Quieting the Lawyers' Chatty Head

If you've read many of my posts on this blog, you have learned I offer communication support to lawyers, especially those who are introverts. That's a whopping 64% of lawyers!

Introvert lawyers are the thinkers, the planners and the chattiest of all, if you consider their common behavior of talking to themselves. They do this incessively in their heads, whether to criticize themselves, to compare themselves to others or to in some other way, sabotage themselves. An introvert myself, I know this because of my own behavior patterns. So the intrapersonal communication skills of shifting away from the sabotage talk to the ability to quiet that voice in our head is a challenge worth taking on.


As I've been building my business, I've had many moments when my inner voice has said things like, "I will never create a livelihood doing the work I love", "Who would agree to work with me?", "Why would they buy from me?", "What do I know?"

What we focus on grows. The more I listened to the voices above, the deeper I sank into the mire of failure. Yet when I focused on my gifts and the emotions of sharing them, business grew and testimonials flowed toward me. There is scientific evidence that confirms our emotions create energy that others pick up on. This is controllable, starting with what we choose to focus on.

Last weekend the band I sing with played at a local arts festival in NW Ohio. We saw streams of people impacted by our music for almost 3 hours - people pleased with our songs and dancing around to other areas of the park as a result after dropping money into our instrument cases. When I call upon a quick focus to start my day, I picture the festival audience and say to myself - "I help set the tone" and all of a sudden, I can meet any challenge.

Quieting the voice in your head, whether you're about to take the deposition, need to network after a long day of case work, or you're about to speak to a small audience only requires focusing on what you're naturally good at. Create a mantra around this and let it replace or even quiet that chatty voice in your head. Your heart will sense a difference. Your state of mind will be ready for anything. And you will now be operating from your strengths.

Make an effort to quiet that voice in your head. Then speak up!