Have you ever found yourself under pressure to speak up about ideas you couldn’t say for certain were true – Maybe backing ‘party lines’ for some greater good or cause?

Here’s a story I heard over 25 years ago that struck a chord with me then and still does to this day.

Before heading off on his annual holidays, a Monseigneur called his young curate into his office.

“I forgot to tell you; you’ll have to give my homily on Sunday when I’m away” he said.

Noting the look of concern on the young man’s face, he continued “Don’t worry, I’ve written it out for you in advance. You’ll be fine.”

Instantly more relaxed, the curate took the Monseigneur’s notes and headed home to prepare himself for his first time behind the pulpit.

Cup of tea in hand, he began to read.

‘Yep”, “That’s fine”, “Fair enough, I see where you’re going with that”, he muttered as he scanned the text. 

But his stomach turned when he got to the last page and noticed several paragraphs had been underlined many times and there was a note in bright red ink to the side.

Here’s what it said: “Argument very weak here, shout a little louder!”

Variations of this apocryphal tale play out every time speakers trot out lines to put a positive spin on something they’re not fully behind – Maybe bowing to perceived expectations.

But this is almost always a bad idea.

Audiences tend to have an innate ability to figure out when a speaker lacks confidence in a message, no matter how much conviction, volume or gusto he or she might summon to cover over cracks.

And once an audience’s trust is lost, it’s tough to win their attention and confidence back.

Worse still, you risk burning credibility capital you’re going to need if and when you speak to the same people again.

It’s not worth it, is it?

So here’s the bottom line.

Always find a basis for believing what you say is true before speaking to any group. And if that means you have to work harder and longer on the material at your disposal before you give a talk, so be it.

In one sentence: saying things louder is never a substitute for truth.

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