By Jacqui Banaszynski
Perfecting Personality Profiles
Creating compelling business coverage through compelling characters
Memorable characters
What makes them so?
People are memorable due to character
Deeds or actions Signature traits
Words Defining moments
… So, too, with businesses
Poll Question #1 What percentage of your business-beat
stories are profiles or focus primarily on a central character?
Why profiles? • Businesses are PEOPLE
• Started by, run by, made successful by, sometimes ruined by PEOPLE
• They affect PEOPLE
• Provide or end jobs
• Create products we consume
• Provide services we use
• Drive the economy we all are part of
Photo by Flickr user Kurman Communications Inc.
Why profiles? • At heart, any business is just a
compilation of the characters
• Who run it
• Who make it run
• Who are affected by it
Businesses are about
PASSION and PURPOSE.
And those come from PEOPLE. Employees at the opening of an Apple Store. Photo by Flickr user macinate.
Poll Question #2 What type of person do you or your
editors usually select as profile subjects?
Whom to profile?
Obvious subjects:
• Businesspeople or businesses in the news
• Or in the bull's-eye of a controversy
Photo by Flickr user Eran Sandler
General Motors CEO Mary Barra
1st WOMAN TO HEAD A MAJOR AUTO COMPANY
Will her character change the culture, character or operation of the company?
AMAZON CEO BUYS WASHINGON POST
Jeff Bezos
Visionary remaker of retail takes on revered traditional institution
Will he stabilize, transform, save, undermine or revolutionize an industry in trouble?
Bernie Madoff
Slam-dunk profile subjects
• Firsts or barrier busters • Heroes or goats • Winners or losers • True newsmakers
BUT… you don’t have to wait for news
to bring fascinating characters to your coverage.
Photo by Flickr user Jerry Bowley
Search your community or beat for:
• People facing a dramatic challenge or going through a compelling transformation
• Turn-around artists • Futurists, visionaries and
risk-takers • Entrepreneurs and inventors • Change agents
Photo by Flickr user Martin Playing With Pixels and Words
Pope Francis
Rocks the Vatican with changes
Captivates journalists and the public
Martha Stewart
Look for survivors
• Characters who defy the odds
• Whom we love to hate
• Whom we admire or follow
• Who teach us something as leaders, consumers, human beings
Profile potential is everywhere
• The passionate craftsperson
• The expert who can explain how things work or why they matter
• The longtime loyal employee who becomes the embodiment of a company
Photo by Flickr user Silvia Benedet
• The individual who represents a broader trend or illustrates a bigger issue
When the story becomes the business
Which becomes an ongoing story
as people who buy the product buy
into the story
(glassybaby)
Or just a great story… The business is really the story
behind the business The product and business take on the CHARACTER of the founder
Community characters
The local shop owner or repairman or
salesperson or butcher, baker, undertaker we all know … but don’t
really know
(Bob at Dawson’s Shoe Repair in Columbia,
Mo.)
Poll Question #3 What are the two most important
elements of a good personality profile?
Profiles are not… • Resumes • Chronological life
biographies • Lists of
employment or accomplishments
• Q&A interviews
• (Use bio boxes)
DEFINING MOMENTS that demonstrate character, value, motivation, style
Effective profiles are character revealed through…
SCENES that show people in place, time, culture and situation; put people in context
Relevant and REVELATORY DETAIL that shows not just what someone does but who someone is
DIALOGUE and DYNAMICS that illustrate relationships and interactions
Memorable TRAITS, DEEDS, WORDS
PROFILE TYPES
• Not one-size fits all
• Must match publication, purpose, audience interest and newsworthiness
• Adjust to tone of subject or character, and to your own time, resources, style or strengths
1. Whole Earth
• Cradle-to-current • Obituaries • Major figures or news
(Don’t overuse. Subject, space,
interest, access often doesn’t warrant or require the whole life story.)
Janet Yellen New Chair of the Federal Reserve
• Person known in small circles bursts into national awareness or prominence
• Focus on primary aspects of job or role, but fill in the whole-life background
• Give the public context
But you can also profile in a
...Paragraph • Character captured in a
phrase or paragraph • Puts personality to names
and titles • Selective, relevant detail,
description or dialogue • Metaphor helps (if it
speaks to understood or shared culture)
Photo by Flickr user Windell Oskay
"He was Dobie Gillis turned crusty Army scout..."
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_24980304/pioneer-press-senior-editor-mike-bulger-dies-at
“He wore all the hats, knew
where all the bodies are
buried, held the flashlight, led the way, saved our a--es so many
times, bemused by us but never
critical.”
2. Newsmaker/Niche
• Focus on key aspect connected to news of the moment or situation being explored.
• Include only background
information relevant to that news, and then with tight selection and compression.
Photo by Flickr user Christopher Woo
3. Micro • Represents or reveals a
macro issue or situation • Uses one to tell the story of
many • Micro subject must be
chosen carefully to be a fair stand-in
• If one character doesn’t represent issue fully or fairly, zoom in on three or four
Photo by Flickr user Evan Leeson
Photo by Flickr user Dave_S
4. Interview
• Often necessary for celebrity or limited-access profiles
• “My lunch with …” • Done well, puts readers
in the room • Relies on effective
dialogue and description • Interview questions
essential
Photo by Flickr user Craig Howell
Spice Girl Melanie Brown, spokeswoman for Jenny Craig
Photo by Flickr user Eva Rinaldi
Melinda Gates
Careful Controlled Guarded
Seldom accessible Always on message
But… how
interesting if…
5. Negative space • Lack of access or
cooperation • Obituaries • Control freaks • Geographically challenged • Subjects buffered by
publicists, lawyers, policies
• Relies on records, multiple other voices and/or observation
Photo by Flickr user Beverly & Pack
“INTO THE
WILD”
Jon Krakauer never met Chris McCandless, but brought him to life through the stories of those who had.
“Roger and Me”
Michael Moore’s quest to interview GM CEO Roger Smith. Interview never happens, but character of place, culture and company is explored.
Tomorrow The HOW of Profiles
• Access and sourcing of profiles • Best practices of reporting for profiles • Effective writing structures for profiles • Alternative profile approaches and
structures
Homework Make two lists: 1. List the 5 most important and influential people on your beat. If you don’t cover a specific beat, then just list the most important or influential people in your community. 2. Then list the 5 most interesting people you’ve ever met on your beat or in your community. Don’t limit yourself to people who fit the usual definition of “newsworthiness.” Now identify the people who would make a great profile. (Hint: If someone is on both lists, they rise to the top.) Choose one or two, and answer these questions: (1) Why would you want to profile them? (2) What would you most want to find out about them?
Please email your answers to: [email protected]
by 8 ET tonight, Feb. 5.
Questions? [email protected] Twitter: @jacquib Slides, video, handouts, homework at: http://bit.ly/profiles2014
Photo by Flickr user Xurble
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