Truth

The truth is not as straightforward as it seems In most things there are varying truths that we can choose from. Communication experts can take advantage of this by presenting us different facets of the truth in order to shape what we perceive as real. We will call these competing truths. We are going to analyse the tactics chosen to select the truth and how these tactics are used.

When we look at communication, we can identify three groups: the advocates, who represent reality accurately to achieve a constructive goal, the misinformers, who innocently propagate competing truths that unwittingly distort reality and the midleaders, who deliberately use competing truths to create an impression of reality that they know is not true.

The use of competing truths often creates controversy, so let us begin with a general rule:

If your audience knew everything that there was to know about your subject, would they find your account honest?

If your answer is yes, you are already on the right track.

In addition to this rule, we can use three criteria to define an ethically acceptable communication:

• It is factually correct;
• Its aim is to achieve a constructive result, supported by our audience;
• It will not lead our audience to behave in a harmful way.

The aim of the book is to offer the necessary tools to recognise false information and trickery, to be able to interpret the truth in the best possible way and to communicate more effectively