Career Tips, Presentation

7 Steps to Executive Presence

  • On October 1, 2017
Employers regularly ask me to find them people with executive presence. This trait is essential because senior lawyers need to persuade clients and present to the executive team. I agree with this pre-eminent career coach’s checklist of confident leaders with executive presence, who are “immediately effective, highly regarded, and heeded”. The good news is it’s […]
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Career Management, Networking, Presentation

How Lawyers Should Pitch Themselves to Clients

  • On October 9, 2016
While lawyers easily advocate for clients, they often have a hard time selling their own services. A leading rainmaker, James Gilliland of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, breaks down how to market yourself. These tips apply to not only firm lawyers building books but also in-house lawyers who also need to build relationships: Listen to your clients so […]
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Client, Presentation

5 Ways to Quantify Executive Presence

  • On June 19, 2016
Clients and employers will likely review your profile on paper before deciding whether to meet with you. How can you show you have that vaunted executive presence? Here are 5 things I look for when I review profiles: Speaking engagements. Have you presented to key professional groups on substantive matters? Or at a minimum run […]
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Networking, Presentation

Demystifying Executive Presence

  • On June 13, 2016
The role of a lawyer to is to advise clients. To win them over, you need not only technical but also social skills to build your executive presence. Here are 5 ways to do it: Understand the business. Don’t be the department of no. Show instead that you understand the context and significance of the issues presented. […]
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Networking, Presentation

5 Tips to Project Self-Confidence

  • On March 20, 2016
So many things about your career you cannot change, like where you went to law school, what your GPA was, and where you first trained. But what is squarely within your control and easy to fix is body language. When presenting to clients or interviewers, you need to project self-confidence. Here are 5 ways from Professor Amy Cuddy’s […]
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Interview, Presentation

The Most Critical Part of Presentation

  • On August 30, 2015
You may think the most critical part of presenting yourself professionally is dressing the part or speaking with confidence. While all that is helpful, telling a clear story about yourself is most important. For example, in an interview context, do you explain why you are interested and how your past naturally leads you to this point? Or is your story a complicated […]
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Presentation

5 Elements of Persuasion (Essential to Drive Your Career).

  • On August 23, 2015
Lawyers persuade for a living. But advocating for themselves? That can be hard. Below are some pointers from a recent post by Travis Bradberry, the author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, on how to be persuasive: Know your audience, and connect! Asking your friend to talk you up to a client requires a different approach than presenting a case to a […]
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Client, GC, Presentation

How to Advise GCs

  • On July 12, 2015
At a recent forum, four general counsels (from Varian, AOptix, NVIDIA, and AdRoll) talked how about how they want to be counseled by firm lawyers. The advice below clearly applies to in-house lawyers as well when communicating with their own top lawyer or business team: Make your advice practical. Brian Cabrera of NVIDIA noted he can Google black letter […]
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Networking, Presentation

How to Get a Response to Your Email When Asking for a Favor

  • On January 25, 2015
Below are some great tips from Professor Adam Grant on making a successful email request: Start with the right subject line. You’ll get a better response if it’s interesting and/or useful. Some samples: “Advice for a fellow X”, “Applying your techniques to Y”, “Can you help me give away $Z?”. Connect the request to the recipient. Show you know […]
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Presentation

Give Great Presentations to Set Yourself Apart!

  • On November 30, 2014
I hate to say it, but most attorney presentations are pretty darn boring. Set yourself apart by following these tips: Keep your presentation focused by having a plan for the beginning, middle and end. As for the end, think about what the audience should come away with, and what comes next for all attendees. Lead […]
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