The Most Wonderful Gift

By Edward Nelson

Dear Colleague,

Keynote speaker Isabel Wilkerson received the best quote of her life by waiting. Wilkerson was attending a gun buy-back program in St. Louis. An elderly woman pulled out a pistol and said, “I bought this to kill my husband, but God took him first.”

Taking as much time as you can to get the story was one of seven pearls of wisdom that Wilkerson described to everyone here. Each point that Wilkerson brought up made a lot of sense.

Wilkerson kicked off her speech stressing the importance of empathy in journalism. The speech did a good job of describing how to empathize and illicit emotional responses from the reader. Wilkerson’s seven rules provided a clear and interesting checklist for writing.

A writer has to listen, listen, listen. While interviewing someone don’t just write down what he/she is saying or think of the next question you are going to ask, actually listen. Wilkerson described truly listening as “the most wonderful gift we can give to anyone.”

If you listen intently it will help you understand what the person you are interviewing really needs. Wilkerson provided an easy to understand example to her second rule. While compiling information for her book on the Great Migration of African-Americans from the south to the north Wilkerson came across a lot of widowers who just needed to talk to someone.

Don’t be afraid to help when you can. More time with a person can lead to insight. A particularly interesting story stemmed from this rule. Wilkerson saw a glimpse of a world that she was not a part of by just offering to drive a woman’s children to school. After waiting in her car for a while Wilkerson decided to enter the woman’s apartment and see what the hold up was. Once inside she saw each of the five children line up to be sprayed with an aerosol can. It was only later that Wilkerson found out that the mother sprayed each child with oil blessed by a minister. The oil was supposed to protect each child from the harsh environment that surrounded them.

I think that Wilkerson nailed down her point of using time. I can definitely see how the more time you spend with someone the more you can learn about that person. If Wilkerson had not put in the extra time she may have missed the old woman with the handgun.

Understand your surroundings. While reporting on someone you are part of his or her world and you should act accordingly. This made a lot of sense. It seems like intruding on someone can only hurt a story.

Imagine yourself in the other person’s shoes. Wilkerson made sure to note that you don’t have to side with a person, you just have to understand where they are coming from.

The final Wilkerson rule; never try to be something you are not. This seemed like a rule that was applicable in social settings, not just in news reporting.

I can see how Wilkerson has been able to get to the heart of the story. Wilkerson’s tips were nothing but helpful. I look forward to applying them in the near future.