I have been lucky enough to be asked to speak at the 2018 National Conference of the Forensic Expert Witness Association. This organization helps to train and educate people who are qualified to be expert witnesses; this requires, of course, the basic subject-matter expertise, and then on top of that, expertise in the “business” and “strategies” of being an expert witness. As for the “strategies,” these are tips and insights on how to handle a deposition, write a detailed, fact-based report, and even how to handle being on the witness stand at a trial. The legal world is an exciting one (for a person like me who is passionate about the truth, about rhetoric, and about logic (including logical fallacies), a world with its own rules, procedures, and even idiosyncrasies. I am a huge believer in “life long learning,” so be participating in this conference I am learning how to be a better expert witness, how to better be able to convey the truth of a case in the adversarial system that is the legal system.
The Business of Being an Expert Witness
There is, as well, the “business” of being an expert witness, and the “marketing” of your business as an “expert witness.” So here, I gave two talks. First, I gave a talk on the use of LinkedIn. LinkedIn, of course, is the main professional social media. Creating and nurturing a robust LinkedIn profile is one way to project a positive brand image as an expert witness, one that will get you more business. This starts with keyword research and discovery, proceeds through beefing up the “professional headline” on LinkedIn (including the description), goes next to “trust indicators” such as getting positive endorsements and recommendations, and ends up with better “schmoozing” on LinkedIn.
My second presentation (held at the San Francisco Bar Association in San Francisco) focused on search engine optimization. Since I work as both an SEO expert and an SEO expert witness, this presentation focused on ten todos to better optimize a personal website or blog to rank well on Google. Basic changes such as knowing your keywords and putting them into the correct HTML SEO-friendly tags, building links, actively blogging, and being active on social networks such as Twitter.
If you’re an expert witness (or want to become one), reach out to me about these presentations, as I am happy to share them with you. Or, if you’re looking to better master SEO, AdWords, or Social Media Marketing, reach out to me as I often have review copies of my books.
