Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993 TAG: 9311040243
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's preventive law, designed to help workers avoid mistakes that might get the company sued for matters like job discrimination, sexual harassment and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Though undeniably important, these ``dos and don'ts,'' as Hoal describes them, don't exactly rivet his audiences. They seem a little dull to him at times, too. Or they used to, until he went to the National Storytelling Festival four years ago in Jonesboro, Tenn.
There, Hoal, who is 38 and who graduated from William Fleming High School and Roanoke College, discovered what he'd been looking for: a fascinating hobby, and a way to fascinate, or at least keep awake, his audiences on the job.
Before long he was delving into storytelling techniques, developing stories to tell and putting his skills to work. Result: His legal lectures have become much more entertaining, and he's having a lot more fun.
He is even telling stories on the side.
Hoal has taken his tales to schools in North Carolina, to Camp Bethel in Fincastle and to the Sedalia Center in Big Island. On Saturday, he will lead a workshop at the Sedalia Center to show people how to use stories in their professional and personal lives. The workshop is limited to 15 participants and is geared for people who do a lot of talking - teachers, ministers, librarians and the like. The workshop will run from 8:30 to 4 p.m. The cost is $25. For information, call (804) 299-5080.
At work, his stories enable him to drive points home through illustrations and gestures. He has gone from a rigid, standing position behind a lectern to moving around the room, and has switched from using an overhead projector to using his arms, his voice and his face to convey his messages.
``I used to dread having to speak in front of four or five hundred people,'' he said. ``It was something I didn't look forward to at all.
Now I really welcome the opportunity, because I enjoy it so much.''
Telling stories has led Hoal to writing stories, including several about growing up in Roanoke and spending his summers at Camp Bethel, which is operated by the Church of the Brethren. His father, the late U.A. ``Lefty'' Hoal, was a lifelong supporter of the camp who also managed it. Lefty Hoal died in July. He was the founder and former owner of Wholesale Enterprises. June Hoal, Alan's mother, still lives in Roanoke.
Hoal's daughter, Brittany, 8, has come to prefer his home-grown stories to the books he used to read to her at bedtime.
Unlike professional storytellers, Hoal hasn't gone so far as to design a costume to tell stories in, but he is thinking about it. He also is thinking about putting together a tale of a Civil War battle, which he would relate to schoolchildren from the viewpoint of a survivor.
Storytelling has taken him a long way, and he is ready to go even farther.
``It's a great release for me,'' he said. ``I don't golf. I was looking for a hobby and was at a point where I needed a nonserious outlet from work and stress and so forth, and this has been a good choice.''
He compares himself to the entertainers who visit talk shows and declare that they can't believe they're getting paid for doing what they love. He especially enjoys telling stories to groups of children.
``I get in a roomful of kids,'' he said, ``and kind of become a kid myself.''
by CNB