I’m always a big believer in drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, no matter how unlikely, to help you do what you do better. Lately I’ve been watching Ally McBeal, a sitcom from the late 90′s, and one of the key features I’ve paid attention to is how the different characters close their arguments. Now I don’t know if a real lawyer would do what they do, but regardless of what a real lawyer or doesn’t do, I’ve gotten some useful insights on how I can improve my professional speaking.

For example, watching the character of John Cage talk to the jurors, he’ll get them to repeat what he said, and in that process imprint his argument on the jurors. I actually decided to try this technique at a recent talk and the feedback I received afterwards was that the people felt more engaged because they ended up participating in the presentation. It made enough of an impression that I had several people come and talk with me afterwards, wanting to set up meetings, to discuss further business possibilities.

I love pop culture and I’ve used it to inspire me in many different directions. It makes sense to apply it to business, sometimes, because there will be things you can learn and apply to your business. Adapting some speaking techniques that I’ve seen on a show has helped me improve my speaking, because even though I realized it was a show, the modeled behavior made sense to me. Trying it out confirmed my suspicions that it could work.

It’s important to be open to inspiration, no matter from what sources. I’ve always maintained this for all aspects of my life and it has served me well in helping me see what it is I can do because I’ve allowed myself to be inspired by the unconventional. What about you. What unconventional sources do you draw on to inspire you?