Editor’s Note: The following post is from Jerry Brown’s Monday Morning Media Minute newsletter. For a case study on the dangers of spin, check out the guest submission from Tony Jaques on our Free Management Library blog.
Have you ever listened to someone flawlessly deliver a perfectly honed message — and you don’t believe a word they say?
We all have. Chances are they’re practitioners of “spin.” Skip the spin if you want the rest of us to believe your story.
You’re entitled to a point of view — and to express it without presenting the other side. And it’s okay, when appropriate, to try to persuade us to buy what you’re selling.
But skip the spin. By that I mean don’t alter or misrepresent the truth to make your story sound better than it is.
As a public relations practitioner, I sometimes come across people who think my job is to make stuff up or bend the truth to convince the rest of the world that stinky stuff smells like roses.
Not so. My job is to help my clients tell their story clearly and credibly to the audiences important to them. I help them get their stories heard, understood and remembered.
But I prefer to skip the spin. Because it doesn’t matter what you say or how well you say it if the rest of us don’t believe you because we don’t trust you.
That’s my two cents’ worth. What’s yours?
Jerry Brown committed journalism for 20 years. He’s been practicing PR even longer than that, helping clients get their stories heard, understood and remembered. You’ll find him at www.JerryBrownPR.com | 303.594-8016 | jerry@JerryBrownPR.com.