When you write or speak about the law to a lay audience, you have several objectives:

• You want them to understand their problem, their risks, and their options
• You want them to know why they should talk to a lawyer
• You want them to see why the lawyer they should talk to (and hire) should be you
• You want to inspire them to take the next step

Before you can do any of that, you have to get them to read or listen. You have to get their attention with your headline or title, and make your article or presentation interesting enough to compel them to take that next step.

Here are some guidelines for creating more interesting articles and presentations:

• Talk about people more than concepts
• Talk about cure more than prevention
• Talk about benefits more than features
• Talk less about the law and more about “what this means to you”
• Don’t warm up; get to the point and stay there
• Assume they don’t know much; don’t assume they know nothing
• Talk to them, don’t lecture them; ask questions to bring them into the “conversation”
• More show, less tell; use examples and analogies that are familiar to your audience
• Get them to feel something; use dramatic stories
• Minimize and/or explain jargon
• Don’t write about history or precedent unless necessary
• Don’t tell them everything; be thorough but not dispositive

How do you know you’ve done it right?

Your audience will ask questions or make an appointment or go to your blog and read more.

Watch your email, your phone, your stats, and your bank account. If your content is interesting, your numbers are growing.