Archive for the ‘National Speakers Association’ Category

A Model for Understanding Product Development by Pat Iyer

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

What is the risky way to expand a business?

What is the risky way to expand a business?

How do you determine if you should expand the services of your company? Should your law firm branch into another area? Should your legal nurse consulting firm start offering a new service? Which expansions are high risk? When should you make the change?

Norman Levy, a consultant, presented a model at the National Speakers Association Convention in August 2009 that made a lot of sense to me. These are four choices:

1. Provide more products and services to your existing customers.
2. Provide your existing products and services to a new market.
3. Develop new products and services for an existing market.
4. Provide new products and services to a new market.

Generally the lowest risk choice is #1, and the highest risk choice is #4. Conventional wisdom states that #1 is least risky because of the relationship you have with your current clients, who know and trust you. Med League started 21 years ago by supplying nursing expert witnesses, and added medical summaries, screening for medical malpractice, literature searches, attendance at IMEs, preparing of demonstrative evidence, and so on to our existing clients. These are #1 activities: more products and services to our existing clients.

Occasionally I teach (existing service) nurses who are being disciplined by the Board of Nursing, an example of a new market, a #2 activity.

When we started providing teleseminars for attorneys and legal nurse consultants in the fall of 2008, we branched into a #3 activity: new services for an existing market. We are about to launch a new service of a different nature to our existing market.

Although providing more services to existing client should be least risky, sometimes radical changes in the market place require businesses to shift the focus. For example, we used to have a lot more motor vehicle accident lawsuits before changes in the law toughened the criteria for filing suit. Many attorneys shifted their focus to new areas of law to compensate for the changes.

What’s clear if that you can’t stand still and be complacent. Look at where you are, what the market needs and what you need to change to move ahead.

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So You Want to be Published: Tips From an Experienced Author by Pat Iyer

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

typing On October 15, 2009, I was interviewed by Dick Bruso, the chair of the National Speakers Association Writers and Publishers Professional Expert Group, for a teleseminar. I have written, coauthored, or edited over 120 books, online courses, chapters, case studies and articles.

Here are my top ten tips for having an article published.
1. Think about the purpose of getting published. Is it to present yourself as an expert? Is it to obtain speaking opportunities? Is it to share knowledge with other colleagues? Is it for career advancement? What is motivating you? This motivation will help you stay focused as you work on an article.
2. Determine where you want to get published. There are opportunities to have articles published on ezine sites and in traditional print journals.
3. If you decide to target a print journal, study past issues. Look at the target market of the readership. Look at the length and style of the journal.
4. Determine the publisher’s guidelines for formatting the manuscript and follow them exactly. For example, they may specify length of manuscript, or not placing your name on certain pages so as to conceal your identity from a reviewer.
5. Pick a subject that really interests you. If the article is successful and achieves the outcomes you specified in point 1 above, you may be living with subject matter for a long time.
6. Develop an outline for your material from the sources you have gathered.
7. At the top of each source you have collected (articles, book chapters, printed internet sites), write the letter that corresponds with the point in the outline.
8. Gather all of the sources that deal with the first point on your outline. Write that section, then move onto the second point. Work your way through the sources.
9. Submit the article to the publisher, and wait for reactions. Peer reviewed journals will use reviewers to go through your submission and make recommendations for publishing or changing the content. Learn from their feedback and resubmit.
10. Don’t expect to get rich off any article submission fee that may be paid to you. The doors that open will be the reward.
Learn more

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The J Curve of Change by Pat Iyer

Monday, October 26th, 2009

The J Curve of Change

The J Curve of Change

You know those eureka moments when you hear a concept that immediately makes sense? Yesterday I was listening to an audio CD from the 2009 National Speakers Association when I learned about the J curve. A management principle from the field of economics is well-suited to explain the resistance to change. Understanding this principle helps to make sense of what happens when you embark on a change. Think of the short leg of the J as the entry point for making a change.

1. As an attorney or legal nurse consultant, you decide to purchase new software to upgrade your office.
2. As an attorney or legal nurse consultant, you advise the staff that cross training is needed in order to achieve maximum productivity and customer support.
3. As a nurse, you take a legal nurse consulting course and decide to open a business.

You enter the J curve and expect that your hard work and effort will result in an upward growth or positive change. Despite your preparation and expectations, things go wrong.

1. The software is not intuitively obvious and you feel inadequate.
2. Your staff don’t want to change what they know how to do in order to learn new skills.
3. You find customers are not flocking to your doors to take advantage of your new business.

Things get worse. You have entered the valley of despair.
1. You find that it takes twice as long to do something in the new software as in the prior version.
2. The staff reluctantly takes on the new responsibilities and makes mistakes. Clients complain. The staff loses interest in the change.
3. You find yourself unable to keep up with marketing to get new clients and your current day job.

Many change efforts die in the valley of despair. You don’t know if you have hit rock bottom; this is only clear as you ascend the bottom of the valley. At any point in time, you don’t know if things are getting better or they will continue worsening. Can you tough it out?

Take home lessons:
A. Remember that none of the hoped for improvements will occur if you give up too soon.
B. Remember that performance will dropdown before it will improve above the old standard.
C. Remember that you can make adjustments to achieve the outcome you desire.
D. Keep your confidence that the changes you are making are necessary and right.

Give us feedback. Tell us when you went through a J curve.

Also see Managing the Stress of Change
On Determination and On Being Trapped

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What are defining moments? by Pat Iyer

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Defining moments are created during the delivery of the anecdotes, explanations or stories that make the potent points about your client or your position. They can be delivered at any time during a trial: in opening or closing statements and through direct or cross examination, or during negotiations with an adversary.

How do you set off a defining moment? Use

• A pause
• An emphatic delivery
• Music
• An anecdote
• A story
• A quotation
• Silence before and after the defining moment

Allow time to HUD- hear, understand, and digest. Defining moments offer metaphors. They make you memorable, present a key message and help the audience act on the message.

Modified from Brad McRae and Ricky Nowak, National Speakers Association CD called “Crafting and Delivering Defining Moments”.

Here is an example of a defining moment drawn from the fact pattern of a personal injury case worked on by Med League:

Facts: The driver had just picked up her car at a garage which was supposed to have fixed her brakes. The attorney would say: “Jane pressed her foot against the pedal as she traveled down a hill. NOTHING happened. (Emphasis on “nothing”. (Pause.) She had a choice to make: roll through an intersection against a red light, or steer her car towards a building. (Pause.) She chose the building.”

Contact Med League to discuss our coaching services designed to help sharpen presentation skills.

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