Practice Management

Duct Tape Marketing has a post in which it defines pubic speaking as a "competitive marketing skill".

I do not know if that is a good definition, but I get the point.  I just wonder if calling it "competitive" will just do more to discourage lawyers, especially new lawyers, from marketing their practice in this way.  In fact, with time, public speaking on a subject of which you are familiar becomes rather enjoyable.

It is true that the more you speak in pubic the better you get at it.  Once you get over your anxiety of public speaking, and get to know your market and your practice area better from a layman's standpoint, you can concentrate less on process and more on substance and explaining yourself, and that always makes it better.  You rely less on notes and props (and let us hope less on PowerPoint presentations).

Not long ago both Peter Olson of Solo In Chicago and I both blogged about what we wish we knew when starting off in the practice of law.  We decided that the first two things we wish we were told was that (1) keep your overhead low, and (2) get your elevator speech down.  To this I would like to add grow your practice through public speaking.

It is cheap.  In fact, it will often guarantee you a free meal.  It will give you an opportunity to meet a lot of really good people (including some strange and interesting ones - but always enjoyable).  It is just an expansion of your elevator speech.  It usually does not have an immediate and dramatic increase on your practice, but if you actively solicit those groups, organizations and people that you need to build a referrals base, the business stream is typically longer and represent better clients because they are often pre-qualified.  They know what they need, they have been told you are an expert of sorts in the area, and they know they are going to pay for the service.  And, since Third Wave attorneys do not rely on the mass practice of clients, and do not need a 100 new cases a month, we can live well off our public speaking.

The point is that it is amazing what you can do with a few words, a couple jokes, and a handful of business cards.

Organizations want you because they need speakers.

It has often amazed me the number of attorneys who have no problem standing up at court to give the judge and opposing counsel hell, but somehow do not see it in their best interest to speak in public.