You Don’t Ask Someone to Marry You on the First Date- and other bits of wisdom from the Just JDs program at the LMA Conference by Amy Smith, Marketing Director, ThompsonMcMullan, Richmond, VA Business development is much like dating….
Read MoreLaw Firms Can Advance with a Retreat
By Ed Poll, LawBiz.com Lawyers who are together physically in an office environment share a camaraderie that shapes the firm culture. If problems or issues develop in running the firm, the partners can gather in a conference room and resolve…
Read MoreAir Travel Tip – bring an uninflated party balloon.
Professional speakers spend a lot of time on airplanes. Shoved into the pocket of every briefcase, backpack, and roller bag, I have a couple small uninflated birthday party balloons. Why? I have four kids. They’re now ages 12-21, but when my…
Read MoreHandy Form – Speaking Engagement Agreement
Everyone I’ve asked remembers having had the nightmare where you wake up in a sweaty panic that you forgot about an important test, or discovered during finals week that you were signed up for a class you’d never attended. From…
Read MoreQUIZ: How to Tell if a Conference Is Travel-Worthy or a Time Waster
Fast Company is one of my must-read monthly magazines. I read it cover to cover, and subscribe to a number of daily or weekly emails as well. Here’s a snippet and a link to an article from one of the emails. Those of us who speak…
Read MoreThe ONLY reason to hire a speaker…
“People who address audiences have the potential to create tremendous value or create tremendous harm.“The only reason to hire a speaker — no matter what his or her specialty — is to improve the condition of the audience and, frequently, the organizations which…
Read MoreMore re “Give ’em the old razzle dazzle”
For those interested in adding stories and humor to their presentations, there’s a decent book I read entitled, not surprisingly, “Using Stories and Humor: Grab Your Audience” by Joanna Slan. Early in the book, it discusses the difference between two…
Read MoreDonating hotel toiletries to battered women’s shelters
Last night, I left the very successful Marketing Partner Forum, and packed up two nights’ worth of new hotel soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower gel, shower caps, sewing kits, etc. to bring home and donate to battered women’s shelters. Many years ago,…
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