Most attorneys have recognized the value of holding seminars at which they can make presentations on a variety of topics. The problem with these seminars is that, more often than not, the law firm is preaching to the choir. The attendees at these seminars are usually often from existing clients or who are already familiar with the firm. What law firms need to do is expose their expertise and practice groups to prospective, not just existing clients.
What is the way to accomplish this? By speaking at public conferences and meetings produced and sponsored by other organizations – at conferences, seminars and forums held by independent event organizations, associations, professional and industry trade groups, and academic institutions and think tanks. There is much evidence that speaking at public forums often results in the attainment of business, by providing increased awareness of the firm in general and specific practice areas in particular, to an audience comprised of potential clients. The key to the success of a speaker program is to identify and secure speaking opportunities with audiences of business executives (or whomever buys your firm’s legal services), not just other attorneys.
Speaking opportunities for attorneys represent a strong marketing, public relations, and business development tool for the following reasons:
1. Attendees get to learn about a firm’s or a specific attorney’s expertise first-hand and can interact directly with the attorney immediately before or after the presentation. An attendee asking for a business card can be the first step to attaining a client assignment. Even having attorneys from other law firms in attendance can have a benefit since some of them could be potential partners in certain practice areas.
2. Gaining increased visibility in practice areas that the firm has determined is in need of greater exposure.
3. The firm gains "advertising" by having its name and the attorney speaker’s name published in the agenda of thousands of brochures and promotional announcements mailed or e-mailed by the event organizers.
What should a law firm be doing to get its attorneys out on the speaking circuit? Take the following steps:
1. Decide which practice area or areas the firm should be targeting for increased visibility. This can be an established practice where the firm speaks from a position of strength and is known as a “go-to” firm for a particular legal area. Or it can be a practice that is just getting off the ground or at an early stage in its development and needs some fast exposure to let potential clients know that they can get legal counsel in an area for which they previously had to go elsewhere.
2. Get the right speaker on board. Proposed speakers should be experienced attorneys who preferably are also experienced speakers. Make sure that there are attorneys in the participating practices committed to the idea of making public presentations. Some will resist the idea of taking time away from billable hours so make sure that you have the full support of the attorneys that are being proposed as speakers.
3. Speak to the right audience. Thoroughly research the events for which your firm’s attorneys can be proposed as speakers, as solo presenters or as panelists. There are so many events taking place on so many topics, frequently simultaneously, that in order to maximize the time and expense associated with speaking, you’ll need to choose wisely. Identify speaking engagements whose audience represents the people your attorneys want to speak to, be they in-house attorneys, senior executives, entrepreneurs, or functional managers, such as human resource executives. Decide if your firm should speak at only high-profile events or if, for example, speaking to a local chapter of a key industry association would also be of great value. Recognize that your firm benefits from having attorneys speak at a variety of events, not just law conferences. For example, there are law topics in virtually every major conference, from e-commerce to intellectual property to employment issues to corporate finance. Look for events held by organizations where there isn’t necessarily a strong relationship already established with your firm; organizations that know your firm and have close ties to some of your attorneys are likely to directly invite them anyway. Seek out speaking opportunities with event organizers that would be open to having your firm submit speaker proposals, such as independent conference firms or trade show companies and industry associations.
4. Develop a proactive speaker placement program. It’s fine to evaluate unsolicited speaking opportunities, but having someone dedicated to the task who will aggressively identify opportunities, develop relationships with event organizers and submit speaker proposals, should lead to an increase in the frequency of speaking engagements and thus increased visibility for both the attorneys participating in the program and the firm as a whole. Remember that when done correctly, this is a time-intensive activity.
5. Decide on the geographic area to target for speaking engagements – locally or regionally in the cities in which your firm has offices and/or clients, or nationally or even internationally.
6. Create high-impact presentations. Audiences want to acquire actionable information they can take back to their companies – “how-to” or legal trends or legislative updates. They don’t ever want to hear that your firm is the leading firm in this or that subject area. A solid, informative presentation will create instant credibility and obviate the need for a “sales pitch.” A presentation that turns out to be a sales pitch represents the kiss of death and will ensure low evaluations by the audience and a one-way ticket home from the conference organizer. Create a presentation that offers information that adds value and is not the same run-of-the mill talk that is often given on that particular subject. Make your presentation stand out.
7. Learn the process for submitting a speaker proposal to the event organizer – first identify the program organizer and then follow carefully the established format for writing a presentation abstract. Submit a summary of the required length, submit bios and attorney expertise, including previous speaking experience and, of course, always meet proposal deadline. Make sure you tailor the abstract and the bio to each speaking opportunity and the audience that will hear the presentation, rather than pitch the same proposal to all targeted events.
8. Follow up continuously and persistently with the event organizer to gain mindshare and have your firm stay above the noise, since you will often be competing with other law firms for the same speaking slot. By staying in touch with the program organizer you’ll increase your chances of being selected to speak.
Where are the best places for a firm to look for speaking opportunities for its attorneys?
National events: there are hundreds of major conferences held across the country on dozens of subjects from finance and securities, technology, intellectual property and mergers and acquisitions to labor and employment, tax, patent law, biotechnology, health care, and real estate. These are held by associations and independent conference organizations and are marketed to potential attendees nationally. Speaking opportunities can come from events in different forms, from stand-alone conferences to trade show conferences to small forums with specialized, targeted audiences to college and university-sponsored events. Events that award CLEs held by bar associations and private CLE companies also provide opportunities when it makes sense to speak to audiences of both inside and outside counsel.
Local and regional events: these can be local or regional chapters of associations or business groups. Or they can be one-day workshops held by independent event organizers.
International events: attending conferences is just as popular a vehicle for networking and education in Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin and South America, and the Middle East, as they are in the U.S. So if your firm is looking to expand its client base overseas, speaking at conferences is an excellent way to gain increased exposure.
By developing an effective speaker placement program you will have taken a big step in meeting your firm’s business development, marketing and public relations objectives.
by Steve Markman
