The speaker begins by saying. "Statistics show" and then proceeds to prattle off a list of figures aimed at making a point. Before long, though, you’ll probably be thinking about all other places you’d rather be.

Now imagine that speaker begins by saying "Once upon a time"

You automatically start paying attention because you know you’re about to hear a story.

People love stories. And they’ll stop what they’re doing if they think they’re going to hear a good one.

The greatest teachers of all time have taught their lessons through stories, anecdotes, examples. Even parables.

And you’ll start getting loads of free publicity from media if you understand that they’re really in storytelling business.

Joan Stewart is a former newspaper reporter and editor with more than 20 years experience. She says that during her career, she got hundreds of calls from people saying, in so many words, "Cover me, pay attention to me, give me publicity."

Of course, what they really wanted was free advertising for some product they were selling. And when Joan would ask, politely of course, why public would want to know more about it, they’d launch into details about how wonderful their product was and all features it offered.

I got one of those recently, so I took it to my friend Joe Gross. He appeals property tax assessments for a living.

"Man," he said. "I've never seen assessments explode like they have this year."

My "news antenna" shot up. Then when he showed me his new web site, which gave property owners a chance to look up appraisals of other homes in their neighborhood, I told him--'You've got to pitch this to news media.'

I helped Joe put together a short release and then faxed it to local radio and TV stations. A few nights later, there was Joe, on evening news, describing his web site to tens of thousands of viewers.

Could it happen to you? You bet, if you remember a couple of basics.

*** Learn to spot opportunities. When you see, hear or read something in media that relates to your field, call reporter who did story and offer 'another angle' or a 'follow- up.' Reporters are often judged on their ability to 'enterprise' their own stories and ideas, and if you help make THEIR job easier...guess what they're likely to do for YOU?

Recently San Antonio Express News ran a story about some new software. Darrin Schroeder, VP of a San Antonio company that had just rolled out a similar product, called reporter and offered a 'follow-up.' Result: front page story, with color picture, several days later.