What the Waggle Dance Can Teach Us About Law and Business Development
As I promised in a post yesterday, this week’s edition really will be about bees.
One of the most fascinating things about them is the waggle dance — a communication system so elegant that it has been studied for decades. And, surprisingly, it holds a very practical lesson for lawyers and other professionals whose work relies on persuasion and business development.
The Genius of the Waggle Dance
Scout bees leave the hive on exploratory flights to locate new sources of energy — nectar and pollen. These discoveries are vital for the hive’s efficiency and long-term survival.
When a scout finds a rich source, she returns and performs the famous waggle dance: a looping figure-eight with a vibrating “waggle” phase that communicates direction, distance and quality.
A few remarkable details:
➡️ Direction
The angle of the waggle relative to gravity mirrors the angle between the sun and the food source. A 45° waggle means: “Fly 45° from the sun’s current position.”
➡️ Distance
The longer and more energetic the waggle phase, the farther the resource. More energy usually signals greater distance.
➡️ Signal quality
The hive “reads” the conviction of the scout. Steady signals attract. Shaky, erratic motion triggers caution.
Here’s the insight that always stays with me:
A tiny creature burns energy to signal the presence of energy.
And bees cannot afford to fake it. A deceptive, flawed or careless dance might mislead the hive to an empty field. In extreme cases, that could be disastrous.
The dance is not an ornament.
The dance is evidence.
If the scout could speak, she might come back and say:
“You won’t believe what I found two kilometres northwest. Follow me and we’ll have nectar for weeks.”
Her willingness to spend energy is part of what convinces the others that the discovery is real.
Our Own Version of the Waggle Dance
Human communication — especially in business development, sales and advocacy — often follows the same logic.
We don’t dance on honeycomb, but we do signal through:
• enthusiasm
• clarity
• tone
• pace
• timing
• how composed we remain while following up
People respond to these signals before they fully analyse the content of what we say.
Two professionals can make the same proposal.
One sounds flat, rushed or hesitant.
The other sounds grounded, clear and genuinely enthusiastic about the value they’ve discovered.
Guess which one the client, judge or audience is more likely to follow.
Nectar in Practice: Three Examples
Think of how this plays out in different professional settings:
1. In court
A lawyer discovers a new piece of case law during deep research — judicial “nectar” uncovered through careful exploration. The way they present it matters: structure, tone, pace and conviction all influence how the judge receives this discovery.
2. In business development
A practitioner introduces a new legal vehicle or tax structure that can protect assets or optimise tax. When they explain it with calm enthusiasm and specificity — not hype, but grounded belief — clients sense there is something worth paying attention to.
3. In leadership and storytelling
A mountaineer (real or metaphorical) shares insights from a difficult climb. The transformation they experienced is the nectar. The congruence and lived energy behind their story is what makes others want to follow.
In all these cases, people are responding to a signal of worthwhile exploration.
The instinct is deeper than we think. We feel the discovery before we fully understand it.
So What Does This Mean for Us?
If we are convinced that the “nectar” we’ve found is truly worthwhile — a better structure, a useful legal development, a refined process, a powerful idea — then two things become essential:
1. Show clearly where the nectar lies.
Explain how a process or application works and how it helps protect the client’s interests.
Spell out how a legal or tax development can benefit the recipient.
Present your research, insights or solution in a way that is easy to follow.
2. Let your signal match the value.
Real enthusiasm.
Steady posture.
Measured persistence.
For example:
Explaining a legal process with clarity so the client knows exactly how to act.
Presenting a new legal or tax development with enough conviction that people want to “follow you to the field” — often literally, by becoming followers or clients.
Introducing the findings of legal research in court in a confident, unshaken manner.
When the signal is congruent with the value you’ve discovered, people feel it.
Your Own Waggle Dance
So, a few questions for you:
What “nectar” have you recently discovered in your work?
How clearly have you shown others where it lies?
And what might your own version of the waggle dance look like — in how you speak, write, pitch, or follow up?
Have a wonderful week ahead.
Philippos Aristotelous