Put some POP! into your profiles

Charlotte Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson suggested to Cox Ohio Newspapers reporters that they should consider using these curious devices when writing profiles:

• Find your inner 4-year-old
• Wear out a post hole digger
• Think of your story as a shark
• Use the lesson of the movie “Casablanca”

What in the world did he mean?

We’ll get to that in a minute. For now, let’s see what brought Tomlinson to Dayton in the first place.

He was one of three speakers who participated in the two-day Cox Academy Ohio Workshop. He presented three sessions, including:

• “People in 3-D: How to write profiles that make your subjects come alive”
• “Two-minute warning: How to self-edit on a tight deadline”
• “Making your people look good: How to use coaching and other strategies to help your staff succeed”

He was joined on the program by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Obituaries Editor Kay Powell and The Palm Beach Post Presentation Editor Mark Edelson.

Powell offered a variety of tips and strategies to successfully interview victims of tragedy.

Edelson presented a three-hour workshop on visual storytelling; specifically, how to effectively use single and multiple photos as well as the packaging
of words and pictures to present stories well.

Now, back to those Tomlinson ideas for writing better profiles. Here is what he meant:

Find your inner 4-year-old:
Use the same word with your subject that most often comes out of the mouth of a 4-year-old — “Why?”

Wear out a post hole digger:
Go deep and narrow on your subject, about the width of a post hole digger, not wide and shallow with little focus.

Think of your story as a shark:
Sharks have to keep moving to stay alive and your story needs to move, too, if you want to keep your readers engaged. Use scenes, dialogue and cliffhangers to create movement.

Use the lesson of the movie “Casablanca”:
Who doesn’t remember the final scene of the movie where Rick and Captain Renault are walking across the rain-soaked runway? And Rick’s final words: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” But who can recall the opening scene of the movie? Tomlinson’s point: Pay as much, or more, attention to the end of the story as you do to the beginning.