Educational Program with Bob Dotson: "Behind the Media Mirror: The Real American Story"

At the top of the latest educational offering from the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA), board member Jeannette Hektoen introduces veteran journalist Bob Dotson as “one of the most honored storytellers of our time.” Indeed, Dotson—the mind and heart behind The American Story with Bob Dotson, which was a regular feature on NBC’s Today Show for 40 years—has received more than 120 awards from associations and organizations around the world that have commemorated his knack for storytelling.

Naturally, Dotson, who is a bestselling author as well as a professor of Master Storytelling at Syracuse University, serves as a valuable resource for journalists of all stripes looking to hone their storytelling skills. In this program, which was conducted September 13, he takes foreign correspondents step-by-step through the storytelling process, coaching them on how to find and develop a storytelling arc that can effectively hook an audience.

“People are interested in what you're finding, not necessarily in who you are,” he says at one point during a freewheeling conversation that is punctuated by his trademark good humor and several charming anecdotes. He concludes that audiences will above all be intrigued by the way a journalist tells the story they have, and that journalists who understand this are undeniably the most successful.

Foreign correspondents will undoubtedly benefit from listening to one of the United States’ most esteemed journalists. Below are some of the most pertinent insights gleaned from Dotson’s presentation.

ON VALUABLE JOURNALISTIC TOOLS

“The most underreported segment of our world is us,” observes Dotson, who notes that “when you're looking for a great story, you don't just find it, you build it.” To do just that, journalists should remember that they have three valuable tools in their respective arsenals, which are:

• Curiosity, which helps you take a story to greater depths and choose what he refers to as “strong central characters” to bolster your narrative;

• Focus, which keeps you and your story grounded;

• Detail, which will set your story apart from others that are being produced

ON HOW TO BECOME A MORE EFFICIENT REPORTER

Dotson notes that people respond to questions in three parts:

• They give answers

• They explain their answers

• They try to fill the silence (which gives journalists an opportunity to guide the conversation and get a deeper understanding of the story)

WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND ONCE YOU’VE IDENTIFIED A CENTRAL CHARACTER

• Once you’ve identified a central character, says Dotson, you’ll have to ask yourself what graphics, pictures, close-ups, and audio you’ll need to bolster the story

ON HOW TO “QUICKLY TURN A TOPIC INTO A TALE”

Instead of focusing on what the story is about, Dotson recommends that the journalist consider the following:

• What is the point of the story?

• What’s the story’s punchline?

• What details will you need to support this point so you can successfully land the punchline?

• What will grab the audience’s attention? Is it a piece of natural sound? Is it information? Is it a particular image? 

• Telling a story as a journalist is not unlike reading a great detective novel: “Somebody’s got to be dead on the ground in the first fifteen minutes or fifteen seconds,” he says, because otherwise “you’re not going to stick with the show.”

ON HOW TO ENSURE THAT STORIES RESONATE WITH VIEWERS

• Make the viewer understand the following: “This is about you.”

• Dotson says that it behooves journalists to “connect the seemingly unconnected” and provide background information.

• He defines a great storyteller as “someone who can show you and tell you something that you might miss even while standing next to them.”

• A journalist should always make sure to let the viewer know why they should care because “people’s time is very important.”

ON HOW TO DEAL WITH CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON HOW YOU CAN TELL A STORY

• Dotson recalls that when he first started working at NBC News, he had to figure out how to tell entire stories in a time slot of just one minute and 10 seconds. He wound up perfecting a method that allowed him to tell stories in 59 seconds, effectively “handing back” 11 seconds of valuable time to the broadcast. In short, he “had to prove to the people signing the checks” that he could do what they asked so he could do the kinds of stories he wanted to do.

ON STRUCTURE

• There’s always a beginning, middle, and end—even in a fast-paced breaking news environment.

• When in a breaking news situation, a journalist should always keep an eye out for “the close, so you know how to build to it quickly.” The nature of the game, of course, is that the close could change over the course of the day. “A plane crash could always evolve into something else,” he says.

ON WRITING EFFECTIVELY

• “I write the middle of the story first, connect it so it makes sense to people,” Dotson notes, adding that “most soundbites have to connect to the audience emotionally.”

• Many journalists get stuck on the opening line. Instead of doing that, he recommends that they “start from the middle” and work backward, filling in the missing pieces as they go.

• Think of stories the way an architect would think about their latest project: “What comes first? What comes second? What comes third? And do I have the building blocks?”

• Writing can be used to evoke visual imagery in the absence of actual footage, inserting visual and audio into their written story.

• The best kind of storytelling doesn't show or tell: It helps the reader or viewer experience.

• “Look for small victories,” he recommends. “Stop focusing on what you don’t have.” Instead: “What worked in the story I worked on today and what can I do tomorrow?”

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You can follow Bob Dotson’s work via the following links.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Website: www.myamericanstories.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobDotsonAmericanStories

Instagram: @bob_dotson

Twitter: @bobdotson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobdotson/

BOOKS

Bob is the author of three books, including the New York Times best-selling American Story: A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things (Penguin/Random House).

His classic, Make It Memorable: Writing and Packaging Visual News with Style has been studied on campuses and in newsrooms around the world for more than two decades (Rowman & Littlefield).

He has also written …In Pursuit of the American Dream, a collection of his highly acclaimed television reports.

WHERE TO FIND 562 AMERICAN STORY REPORTS

A half century of Bob Dotson’s American Stories are now available to see for free on http://www.myamericanstories.com/

Reporters looking for ideas can type a topic, location or name on the search line. Relevant stories will pop up.

MAINTAINING THE ARCHIVE

The American Story Video Archive is housed at Syracuse University. 

Bob Dotson is donating autographed copies of American Story: A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to help Syracuse University maintain the archive.

If you’d like to help, click on this LINK to order an autographed copy with a personalized message. The book costs $20 and all proceeds go to maintaining the archive.