Best of All Short Cuts

One characteristic that I believe all of us have in common is our love of short cuts. For instance, why take two hours to travel some destination when you can do the same trip in one? Prior to the twentieth century, the fastest way to go from the United States to Europe was by boat. Then, along came air travel and - presto! - the duration of that same trek was reduced. Of course, people can and do sail from the U.S. to Europe but when they do it is because speed is not necessarily an important consideration. In communication, the famous Pony Express served as a quick way to deliver messages and the mail. The speed of that means of information sharing was replaced by the telegraph.

Men and women love speed, especially when it provides them with a quicker end to something desired such as reaching a destination or sharing or securing information. This certainly applies to communication.. In the profession of public relations speed of message remains a foremost priority. Also uppermost in the minds of professional communicators is how a message is shared. As PR types wish their strategies to be effective in terms of being received and understood, their energies are devoted to coming up with the best ways to achieve that goal. That, of course, is totally understandable.

This is why to all those who communicate professionally or not, I offer the following observation: truth. When trying to determine how best to offer up such things as information, an explanation, or a response, go with what is true. Not only is truth or honesty the best policy, as all of us were told as children, it is also the quickest mode of travel for anything any of us want to impart. I understand that it may not always be received well or even understood at first. But that does not make its quality as a time-saver any less viable. Such actions as sugar-coating, spinning or shaping only slow truth down. Truth without all that packaging remains the best short cut from going to point A to point B.