.
4. Make Sure the Description Accurately Represents the Content of the Presentation – There are two major ways this can go awry.  First, sometimes an event organizer will write the program description for you.  If you do not control the way the program is being advertised, it is very likely that the “wrong” people will attend or that they will come with expectations that are at odds with what you actually provide. This can lead to a confused or disappointed audience and a lot of frustration for the speaker. The second common way this happens is when the speaker writes a program description before designing the presentation. While content may evolve through the preparation process, it is important to keep the program in alignment with the description.
5. Come Across as Personable – While an attorney’s experience and expertise are important, clients are a lot more interested in doing business with those whom they like. Public speaking does not come naturally to everyone, and even people who are usually genuine and charming may not come across as their usual likeable selves, due to nervousness, a believe that they “should” act a certain way in front of a group, etc. Some of this comes with practice, but getting feedback and simply putting greater attention on connecting with the audience can be immensely helpful.
6. Put Aside the Perfectionism – There are a lot of variables at play when speaking to a group, and circumstance will not always go as planned.  If you are at a conference, the previous breakout session can run late, cutting into your perfectly timed presentation. The audience may turn out to have a dramatically different level of knowledge about the subject than you expected. There could be an unusually difficult audience member who won’t shut up about his own agenda. You could fall suddenly ill and have intense nausea or a hoarse voice. The list of unexpected challenges is long. Flexibility is your friend.
7. Make Sure Your Biographical Descriptions are Consistent – If your biographical descriptions say different things about your expertise, you may be inadvertently undermining your credibility. Audience members frequently research speakers on the Internet and through social media to determine whether or not to attend a presentation, or to evaluate a speaker’s level of expertise. Thus, it is important that your law firm biography, speaker’s biography, and LinkedIn and other social media profiles all send a consistent message.
8. Tell Them the Types of Law You Practice – Based on your presentation topic, audiences often make inaccurate assumptions about the scope of work that you do. If you offer a presentation about regulation of the electric grid, they may not realize that you also work on other types of energy or regulatory issues. Simply telling them at some point in your presentation, or using a range or examples, helps people recognize opportunities for working with you.
9. Have a Structure for Gathering Contact Information – Asking for business cards from those who wish to receive client alerts, or offering to send out slides or other supplementary materials related to your topic is a great way to gather contact information from audience members. It is important to know the policies and procedures for the particular host organization, as some provide materials to participants electronically, others will offer the speaker a list of attendees, etc. Once you know the particulars, you can make a plan for how to request contact information from participants in way that is both inviting and appropriate.
10. Follow up – The people who attend your program are leads, and turning them into clients generally requires follow-up. While some people who attend your presentation may immediately express interest in hiring you, most will not be shopping for an attorney right away. However, that could easily change down the line, and you want to still be in contact when it does. Therefore, it is important to have a good system in place for following up and staying in touch.
11. Offer Insights as Well as Information – Lawyers are great at providing information on developments in the law and other technical details, but often do not offer the type of insights and generalizations that audiences find most valuable. Such comments may require caveats, but this is where your expertise becomes most evident. In a world where it’s not that hard to look up regulations, it is the context and broader implications for which clients are paying you.
12. Make Content as Engaging as Possible – It is not always obvious how to liven up a presentation on a dry legal topic. However, one of the best ways is to use stories. Every case has a story behind it, and although the exact details may not be relevant to your audience, simply fleshing out the situation, and explaining a little bit about the characters, groups or context helps people to process and later recall the information. Don’t be scared to err on the side of being a little too interesting. If the audience can’t stay awake, they are a lot less likely to remember, let alone hire you.

Even highly effective and experienced speakers will likely be able to identify areas for improvement.  Becoming truly great at anything, from football to parenting to business development, requires constant practice, evaluation and adjustment.  The key is to just choose one or two areas to focus on at time.  Progress in any of these areas is likely to increase the number or quality of your prospects.

The post 12 Tips for Getting the Most Business Out of Speaking Events appeared first on The National Law Forum.

I speak to bar associations big and small all over the country every year, and I can’t remember ever not having attorneys seek me out after the event to ask me how I could help them. In fact, some of my biggest clients have come to me that way. So I feel confident in telling you that nearly every time you speak, if you do it right, you can generate business as well as enhance your reputation as a recognized expert in your field of practice.

Of course, doing it right means following up.  In fact, the number one reason why people who speak at events don’t get the results they are after is because of their follow up — or more precisely, their lack thereof.

You must develop your follow up strategy before you speak. So what kind of follow up works? Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

Let’s say you want to follow up your presentation with a series of emails. So you would send out email #1 within 24 hours after the seminar, thank them for attending and perhaps even offer a free gift or a free report. The free gift could be a free half hour consultation where you will give them an assessment of their case or how you could help them. Or you might offer them a free audio CD.

If you choose to follow up by telephone, this is something you yourself should not be doing. It is something to outsource to your staff, but essentially they would be doing the same thing as in the email, thanking them for coming and offering a free consultation.

If you use this kind of strategy every time you speak, you will get much better results from your presentations – building your reputation as a recognized expert and getting new clients at the same time.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

The post How to Talk Your Way Into Becoming a Recognized Expert, Part 2 of 2 appeared first on The National Law Forum.

For those of you who have done some speaking in seminars and presentations, you know that sometimes you are doing great, you have the rapt attention of the audience and it goes really well. Other times, it may feel as if you bombed, you just weren’t making a connection.

One of the reasons why that may happen is because you didn’t have the right group. If an organization asks you to speak, you need to make sure you are in front of the right people. Find out:

• The number of people expected to attend
• The demographic profile of the audience
• A list of topics from previous presentations

The more you know about the group, the better you will be able to tailor your presentation, and you must avoid speaking to the wrong groups!

You should also remember that there are many different forms of speaking engagements. You could speak at a private client-only seminar where you invite a few of your clients or the clients of a referral partner. Or you could be part of a moderated panel discussion.

You can also utilize current technologies to host an online webinar or web conference where your PowerPoint presentation is what is seen on screen and you talk to your audience via a bridge conference call.

Next, your subject matter has to be educational. People do not want to hear legal jargon, they want practical, useful information without a sales pitch.  Now, I can hear most of you thinking that you don’t want to give away the store! I don’t want to give so much information that they can just go do it themselves!

Look, there MAY be some who would try to do that, but they are not your clients! You want to target the people who have the money to hire an attorney so that they don’t have to do it themselves. You don’t want the tire kickers or the do-it-yourself crowd because they will beat you up on your price anyway.

You have to make sure you are targeting the right audience. And if you give a good, educational presentation, the right people will seek you out after the seminar to ask questions, plus in most cases you will be able to get the attendees’ contact information so that you can be ready to contact them later. If it is not you who is sponsoring the presentation, ask them to capture the attendees’ email addresses whenever possible, because as you will see in tomorrow’s post, follow up is the secret ingredient.

Article by:

Stephen Fairley

Of:

The Rainmaker Institute

The post How to Talk Your Way Into Becoming a Recognized Expert, Part 1 of 2 appeared first on The National Law Forum.