Let me tell you a story. I teach my 3 to 3.5 hour in-depth training seminar on public speaking to law firms, corporate executive groups, businesses, bar groups, associations, public agencies and the like. I fly all over the country to do this. And when I do it, no matter where I am, I am “on” for that entire 3 to 3.5 hour program.

Lack of sleep? Jet lag? Small or unappreciative crowd? It doesn’t matter. I smile, jump up in front of the group and let ‘em have it with both barrels. Even the most listless crowd will perk up if you attack your subject with gusto and there is no better way to win them over than to get them to enjoy something they start off thinking they’re going to hate.

So…what happens after the program is done? As you’d expect, I crash like a diabetic after a pie-eating contest. I’m so exhausted after these sessions I no longer schedule anything afterwards because I know I won’t have the energy to participate. I used it all up in the program. Why go to such lengths and put myself in such a state? Because it works. I repeatedly get comments about how exciting these programs are and how passionate and enthusiastic I appear to be.

And you know what? Even though I love teaching this seminar and I love the topic itself, there are times when I wake up at 6:00 am (an ungodly hour on any day) and think to myself, “Why am I doing this? I’m tired. I don’t want to do this.” It doesn’t happen often, but with my travel schedule and running two businesses, it happens some.

But when the time comes, I still turn it on for the presentation. And on the rare occasion when I have run out of steam in the last 20 minutes or so, it inevitably comes up in the evaluations. Audiences notice.

So if you want your audience to believe that you’re a good speaker and to hear what you have to say, you must be energetic. Give yourself the permission to show enthusiasm and get excited about your topic. Trust me — it’s contagious.

Bruce Givner of the Law Offices of Givner & Kaye, APC is our newest Featured Speaker!

Bruce recently spoke at our Advanced Estate Planning seminar where he was a favorite amongst our attendees for his thorough information and his entertaining delivery.

Bruce has also joined the panel for the intermediate level program Protecting Your Client’s Assets: Your Legal and Strategic Options which will take place in San Francisco this Thursday, September 15th. Bruce is highly experienced with tax law so you won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear from him on this subject.

Congratulations to Marc Lewis and Paul Llewellyn of Lewis & Llewellyn LLP who have been named as Northern California Super Lawyers.  Marc and Paul have both spoken at many of our litigation programs in the past and we couldn’t be happier for them.

Virginia Milstead of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is the latest Featured Speaker on the Pincus Pro Ed website!

Virginia recently spoke at our 12th Annual Federal Court Boot Camp in Los Angeles and will also be speaking at our upcoming Superior Court Boot Camp in Los Angeles on October 21st.  She has spoken at most of our state and federal court boot camps since 2011.

Virginia is well-liked by our attendees, fellow speakers and the staff at Pincus Pro Ed.  She is especially well known for her thorough handouts.

Megan Thibert-Ind of McDermott, Will & Emery, LLP is our latest Featured Speaker!

Megan will be joining the panel of speakers at our 7th Annual Circuit Court Boot Camp this October in Chicago as a repeat speaker.  Megan has been speaking for us since our 5th Annual Circuit Court Boot Camp back in 2014.

Attorneys who attend our programs frequently note how effective and helpful Megan is when teaching and how much they appreciate the handouts she provides.  We love having Megan speak at our programs and are happy to have her back this fall!

If you have associates in your office who are new to Illinois Circuit Court make sure to send them to the boot camp this fall, where they can learn from Megan and all of the other top-notch attorneys and judges teaching at that seminar.