The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/4983
www.iltanet.org 28 Peer to Peer SmART mOVES your group is achieving and will provide an indirect benefit of building your value in the eyes of your audience through your understanding of your group and their integration within the business. LEAVE OuT ThE TECh-SPEAk Even the lawyers and support staff who think they are tech savvy do not want to listen to an IT person describe the intricacies of bits and bytes. Before attempting to explain an IT project or initiative, frame it in a context or analogy that can be understood by a diverse audience. Recently, I needed to explain what a firewall was to an audience that ranged from technically literate to technically phobic senior managers. Instead of describing the technical configuration of rules and policies, I positioned my response in the context of a firewall being akin to the line at airport security. The security gate was the firewall to which rules and policies apply to direct the passenger (the data element) to either successfully enter the gated area (the internal network) or be denied access. Because my audience had all recently traveled by air, the analogy resonated with them and made it far easier to prove the business value and purpose for our firewall implementation project. Analogies are useful because they allow for new concepts to be conveyed within the context of something familiar to the audience. The familiarity lowers the apprehension and raises the comprehension of the audience. FOLLOW yOuR LEAdS Conveying your 30-second speech should not be your end point. Gauge your performance and follow up. If you captured the audience's attention, drop a quick e-mail message or phone call with the offer of sending more detailed information. You could have an opportunity to develop a relationship with someone who can act as an IT champion and develop IT's value proposition further. Remember that any additional information you provide must be conveyed in the same format as your speech. If your speech was delivered without technical details, do not send off information that leads your audience to tech-specific information. Keep all communication consistent. Alternatively, if you feel your message was not well received or your delivery was off, follow up or have someone from your team make the next call to address any gaps. Not every 30-second speech will be well received or be perfectly polished. Capture your flaws and correct them to ensure you and your team maintain the confidence of your audience. dO NOT GLAMORIzE ThE MuNdANE When giving your 30-second speech, do not oversell or glamorize day-to-day functions of the team. Stating that the IT helpdesk responded to and resolved 200 calls in one day is not developing the value proposition of the group. While the group might believe that this was a monumental task, your audience is likely thinking that answering and resolving support calls are a basic operational expectation. Your speeches need to go beyond the baseline expectations of your audience and introduce something that they have been seeking or would value. dO make eye contact. It's a simple way to increase your presence and connect to your audience. Start by noting to note the color of the other person's eyes. dON'T stare. Be engaging, but not overpowering. Don't creep out anyone. dO keep your message short. The elevator speech is supposed to take 30 seconds. You should always follow up later. Think of you speech as an introduction. dON'T ramble on. Rambling usually comes with nervousness. Your speech shouldn't feel like a long spiel that just begs for a loud "Ta-dah!" at the end. dO keep your message simple. dON'T use a lot of filler words. Try to keep out the "umms" and "like's." (Rehearsing your speech will help.) And avoid the jargon. Not everyone has an immediate recognition of what ATA over Ethernet means.