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O P I N I O N

Storytelling, part 1 All of us have a story to tell, so don’t shy away from it in your professional life. It could be the key ingredient for your firm’s success.

E veryone loves a good story. That’s why we read bestselling books, see Oscar- winning movies, sit around warm campfires with good friends, and beg to visit our nannas and pawpaws (after all, they do share the best stories). Compelling stories have the ability to persuade, inspire, and, most of all, connect us in deeper and more meaningful ways.

Kelly Thompson GUEST SPEAKER

(or his attorney) a single question. Amidst the noise of the more experienced reporters, however, I made eye contact with a young woman wearing a yellow dress, about my age, and who had a familiar look and a keen interest in the chaos. I walked over to her and introduced myself. Then I asked, “What brings you here?” I’ll never forget the words that followed. “My dad is the man being released “Compelling stories have the ability to persuade, inspire and, most of all, connect us in deeper and more meaningful ways.”

I’ll never forget the time I went out on an assignment to cover a story about a middle- aged man who was being released from jail after being found wrongfully accused of murder. I was working for a large television station, fresh out of school and frightened out of my mind. I had never been to a jail, never met anyone in jail, and had certainly never come face-to-face with someone accused of murder. “Ask as many questions as you can,” my assignment editor told me before I left the station – not the easiest task considering I was one of 15-plus reporters who had been given this assignment. As it turns out, I failed miserably. I wasn’t able to maneuver my way past all the other microphones and cameras to get close enough to ask the man

See KELLY THOMPSON, page 10

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 9, 2017, ISSUE 1219

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