As an avid TV watcher, I was over the moon when Kenyan News came on the menu. I could finally understand what everyone was talking about with regards to ‘real’ local news. After all, they are not just ‘new’ Kenyan TV news but genuine information. That is why when Mzee started to use the term ‘ fake news’ it did not go down well with me.
To me, ‘fake’ news is news that I cannot understand, cannot relate to or cannot be affected by. That is why I laughed my heart out when one of the opposition leaders was asking Kenya to follow their example and call each other ‘fake news’.
When it is time for you to respond, tell your story like you have already told it a thousand times and ensure that it has new angles, a new twist and an added new information to support it.
The last thing you want to do is tell a lie and then try to correct it later. The first thing you need to do is change the way you say something. The way you phrase it will have a big impact on whether it stays or not. The rest is window dressing.
Charlie Chaplin said, “The biggest lies are often told by the ones you least expect.” Here are some tips on how to come across like you have had a lot of different experiences that you can confidently convey.
1. Tell your story with each word that you use
People want to know that what you have to say has happened to you. You are the bridge to what they want to hear. The fact that you do not have a background story does not make you less qualified to talk about something.
Tell your story in a way that you use every word that you use to tell your story in the most convincing way possible. If you say, I went to a wedding. A great story but can you also tell me what colour the dress was? Maybe the “I went to a wedding” bit needs some information to back it up. How long did it last? How many other people did you come with? Where was the wedding?
2. Don’t be afraid of trying different strategies
I like to ask my audience to suggest new words and phrases. If they say, “All of a sudden there was no light”, I find a way to follow that up. I may then use the phrase, “But after the explosion we realised there was no light”. This gives the audience something to think about and I have found that it generally helps me come up with something that is not only convincing but also clever.
3. Lay off the white-hats and the famous people
If you are a political analyst, blogger or even a local newspaper editor, you can use that to your advantage. Show that you did not just come up with this on your own.
If you are a Kenyan radio presenter, my advice to you is that you should take a step back. Tell your story about someone that people can relate to. Talk about someone who has lived in this part of the country or somebody who lives in this part of the country. It is much more credible if someone they know can relate to it
