The Hon. Michael R. Panter (Ret.) of ADR Systems is the latest Featured Speaker on the Pincus Pro Ed website!

Judge Panter recently retired and joined ADR Systems as a mediator.

Judge Panter has spoken at many of our programs over the years, including our Circuit Court Boot Camps and our Jury Selection seminars. He also created our Case Valuation program in 2013. We keep inviting him back because our attendees love and appreciate him and is such a pleasure to work with.

Thank you, Judge Panter, for your time and dedication to teaching excellence at our seminars.

Dee Dee Fischer of Akerman Senterfitt LLP is the latest Featured Speaker on the Pincus Pro Ed website!

Dee Dee most recently spoke at our 5th Annual Circuit Court Boot Camp in Ft. Lauderdale. She has spoken at our Circuit Court Boot Camps since 2012 as well as several of our other litigation seminars and always receives top reviews from our attendees. Dee Dee has more than twenty years of experience in state and federal court, making her commentary invaluable. She is also a pleasure to work with and provides fabulous outlines for our attendees.

In a presentation setting there is the “us” – the audience – and the “them” – the speaker(s). As a speaker, you want to always try to breach the “us/them” dynamic. Makes sense, doesn’t it? The last thing you want between you and your audience is a barrier. Especially one that doesn’t need to be there. How can you overcome it?

By including some details in your speech — especially at the beginning — that show an interest in your audience, individually and as a group. Remember my advice to arrive early? If you found the time to interact with the audience one-on-one before the presentation, your introduction is an opportunity to connect more directly with the audience by mentioning someone by name in relation to the topic or your pre-speech discussion.

There is a concept in both psychology and marketing called “affinity.” It explains how people tend to like people who appear to like them. Dale Carnegie was a big proponent of this line of thinking. Show an interest in another person or find a connection with them and more likely than not they will reciprocate.

By using this engagement technique, you help to bridge that gap. Or as I sometimes say, you break down the audience-speaker barrier.
Shared experiences

Another way to immediately engage your audience is by tying your talk into the overall event or something that has occurred since you all arrived at the venue. This is most applicable when you’re speaking at a multi-day conference but it can also be applied in court or at various business settings.

If you have a funny story about something that occurred at the event or the courthouse, it can be a nice, light way to start off, grab everyone’s attention (everyone wants to hear about what is going on around them) and it helps you tie yourself to your audience and your surroundings. If you have a serious story, it can be a dramatic way to kick off a presentation, as long as you are careful not to touch on raw nerves.

This last method can be risky, as your story will not often be time-tested, but if pulled off with the right degree of dramatic flair, it can be just the trick to get the crowd on your side from the start.

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.