Public Speaking Tips: Presenting Awards
In the last several months I’ve seen numerous lawyers present awards at various events. Simply put, we can all improve. For some people, improvement starts with these basic do’s and don’ts.
How to Present an Award:
- Do prepare by researching the award and the recipient. If possible, talk with the recipient ahead of time, even if it’s only a few minutes before the presentation. The audience can tell from your remarks and body language whether you’ve met the recipient. Isn’t it nicer when you can tell that the presenter has personally met the recipient and knows more than how to pronounce the person’s name? Don’t admit that you just met the person for the first time a minute beforehand.
- Do state the significance of the award, even if it’s an award that you think is obvious such as the Pro Bono Spirit Award. Also, if the person after whom the award is named is present, acknowledge his or her presence. I saw a lawyer forget to do this earlier this year – – at least one good reason to have a written outline no matter how familiar you are with the award and the winner.
- Do state the criteria for the award.
- Do describe how the recipient met the criteria and how he or she was chosen.
- Do say you are [fill in the blank] to present the [XYZ] Award to [recipient’s name] as you gesture warmly toward the recipient to welcome him or her up to receive the award.
- Do know where the award is and have it ready. Don’t hunt for it on the table behind you. It’s not an afterthought.
- Do handle the award as if it is valuable.
- Do smile and make eye contact with the recipient as you hand him or her the award.
- Don’t read verbatim from the recipient’s list of accomplishments. Choose highlights relevant to the award, tell a story or be conversational in other ways.
- Don’t call the recipient to the podium before you make your remarks. We’ve all sympathized with award winners standing awkwardly at the front of a room while they are praised. Don’t impose that on anyone!
Last, if you are nervous, stay focused on the award and the deserving recipient instead of yourself. Put your energy into honoring him or her!
If you would like coaching to start being a better public speaker, please contact me.
Elevator Speeches & Lawyers
What is an elevator speech and why do you need one as a lawyer? Never mind why it’s called an elevator speech, just remember two things:
- It is a short, memorable description of what you do and for whom.
- It is a marketing tool.
You need to have it ready for any time you meet someone new and they ask what you do. You also use it when you introduce yourself in front of a group.
Focus on the benefits you provide. To preclude snap judgments about lawyers and generate interest, focus on the benefits or results you provide and for whom. For example, when asked what you do, you could say “I am a tax lawyer”. A more meaningful answer might be “I help small businesses reduce their taxes and be more profitable. I am a tax lawyer.”
Connect with your audience. To be more memorable, take your listeners into account and, if applicable, adapt your description to them. For example, “I help small businesses like yours reduce their taxes and be more profitable.” An estate planning lawyer could say to a new parent “I help new parents get at least a little more sleep by getting plans in place and having peace of mind. I am an estate planning lawyer.”
Have energy. If you are bored with your own introduction, your audience will be too. If you don’t believe in what you do, your audience won’t either. Find the words that work for you, practice them with other people, and then try them. It’s natural to keep revising your introduction until you are really comfortable. To keep from trailing off and keep your energy up, keep it short.
Hint: to find your energy and the words that work best for you, consider what you like most about what you do for your clients.
The keys are keeping it short, simple and descriptive – the benefits of what you do and for whom.
Contact me for a single coaching call to develop and practice your self-introduction. elizabeth@yourbenchmarkcoach.com or 734-663-7905.
Marketing 101 For Lawyers Without a Marketing Plan
Here are marketing basics I discussed with a group of 12 mediators-in-training today. The group was a mix of lawyers, educators, accountants, business people and others, all of whom had loosely formed ideas about how they want to use their mediator skills. Our time was limited to one hour. As we talked they filled out their worksheet with information that made sense to them personally.
If you keep meaning to put together a marketing plan, but never get around to it, limit yourself to 15 minutes right now and use this outline. The bullet points are just ideas to get you thinking.
Even if you are way beyond Marketing 101, take a fresh look at who you want as clients and ask yourself how you can sharpen your focus. Take a fresh look at your tactics and your tools and ask yourself how you can be more effective.
I. Your Target Market – Who Do You Want To Reach?
- Who needs your services?
- What kinds of people or situations do you like to service?
- Where do you already have opportunities, a lot of connections, a knowledge base, or a reputation? (i.e. Based on your work history, education, extra curricular activities, family, etc.)
II. Your Marketing Tactics – How Will You Reach Your Market?
- Networking through personal contacts, associations, etc. related to your target market?
- Referral sources (list them by name and/or by occupation)?
- Online technology (website, blog, email, e-newsletters, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?
- Writing and/or public speaking?
- Advertising?
- Low tech, low cost placement of marketing material (community bulletin boards, etc.)?
III. Your Marketing Tools – What Will You Use?
- Register your name as a domain name. Even if you don’t use it, no one else can.
- Create a Google profile for yourself.
- Business cards.
- LinkedIn – a simple, no cost way to start a professional presence on the web.
- Prepare a 30 second elevator speech.
- Website
- Blog
- Brochures
Choose marketing tactics and marketing tools that fit you. Put your plan in writing. It’s not a plan unless it’s in writing. Go with your strengths, stay focused on your target market, and get started by taking one small action step and then another and another . . . . The key is to stay focused on your target market.
If you would like coaching to develop a marketing plan that works for you, please contact me.
October is Pro Bono Month
October has been designated Pro Bono Month by the ABA, the State Bar of Michigan and many other states to highlight the need for and importance of pro bono legal assistance.
As a result of a pledge by the Board members of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, I’ve signed up for training at the end of the month in order to take on a pro bono domestic violence case. I’m looking forward to dusting off my litigation skills but I expect that a d.v. case will be very challenging in many ways. It’s a way to stretch my comfort zone, learn something new and hopefully do something important legally and personally for someone else. I’ll report back as this goes along.
If you want help finding or taking on a pro bono case, contact the State Bar, the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association, or your state bar, local legal aid office or local bar association. Many law schools have students available to work on a matter with you through their pro bono programs.
Job Searches: Stand Out From The Crowd
Writer Mike Scott interviewed me for today’s Detroit Legal News article for law students and new lawyers about standing out in today’s tight job market. When he called me, I thought of all the law students and recent graduates who spend most of their job search time and effort looking for and responding to postings online, and/or sending out hundreds of unsolicited resumes to employers where they know no one. I wanted to share my advice that this isn’t the most effective way to spend all of your time and energy.
Law students and recent graduates should assume that if they are doing this, then hundreds of other law students and recent graduates, if not more, are responding to the same postings and sending out unsolicited resumes to every firm in their city or county. Thousands are doing the same in every state and part of the country.
Develop A Strategic Plan.
If you don’t think your chance of getting a summer or permanent job through on-campus interviews or job postings is very likely, regardless of the reason, you need to develop a strategic plan for your job search. It should be a strategic plan similar to the business development plans that lawyers should create and implement to get new clients and more business from existing clients.
1. Figure out the market you will target, whether you know anyone in that market and why you are a good fit for that market.
2. Know yourself. Know what strengths you bring to an employer, and your unique attributes and experiences. If you aren’t sure of your unique attributes and experiences and/or true demonstrable strengths, ask for help from people you trust and people who love you. Get their input on who you are when you are at your best.
3. Build on your strengths. If you are a leader and organizer type, find a way to get involved leading or organizing something related to your target market. If you are introverted and a great writer, let your target market get to know you through your writing. Bar associations and legal newspapers are frequently looking for more articles – submit yours without waiting for an invitation. If you like to volunteer, pull yourself away from searching for job postings online and allocate time each week to volunteering within your target market. ie. volunteer to help in some way at legal aid clinics, local or state bar association offices or events, fundraisers held within the legal community, law related golf outings, etc.
4. Be yourself and let others get to know you. In this tight job market, it is very important to get to know people who do what you want to do and/or who can refer you to others. And the most important part of this is to let them get to know you. You want to stand out in their minds.
Sitting at your computer responding to online postings or stuffing envelopes with cover letters and resumes isn’t the most effective way to let people get to know you. Be honest with yourself. When you look at your cover letters and resume, what makes you stand out?
People do business with people they know, like and trust. They refer people they know, like and trust. And they hire people they know, like and trust. If you dedicate time during your job search doing things within the legal profession that you enjoy and that you are really good at, you will develop professional relationships with people who can help you now and throughout your career. You will stand out in their minds.
By building on your strengths, you’ll also be gaining unique experiences and attributes that make you stand out. Think of the effect on your self-confidence, your resume and your reputation. You’ll be building a great foundation for your career.
I’ve met hundreds, probably even thousands, of law students and recent graduates through my years of private practice, my coaching practice and all of my bar association activities. The law students and recent graduates who stand out in my mind are relatively few.
They stand out for various reasons, none of which are grades. Rather, essentially they stand out because they did things that let me get to know them. They are the ones who took initiative, asked me questions, talked with me after presentations, volunteered, took on responsibilities, got involved, asked me for help, showed up and mattered, and/or took advantage of opportunities or created opportunities for themselves and/or others.
They had different confidence levels and personalities. Not every one was a Type A, an extrovert, a leader or even a joiner. Even if I had only a few conversations or contacts with them, I got to know much more about them and their abilities than the hundreds or thousands of others who blended in because they didn’t do anything to make themselves stand out in my mind.
What can you do to make yourself stand out to people who can help you in your own job search?
Here is a link to the interviews in today’s Detroit Legal News by writer Mike Scott.
Effective Use of Social Media by Lawyers
Here is a link to Cherie Curry’s article in the Detroit Legal News today on lawyers’ use of social media. It includes a bit of advice and some common sense reminders, including a few comments from me and lawyers I know.
Business Development for Lawyers: Why Pick a Niche?
Many of my lawyer clients are either working on identifying and selecting a niche practice or really developing and capitalizing on the one or two specialties and related target markets that already form a part of their legal practice. Some of the broad legal areas in which they practice include business litigation, estate planning, business tax, criminal defense, health law, family law, employee benefits, employment law, construction, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution, business transactions, corporate work, bankruptcy, insurance defense, banking, real estate, etc. But within those practice areas are specialties and niches where they can see, and are seizing, opportunities to develop a client base or expand their book of business.
I have found and witnessed that by developing a niche you can maximize your marketing efforts and resources. You can aim at and organize your marketing around the clients you really want and the services you most want to offer. You will use your time, money and energy much more efficiently and effectively than a haphazard, generalized and exhausting approach that makes you blend in rather than stand out.
Rather than going to numerous random, unrelated, interesting sounding yet ultimately unproductive networking events, spend your time at events involving the target market for your niche. Spend your time identifying and talking to people who are most likely to be good potential clients or good potential referral sources for your niche. Unless you are working on beefing up your credentials, or you get or believe you can get a lot of referrals from other lawyers, don’t spend time educating other lawyers through articles or presentations. Focus your efforts and resources on your market niche. Write for and speak to your market.
I know the idea of selecting and developing a niche scares some lawyers, especially newer ones. They think they will lose out on business that might otherwise come to them. But by targeting the specific market niche you want to serve, you are focusing yourself to develop business and you are building a name – a brand – for yourself. If clients outside your niche show up on your doorstep, you can still decide whether to work with them.
If you would like coaching to pick and start developing a niche law practice, please contact me.
Leadership & Management Lessons For Lawyers From a Corporate CEO
>Here is a link to an interesting interview with Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Chegg, texbook rental online & via mail, which appeared in the NY Times’ Sunday Corner Office column by Adam Bryant on July 8, 2010.
Rosensweig talks about how he uses management teams to set priorities for the company and create a clear definition of success, how he runs meetings, how he acknowledges star performers, what he looks for when interviewing and hiring, and how he approaches difficult conversations with employees who are not doing the things they need to do to succeed in their jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11corner.html?pagewanted=1&ref=jobs
Take a look and see whether you might apply some of Rosensweig’s leadership and management practices to your law firm or company or even simply to managing your legal career.
Career Advice For Lawyers From LeBron James
Hate it or love it, it seems that NBA superstar LeBron James’ decision yesterday to leave the Cavaliers and join the Miami Heat boils down to positioning himself to win NBA championships. He knows what he wants to achieve in his career and he knows he needs help to achieve his goal. He looked for teammates and an organization that he thinks will provide the best opportunity to succeed. He made a tough and controversial decision about his own career.
My theme here is not to encourage you to leave your place of employment. Rather, I encourage you to look at how you can best position yourself to get what you want in your career and then have the courage to take the actions to achieve your goals.
If you want to develop a specialty within your practice or firm, what do you have to do first (and then next and then after that), and whose support do you need?
If you want to work with more than just a handful of lawyers within your firm, what can you do about this and who can help you make it happen? If you have tried and failed, what can you do differently next time? How can you match your needs and interests with the firm’s needs and interests?
If you want more referrals, how can you expand your network into more meaningful relationships? How can you first provide value to people who are in the best position to give you referrals? How can you make it easier for other people to think of you and remember what you do when they have an opportunity to make a referral?
If you want more clients, who is in your target market and how can you best position yourself in front of your target market? How can you let more potential clients know what legal services you offer? What can be your unique niche? How can you differentiate your legal services from other lawyers’ services?
Instead of sitting in your office wishing your phone would ring, or attending numerous yet random and unproductive networking events, figure out what you want, make some decisions, and take action.
As a client of mine said the other day, you’re not going to get a hit if you’re not in the batter’s box. And you won’t even get near the plate if you’re not in the game. Or, as some say in golf, never up never in.
So take charge of your own practice and career. Make decisions about what you want and start positioning yourself to get what you want.
Get in the game. Step into the batter’s box. Give the putt a good roll. Circling back to basketball, be your own point guard. No one else will.
If you would like help figuring out what you want, making an effective plan and/or taking actions, let’s set up some coaching. You’ll be glad you did, especially since you still have six months left in the year to make this one your best.
Control What You Can
A common theme among some of my lawyer clients is the frustrating and stressful feeling that much of what goes on at work is out of their control.
For example, new or young associates are often given assignments verbally and quickly by partners who need to put out a fire on their way to the next fire. They aren’t given clear instructions or enough facts to create a context to properly research the legal question and anticipate related questions and issues. Yet the partners are too busy to properly organize their thoughts before giving the assignment or they later change their mind about what they want researched.
Mid-level or senior associates are so busy billing hours on client matters assigned to them that they have no time to develop a book of business. They are told not to worry about developing a book and that it will come with staying in touch with people and doing good work. Yet they also know that to become a partner, they must have a book of business of at least a certain dollar amount.
Non-equity or “service” partners are called upon by their equity partners for their expertise but aren’t given the authority and/or respect to make the final recommendation and decision on the best course of action under the law to serve the client’s interests. Or the service partners are called upon too late and are used to put out fires, rather than to prevent fires.
Some equity partners feel subject to every whim of their largest clients and so dependent on those clients’ business that they can’t create balance in their work week, have time to develop a more diversified client base or have any peace of mind.
If any of these scenarios resonate with you, know that you are not alone. Here is a very basic outline of what some of my clients have done and are doing to have and feel more in control of their days and their careers.
- Accept that you can’t control other people.
- Identify what you can control. ie. How you respond to others, how you react in situations, how you communicate, what you can do proactively, how you deal with distractions, etc.
- Make a plan. Write down what actions you can take, and when you will take them, to have more effective control over the things you can control.
For example, stop ceding control over your time management to other people when they interrupt your concentration and commandeer your time by coming into your office while you are working. I have a sense this happens to a lot of lawyers, regardless of the stage of their career. Keeping your door shut all day is one technique but it doesn’t stop everyone and it can be isolating and not as pleasant. So try something else. Instead of stopping your work every time someone steps in without asking if you are busy and/or without waiting for an answer, have an answer or question ready.
- “Yes, I’m working on something right now. Can we talk [in 30 minutes, at 11:30, this afternoon at 1:00?]”
- “Can this wait until this afternoon? I want to finish what I am working on.”
- “Yes, I would like to work with you on this project and we should talk about when you need me so that we allocate enough time. I have four matters to finish by Wednesday and I don’t want to hold up your project if you need it sooner.”
If you wish that an assigning lawyer would give you clearer instructions about a research project or motion and brief so that you don’t spin your wheels or head off in the wrong direction, or the assigning lawyer doesn’t change course on you, consider what you can do to get clarification without asking the assigning lawyer to do more work. How about summarizing the assignment in an email, even like a question presented, and asking for confirmation to make sure that you understand and don’t waste time or the client’s money?
If you wish to be involved in matters from the start, or you want to handle cases in a more organized way as you move through pleading, discovery, motion and pre-trial stages, consider whether and how to define and communicate what your role will be on the team. Instead of simply reacting to others, think about where and how you can be proactive to create order and have more control over what you do and your role in the bigger picture.
If you would like coaching to start having more control over your work day, practice and career, please contact me.