Ugandans can talk. I mean, they can really spin a tale that takes you into every possible corner of the story, and then out the door and down the lane to the neighbour’s house and back. They have a lot to say. Ugandans are smart people with creative and critical minds, and some of them were just born to hold a microphone. But when you are talking to a journalist, you don’t want to show them every corner of your house. How many times have my Kampala friends seen a headline quote from a speech at a function, which does not mention the purpose of the function, but focuses on the silliest thing that person said in the course of their hour-long romance with the microphone? That is why media training is worthwhile and much needed here in Kampala.
Over the past week, I have been preparing my local clients for media interviews, which was especially challenging because some of these people were speaking in Luganda and as much as I struggle to learn the language, I needed an interpreter to help me explore every corner of their answers to my mock questions. This was made more difficult by the length, depth and breadth of the answers I was getting. So, I came up with a metaphor that I thought might help.
Imagine your answer is like a very big pot of boiling water, with a small amount of tea leaves and ginger in the bottom. If we were to serve that “tea” to someone, scooping the still-clear water from the top of the pot, then how would it taste? Like water, just. If we want to serve our visitors (read: journalists) some good tea, then we must first boil down that water. Let the excess evaporate until we are left with just one cup of strongly steeped chai. That is our message: the take-away that we hope this journalist will quote in his or her article. It is better to serve one cup of excellent tea than to fill a stomach with hot water, which may not taste very good at all. It is better to say exactly what we wish to be quoted, and then just keep quiet, as to avoid our headline being some extemporaneous detail that misses the point and makes us look silly.
Over the past week, I have been preparing my local clients for media interviews, which was especially challenging because some of these people were speaking in Luganda and as much as I struggle to learn the language, I needed an interpreter to help me explore every corner of their answers to my mock questions. This was made more difficult by the length, depth and breadth of the answers I was getting. So, I came up with a metaphor that I thought might help.
Imagine your answer is like a very big pot of boiling water, with a small amount of tea leaves and ginger in the bottom. If we were to serve that “tea” to someone, scooping the still-clear water from the top of the pot, then how would it taste? Like water, just. If we want to serve our visitors (read: journalists) some good tea, then we must first boil down that water. Let the excess evaporate until we are left with just one cup of strongly steeped chai. That is our message: the take-away that we hope this journalist will quote in his or her article. It is better to serve one cup of excellent tea than to fill a stomach with hot water, which may not taste very good at all. It is better to say exactly what we wish to be quoted, and then just keep quiet, as to avoid our headline being some extemporaneous detail that misses the point and makes us look silly.
