Be wary of truthiness

If you're a communicator, you have to love Stephen Colbert.

With razor sharp wit, his finely honed faux conservative shtick beams out via Comedy Central every night on "The Colbert Report." Although the comedy bits and nightly interviews are always good for a chuckle, perhaps the most crisply crafted piece on each broadcast is "The Word."

In this segment, Colbert introduces a word (or, sometimes a phrase) which is a springboard for something he'd like to talk about. Accompanying him is a graphic that is structured much like the crawl on the 24-hour news stations that summarize - in a sentence or two - what the talking head is saying. The gag on Colbert's show? The on-screen commentary ridicules what he's saying. It's all good fun.

On his very first broadcast, Colbert used the segment to introduce us to the word "truthiness," meaning a preference for what you wish was true, rather than what actually is true. In other words, "that statement has a ring of truthiness to it." It set the table for the approach he would use on each program. But, it didn't stop there.

Under the category of "it doesn't get any better than this for a new show," truthiness was named "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society, and a host of national publicity followed.

But, while Colbert can use his "word" to make a point (and to get a laugh), the fact is that communicators operate today in a world that expects that most of what companies say has an air of, well, truthiness to it. It's puffery plus.

The reasons for this phenomenon are open to discussion.

With too much information to absorb these days, target audiences are more likely than ever to default to suspicion, rather than trust. High-profile corporate scandals that are sending a steady stream of older white males to jail for bending the truth about their organizations' vitality don't make the job for communicators any easier. And clumsy handling of real life crisis situations can cast a shadow over a company for years, if not decades.

In such an environment, what's an honest communicator to do?

• Operate from "deficit thinking." Sad as it may seem, you need to prove yourself every time out. Even if this is the umpteenth ad in a series on the same product or service, treat it like it's the first. Strong, crisp messages that build credibility for your product or service, and your company, are essential. Assume nothing.
• Be clear and consistent. Your effort will die a quick death if you keep tweaking your messages. Find what you want to say, decide how you want to say it, and then speak it until you're sick of it. By that time, someone you want to reach may actually be paying attention.
• Sell without being smarmy. While the purpose of communicating is, of course, to elicit a behavior change among the target audience (buy something, buy more of something they already buy, understand an idea, etc.) check the over-the-top hyperbole at the door. Focus on benefits that are easily understood and believable.

Such an approach is harder than sitting around coining the next "Just Do It." But, in the day-to-day blocking and tackling of communications, it's the best way to protect yourself from becoming the next purveyor of truthiness. "And," as Colbert would say, "that's The Word."