A Gap in the Story? The Sky Must Be Falling!

Late last night May 3, 2017 the world was sent into a creative frenzy of speculation. World media outlets lined up for a prime spot outside of Buckingham Palace for hours in the dark cold, social media streams went off the rails while #BuckinghamPalace trended on Twitter. The news of an “all-staff meeting at Buckingham Palace” was leaked to the world at around 3am BST and within minutes the world was filling in the gaps of this story.

I couldn’t resist. This is the perfect example that again highlights my first principle of communication, that ‘if given the opportunity, people will fill in the gaps of a story’. Further to that; ‘they will likely fill it in with the worst possible version of the story’.

After many hours of creative ideas on how the story could unfold, from illness to death to abdication, the real story was revealed. “His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, the duke has the full support of the queen.”

What happened between the hours of 3am BST and 8am BST?

• Media channels got very noisy and busy;

• As the volume of participants in the conversation grew, people got more comfortable sharing opinions;

• Sleep was lost;

• Anxiety ensued;

• Worry crept in;

• Anger arouse as a result of reading some speculations.

Based on my 1st Principle of Communication, what can we do differently?

• The instigator of a communication topic can dutifully assess the gaps that may be present in the initial information communicated and assess whether more info could be included to close the gap and limit or even eliminate the activation of the six outcomes above.

• The recipient(s) of the initial communication can pause and control their immediate responses to include the best possible story.

• The recipient(s) can restrain their response until the gap is filled in with fact.

I believe that we all hold a responsibility in communication. We can be irresponsible and allow gaps to persist and allow the gaps to be filled with speculation. The reason I say this, is that it not only damaged the particular situation, the people involved, including yourself and your reputation, but it also sets the tone and expectations for further communications related or not. Yes, I am referring to the “little boy who cried wolf” story.

With that said, I would love to hear your thoughts and other examples in which the gap in the story has been filled in. We all have countless examples, I’d love to hear yours!

monicalewicki.com

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