It's highly frustrating when you're dedicated to lifetime chiropractic for everyone yet unable to communicate it in a way that truly speaks to and captures the hearts and souls of your patients. Fortunately, there are many strategies you can employ to help you.

One of the most valuable of these is to understand what your audience is looking for. When people listen, one of the first things they evaluate is whether or not the person speaking seems trustworthy. Next, they want to know what gives the person the authority to be speaking on the topic in a group or one-on-one setting.

To really "get through" to your patients, you have to be able to get inside their heads.

As you're speaking to a large group or during one of your own in-office health talks, ask yourself whether you're presenting yourself as trustworthy. Are you speaking with authority? Are you looking people in the eye with respect, passion and compassion or are you lecturing and talking down to them? Lack of sincerity will be blatantly obvious.

What does your clothing say about who you are? Do you look like you just walked in off the street or are you presenting yourself with a professional attitude and attire? Remember, your appearance will speak volumes even before you open your mouth.

It's also vital that you ask lots of questions. When you ask your patients and community members questions, it sets the wheels in motion for them to begin thinking and processing information about chiropractic on their own, independent of the material you are communicating.

While in today's culture people are tired of being solicited and coerced into doing things, if they see value in a given activity, they'll do it on their own without invitation. When you ask salient questions, you will build this value.

Try asking questions like, "Has anyone ever suggested that you try chiropractic before? Do you understand how the nerves in your body control the proper function of your back, head, legs and lungs, etc.? What do you think might happen if your child experienced nerve pressure between his or her brain and body?"

Or, "Do you think this pressure could affect their lungs, heart, ears or stomach? Did you know that if the spine is subluxated or misaligned with pressure on the nerves and remains that way, that within two weeks, it can begin to cause potentially permanent damage to the joint and nerves? When would be a good time for us to check you or your child, today or tomorrow?"

Asking questions opens the door to meaningful dialogue and involvement on the part of the person with whom you are speaking. It also enables you to know and understand what patients are thinking so you can phrase your words in a way that will support their voluntary and active participation in their own care.

Finally, concentrate on building the best bridges you can to get your vision across. It's a waste of time to inundate people with written resource material or words about chiropractic unless you know what kind of language they speak.

Understand the needs and hearts and souls of your patients before you begin educating them about lifetime care or you'll push them off the bridge. Your goal should be to help people visualize how they can achieve optimum health or freedom from pain through the lifetime chiropractic care that your practice and team are committed to providing.

Focus your enthusiasm and passion around personal stories and lives, and people will take the steps they need to cross that bridge on their own with minimal guidance from you.