Scarier Than a Speeding Bullet ...
What's scarier than a speeding bullet? More frightening than a zombie apocalypse? More terrifying than an IRS audit?
The answer is public speaking.
Nevertheless, public speaking is necessary to market your expertise.
Speaking before an audience is, for many people, more frightening than death and taxes. Certainly, for many lawyers, public speaking as a type of marketing is more difficult than writing.
Of course, some lawyers are good at this and can communicate their expertise with ease before prospective client groups, bar association meetings, public interest groups, and so forth. Trial lawyers especially may find the public speaking approach to be a bit easier than the writing approach.
If your comfort level with public speaking is less than ideal, there are professional organizations as well as personal speech coaches and teachers that can help you improve your presentation skills.
However, as many professional speakers have found, being an expert—and having something of value to say—is far more important than how you say it. So be the expert. Get in front of people who need your information. They will follow your lead.
The key is to let people know who you are and what you do. Provide content, content, content in your presentations. Educate your audience and never worry about giving away too much information. It will all come back to you many times over in revenue because people will know who you are and what you are offering, and they will want you to help them meet their challenges.
Most importantly, remember that although few people would survive a speeding bullet or a zombie apocalypse, it can be said with some degree of certainty that almost all people manage to survive the public speaking experience. (The IRS audit—well, that's another story.)
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