Eight Keys to Mastering Visual Aids
'When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.' ' Ralph Waldo EmersonA powerful visual aid will set images floating in the minds of your listeners and leave a lasting impression far more effectively than words alone. Nonetheless, lawyers often fail to capitalize on the power of visual aids for a variety of reasons: they often design complex, intricate visual aids that clarify very little and often merely confound the audience; they fumble around during the presentation and create awkward pauses because they failed to practice their presentations using the visual aids; they do not position themselves and the visual aid for maximum impact because they are unfamiliar with the layout of the room; and they fail to carefully plan when and how they will use the visual aid to accentuate the message.
On the job
Legal Services Industry Still Offering Marketing Job OpportunitiesBy Russell LawsonWith this article, Marketing the Law Firm launches a regular column…
Ask the coach
Q: Our internal newsletter is not well received or widely read. It contains recent wins and case developments, lawyer speaking engagements and articles, and other recent events of note. How can I make it more popular?A: There are only four reasons that people don't read your newsletter: 1) they don't know about it; 2) they don't receive it; 3) the content doesn't interest them or is poorly written; 4) they don't care about the firm at all; they're just collecting a paycheck. You should be able to take care of the first two without too much difficulty; No. 4 can only be fixed by a good recruiter.
SWOT It Out
Take a glance at any general business publication these days and chances are you'll come across the term 'SWOT Analysis,'referring to your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Although SWOT is used ubiquitously in the business world, it's not often heard in law firms. Despite the fact that many accomplished attorneys react with blank stares when asked about it, SWOT can be one of the most powerful ways for lawyers and their marketing staff to create an effective strategic business development plan. What is SWOT?
Ensuring CRM Success
In an article entitled What's Hot and What's Not in Law Practice, which appeared in the December issue of Marketing the Law Firm, CRM (customer relations management) was listed as the second 'hottest' technology in the 'Marketing Strategies & Tactics' section. The comment that followed was, '[b]ut there's a lot more involved than just having the right software: It must be used.'
A Question Of Copyright
When a lawyer writes an article for a journal, newspaper, legal newsletter or other kind of collective work, the publisher typically asks the lawyer/author to assign the copyright in the article to the publisher. On occasion, the lawyer, or his or her firm, will insist that the lawyer retain the copyright in the article and instead will offer the publisher only a one-time license to publish the article. If this gap cannot be closed, the publisher will lose an article that would have benefited its readers (and its subscriber base) while the lawyer/author will lose a valuable marketing opportunity to reach potential new clients. Fortunately, when both sides understand the nature of what they are seeking and what they are giving and getting, and when both sides refuse to stand on ceremony, the copyright question should not be a bar to publication.
BITS & BYTES
Payne Consulting of Seattle has announced the release of Metadata Assistant for Microsoft Excel, which cleans out hidden information from Excel documents. Following the positive response for Metadata Assistant for Word, this new software extends the same functionality to Excel files, which have even more hidden data than Word files.
GhostFill Continues Its Climb
GhostFill Technologies has released version 4.2 of its document assembly software, which adds new power and flexibility to an already impressive product.
AROUND THE FIRMS
In the Face of Economic Hardship, Bay Area Partner Classes Fluctuate. Although the faltering economy has been taking its toll on partner classes at many of the San Francisco Bay firms for 2002-2003, some were nonetheless able to award partner status to litigators. The majority of firms polled by The Recorder, an affiliate of this publication, either increased their class size or stayed the same. Most of the firms' elevations were in the areas of business and litigation.