“Everyone tells me to ‘use my voice’. But no one is listening…….”
My coaching client added this at the end of our first hour together. I had to extend the session. Because this is the truth of what many of my clients face, and we have to talk about it.
I teach women to advocate for themselves, their ideas, their business and their bank accounts. We work together so that they can ask for what they want-and get it. So they learn to build credibility, ask questions, change perspectives and use evidence to win. They also learn how to use…
For over twenty years as a medical malpractice defense attorney, I’ve advocated for my clients in the courtroom. I’ve used what I call the 5 Cs of an Advocate — Credibility, Connection, Compassion, Curiosity and Creativity- to persuade juries to give us wins. And I can count my courtroom losses on one hand. But my clients and I don’t win our cases because I’m an extraordinary advocate. We win because I give my clients the tools to advocate for themselves.
My clients in the courtroom were doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and techs. They were the ones who touched the patient…
When my clients tell me that they suffer from “Imposter Syndrome”, I tell them Imposter Syndrome is a lie. It quite literally is, and it’s a lie we have to stop telling ourselves if we want to effectively advocate for ourselves and our ideas. I teach my clients how to use perspective, evidence, credibility and questions to ask for what they want and get it. And we have no time for Imposter Syndrome.
If you haven’t heard of Imposter Syndrome, it describes high-achieving individuals who, despite their objective successes, fail to internalize their accomplishments and have persistent self-doubt and fear…
The word “advocate” is a verb and it’s time for you to start doing it. You need to advocate for yourself, your checkbook, your ideas and your future. Because no one else can do it for you.
Before we started with social distancing, I was doing a lot of traveling. I’d been in San Francisco, Boston, Nashville and Miami in just ten days. On one of my flights the woman next to me noticed my bracelet, which reads “advocate”.
“Are you an advocate?”
I smiled and said. “Actually, I wear this bracelet to remind me to advocate. It’s a noun…
“My meeting was cancelled so we’re doing it by Zoom”
“We’re doing it by video.”
“Let’s just get on a Google hangout.”
Coronavirus is changing the way we are communicating already. Meetings, big and small, are being cancelled. Teams have to connect over technology, and you may have to pitch investors or clients from miles away. What happens when you have to advocate for yourself, your products or your ideas from afar? How do you do it?
After 20 years as a trial attorney, I teach people how to advocate for themselves, their products, and their ideas using the tools…
You can be a better negotiator. You negotiate every day — for more money, more time, more compassion, or more help. It might be that you’re asking for a raise. Maybe you’re looking to work from home, or leave early on Wednesdays. Perhaps you want your partner to do more of the housework. The root of the word negotiate is “not leisure”. If you’re not resting, you’re not negotiating. Let’s get better at it.
When we communicate we share perspectives, but when we advocate we change them. And when we negotiate, we want the other party to see things through…
“Who is your jury?”
That’s the first question I ask my consulting clients when we sit down to work on creating a message, and a messenger, that wins support, attention, loyalty and engagement. You can’t advocate to win until you know your jury. For some of my clients, the “jury” is their investors, their clients, their customers or their team members. For others, the jury is the voices inside their own heads. Once we know the jury, we work to see things through that jury’s perspective. We want to see what they see, because what you see impacts what you…
A trial lawyer is a warrior, and for 20 years I’ve been a trial lawyer. I’ve been recognized as a Philadelphia Super Lawyer and one of the Top 50 Female Attorneys in the state of Pennsylvania. And I’ve been inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, composed of the “preeminent members of the Trial Bar of the United States and Canada”. I believe one of the reasons for my success is that I am a woman, and I am a feminine-ist.
Years ago, I walked into yet another deposition of yet another dying plaintiff. I represent doctors and hospitals…
Does public speaking make you nervous? If so, Jin Shin might be the secret weapon that will help. I help people to advocate for their big ideas, and often the biggest hurdle for my clients is public speaking. It terrifies them. I don’t have that problem — but I have a similar one. I’ve been trying cases in front of juries for 20 years, and now I’m a keynote speaker, so speaking to large groups is second nature for me. In fact, when the time comes for me to stand up and speak, I start to get really excited. …
When you advocate for your big idea, you need to consider how your jury (your clients, your customers, your team etc) wants to feel. Because if you can use words, questions, tone and body language to help your “jury” feel good, you will win.
Words make us feel, and feelings make us act. I saw that for myself when my boyfriend’s word choice led to our breakup. We’d been dating a few months when he started answering the phone by saying “Speak to me.” And it drove me crazy.
He claimed that he didn’t understand. What was my problem? I…
Heather Hansen
Author of The Elegant Warrior-How to Win Life’s Trials Without Losing Yourself. Host of The Elegant Warrior podcast. https://advocatetowin.com/
