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Law firm seminar: Difference between revisions
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{{a|work|}}WHY ARE ALL LAW | {{a|work|<youtube>xVk77VQuPAY</youtube><br>How to work powerpoint, by the inestimable [[Lawrence Lessig]].}}WHY ARE ALL LAW FIRMS SO BAD AT PRESENTING SEMINARS? | ||
All right, my little chicklings. This is a heartfelt plea to you on behalf of those of us who’ve been in this game for years and are obliged, by regulation,<ref>All right this isn’t strictly true anymore, but it sort of is.</ref> to sit through [[continuing professional development]] seminars, to make them at least ''tolerable'' and, if you can, ''entertaining''. | All right, my little chicklings. This is a heartfelt plea to you on behalf of those of us who’ve been in this game for years and are obliged, by regulation,<ref>All right this isn’t strictly true anymore, but it sort of is.</ref> to sit through [[continuing professional development]] seminars, to make them at least ''tolerable'' and, if you can, ''entertaining''. | ||
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So: | So: | ||
===Speak to your audience, not to your powerpoint=== | ===Speak to your audience, not to your powerpoint=== | ||
It ''should'' go without saying, but clearly doesn’t, so let me say it: ''don’t read out your goddam slides''. | It ''should'' go without saying, but clearly doesn’t, so let me say it: ''don’t read out your goddam slides''. | ||
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I can read quicker than you can speak. If you’ve put all the information you plan to deliver on the slide, I don’t need you. Just send me the slides and I can read them<ref>Or save them for reading “later”, of course.</ref>Remember the point of the exercise, from your perspective: it is to give me the impression I do need you. I don't need someone to read to me, and if I did I would choose Martin Jarvis or David Horowitz, not you. | I can read quicker than you can speak. If you’ve put all the information you plan to deliver on the slide, I don’t need you. Just send me the slides and I can read them<ref>Or save them for reading “later”, of course.</ref>Remember the point of the exercise, from your perspective: it is to give me the impression I do need you. I don't need someone to read to me, and if I did I would choose Martin Jarvis or David Horowitz, not you. | ||
===Don’t clutter your slides=== | ===Don’t clutter your slides=== | ||
Limit yourself to a sentence per slide. | Limit yourself to a sentence per slide. One short sentence. Try it. This also helps you to speak naturally to your audience. | ||
The best exponent of excellent, uncluttered slides is [[Lawrence Lessig]]. Watch him in action (see panel to right) | |||
===Vary your tone=== | ===Vary your tone=== | ||
''You are not a | ''You are not a Gregorian monk. Nor am I''. Speak with some animation. Bring that personality. Moderate your range. Pause. Punctuate. Be dramatic. Be hyperbolic. ''This is a performance, not a root canal''. | ||
===Speak in idiomatic English=== | ===Speak in idiomatic English=== | ||
I know it is hard, since legal discourse has been beaten into you, but try not to speak like a lawyer | I know it is hard, since legal discourse has been beaten into you, but ''try not to speak like a lawyer''. Don’t speak the way you draft. (Come to think of it, don’t ''draft'' the way you draft). Say less, perform more. Build rapport. | ||
===Keep out of [[Weeds|the weeds]]=== | |||
This may be the worst of all. Your objective: to give a high-level overview: to present issues in stark, apocalyptic terms, apt to terrify your audience into calling you and paying for your legal advice. You are not meant to be reading out your firm’s internal knowhow folder on your topic. | |||
===Be ''funny''=== | ===Be ''funny''=== | ||
Now not everyone can be spontaneously witty on the fly. To be fair, most commercial lawyers have trouble being witty in ''any'' circumstances. So prepare ''something'' that might raise a chuckle beforehand. No-one is expecting Richard Pryor. And, okay, “Security and Enforcement in the Cayman Islands” is tough material, BUT YOU ARE THE BEST IN YOUR BUISINESS, RIGHT? That is ''why'' people are prepared to hear you out, isn’t it? So this is your challenge. ''Find'' something fun or outrageous to say about your topic: something your audience will remember. If there really, really isn’t anything like that — and “Security and Enforcement in the Cayman Islands” may be just that topic, then consider: ''why are you giving a seminar about something so dull in the first place?'' | Now not everyone can be spontaneously witty on the fly. To be fair, most commercial lawyers have trouble being witty in ''any'' circumstances. So prepare ''something'' that might raise a chuckle beforehand. No-one is expecting Richard Pryor. And, okay, “Security and Enforcement in the Cayman Islands” is tough material, BUT YOU ARE THE BEST IN YOUR BUISINESS, RIGHT? That is ''why'' people are prepared to hear you out, isn’t it? So this is your challenge. ''Find'' something fun or outrageous to say about your topic: something your audience will remember. If there really, really isn’t anything like that — and “Security and Enforcement in the Cayman Islands” may be just that topic, then consider: ''why are you giving a seminar about something so dull in the first place?'' | ||
=== | ===Questions=== | ||
encourage questions. Get a dialogue going. but realise you may get random qestions about things you don’t expect, ''especially if you are a dull speaker'', since no one will really have been listening, and they may be asking questions just out of politeness, and to reassure you that the hour you have just spent has not been quite as wasteful as it in fact has. Whatever you do, don’t ''ever say, “well, I’m not an expert, but —”. | |||
Remember what ''your audience'' wants and what ''you'' want, and be careful not to ''invert'' them. What your audience wants is to be entertained, first, and enlightened, second - but it is an optional extra. What *YOU* want is for your audience to think: hey she’s pretty neat. She’d be fun to work with (first) and hey — she knows tons about the regulatory environment post Brexit (second). She is definitely who I will call! | |||
{{sa}} | |||
*[[Magic circle]] | |||
*[[Private practice]] | |||
{{ref}} | {{ref}} | ||