by Gary Mitchell | Mar 14, 2018 | Asking questions, Communication, Networking, On Trac, Speaking at events
You don’t show confidence by going on about yourself. That actually shows the opposite. The following tips are as relevant in a job interview as they are when networking, meeting with clients, or speaking at events.
Four key tips:
- Be brief and succinct
- Use only affirmative language
- Don’t be afraid to pause
- Smile
While these four tips may seem simple, and they are by the way, they go a long way in demonstrating confidence. You can use this little menu and modify it to use in your writing as well.
- Be brief and succinct: Don’t ramble on and on. If you do ramble, you will almost always repeat yourself. Get to the point. Use short sentences rather than a whole bunch of punctuation. Rambling on is a sign of nervousness, not confidence.
- Use only affirmative language: Instead of “I feel…”, or “I believe…”, use ” I know…”, or “I’m confident…” This is very subtle but you might be surprised how it changes the tone of your communication.
- Don’t be afraid to pause: Do you feel the need to fill silence? Why not let the other person or audience for that matter have the chance to absorb what you just said. Silence is powerful!
- Smile: Pretty self-explanatory. Again, while subtle, it will go a long way.
#businesscoach #lawyercoach #growyourbusiness
by Gary Mitchell | Sep 10, 2014 | Business development, Practice management, Speaking at events, The business of law
I am very pleased to chair Raindance: The Business Development Bootcamp for Lawyers, a webinar to air September 24th. Working closely with the conference organizers at The Commons Institute, we’ve put together a stellar group of presenters including legal practitioners and legal marketers who are leading innovation in today’s marketplace. From Law Clerk, Cris Lam who will share what she did to grow her network and bring in clients to her firm; to Bobbi-Ann Wallace, a fourth year M&A Lawyer who will share her approach to business development, and Kris Bonn, a Managing Partner will share how he continued to make rain, lead the firm, manage his people, engage his team in business development and grow his firm. We also have Jana Schilder, my Co-Founder at The Legal A Team, who will cover the value of media relations in growing your firm, and Susan Van Dyke of Van Dyke Marketing and Communications, who will cover off effectively using Social Media.
In addition to the amazing content we will cover, each participant of this webinar will receive a copy of my 2nd book, “Raindance 2: A Blueprint for Growing Your Practice, Small Firm addition”, and a one-hour coaching session with me to follow the conference. If you are looking to grow your practice or firm, this webinar cannot be missed. GO to http://thecommonsinstitute.com/rain.html and sign up today. Early-bird pricing is still in effect. I look forward to working with you to grow your firm.
by Gary Mitchell | Jan 15, 2014 | Becoming more strategic, Business development, Raising your profile, Speaking at events
Speaking is another way for you to get in front of potential clients or referral sources. The more you can do to make it easier for them to find you, the more successful you will be with your business development efforts. Here’s a few tips to follow:
1. Do your research with your best clients and referral sources to find topics of interest. You can also do this when networking and meeting new people in your target audience.
2. Approach organizers of appropriate events (again, you’ve done your homework and asked you clients and referral sources what do they attend?)
3. Even if you have to go through an RFP process to be chosen to speak, following this advice will increase the likelihood of being chosen.
4. Make sure the organizers sign off on your content. As you work to build a solid reputation as a speaker, they will appreciate this. They don’t like surprises. An added benefit of doing this is that you can walk into the room fully confident that your content will hit the mark.
5. Arrive early and great people as they arrive. Ask them what they would like to take away from your presentation. Get their business card. Now you have a reason to follow-up with them.
6. Do the same thing following your presentation. Some people don’t like to ask questions in front of their peers. Make yourself available to them. Get their business card.
7. Follow-up with the people you’ve met.
by Gary Mitchell | Aug 14, 2012 | Asking questions, Building relationships, Business development, Business plan, Client management, Discovery process, Follow up, Market intelligence, Measuring results, Networking, Practice management, Raising your profile, Social media, Speaking at events, The business of law, Time management, Your career
Raindance: The Business Development Guide Book for Lawyers is now available through Carswell. Click here to go to Carswell for more information and ordering.
If you are a lawyer just starting out with business development, or already engaged and looking to up your game, this book is your practical, step-by-step guide to follow in order to achieve your goals.
by Gary Mitchell | Mar 21, 2012 | Asking questions, Coaching session notes, Communication, Networking, Speaking at events
The more you can say in the least amount of time, the better. Do you often feel the need to fill silence? Silence can be very powerful. Whether you are in a meeting or giving a presentation, silence allows the people you are communicating with to absorb what you are saying.
The next time you are communicating, email, phone, in a meeting, networking, or giving a presentation, try being a brief as possible. Try using less words to say more. Keep your sentences short. Pause more between sentences. Look for more powerful words to use. And if you have a certain amount of time allotted to you, don’t be afraid of using less.
by Gary Mitchell | Dec 5, 2011 | Business development, Raising your profile, Speaking at events
Do you find that you give a lot of presentations and don’t get the return for your investment? A couple of weeks ago I gave a webinar on ‘Time Management’, ironically. It’s ironic because I spent several hours preparing the material. Did I get any work from it? No. I did get great feedback and a lot of thank-you’s. That’s always nice.
If you have already done a great job of raising your profile. If you have the reputation. If you don’t need the credibility. My advice is to stop giving it away, unless its adding value for your current clients. As long as you give it away, they will keep taking it for free. So unless you do need to raise your profile, think of other ways to invest your business development time.
Your time is money. Your time is valuable. Keep track of what works and what doesn’t for you and your practice. Not all approaches will work for all lawyers in every situation. It’s important to monitor and repeat what works. As an example, writing articles has produced results for me. So, I pass my own experience on to you. I hope it will save you time and move you in the direction of getting results for any and all of your efforts.
