TechnoScore: 4.0
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score
This video by Laura Margulies & Associates
Attorney Laura Margulies gets right to the point saying "When my clients come see me, they're in financial distress." Potential clients will immediately relate to her, and recognize she has the confidence and experience to help them. She empathizes with her clients facing foreclosure. She teases viewers that if they come to her, she will give them the secret to stop creditors from calling — an effective technique.
However, after an award-winning intro, Attorney Margulies starts talking about herself and how she has an aggressive reputation. She manages to do this with a smile, calming voice and pleasant background music. Frankly, any time an attorney talks about their talent (even if true), it's an immediate turn off. No one likes exposition whether it's in a Hollywood movie or YouTube ad.
Educating a potential consumer is a much better approach than talking about yourself. The better option would be to have a client, a colleague, or an adversary heaping praise about you in your video. Unless you have accomplished a precedent-setting feat, it's better to have someone else toot your horn.
Video Techniques
Lighting: Good. Background is dark blue and contrasts with Laura Margulies' well-lit face.
Sound: Good. No problem.
Set: Set: Attorney's office with a clock on the lower left corner and a few scattered law books on the lower right corner. Nothing too distracting. The lawyer is slightly angled away from the camera in an interview style, which works well when there is an extreme close up. She also wins points by transitioning to a some B-roll footage of her meeting a faceless client in a conference room.
Makeup: A bit overdone given the direct lighting on her face.
Music: Excellent choice of music for this type of attorney and the bankruptcy issues that surround her clients. Very calming.
Length: 1:20 minutes. Not overly long, but it could have been tighter without the self-praise and back patting after the introduction.
Script: Very well rehearsed. You can't tell it's scripted. She appears natural.
Performance: Excellent. This attorney hits the nail on the head by giving the viewer the appearance of being in command and knowing what to do to calm the client and ease their fears. A viewer will appreciate her confidence.
Sidebar: Short and right to the point. No spelling errors. The video was created by Findlaw.
Conclusion
This video earned a full 5 points within the first few moments of the video. However, self-lauding was a drawback and immediately lost one full point. Remove that, and you've got a top-notch lawyer video.
The Back Bench
TechnoLawyer Publisher and online video producer Neil J. Squillante says: "A few of her smirks seem out of place given the subject matter, but on the whole it's much better than most online law firm videos."
About YouLaw
YouTube offers law firms a free advertising platform with tens of millions of potential clients. But a poor video can hurt more than help. In this column, lawyer and online video expert Gerry Oginski reviews and rates the latest law firm videos. A panel of fellow experts (The Back Bench) add to Gerry's reviews with pithy remarks. We link to each new YouLaw column and all other noteworthy law firm marketing articles in our weekly BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
About Gerry Oginski
New York trial lawyer Gerry Oginski has created more than 150 informational online videos for his medical malpractice and personal injury practice. Realizing that most video producers don't have a deep understanding of the practice of law and what potential clients look for, Gerry launched The Lawyers' Video Studio, which provides free tutorials and video production services. If you need help producing a video, please contact Gerry now.
Contact Gerry:T: (516) 487-8207
E: lawmed10@yahoo.com
