Where is the line between embellishment and lying?

At first glance this seems like a straightforward answer. The truth is the truth. No more. No less. But that’s not the way any of us function in our day to day lives.

 

What kinds of details are okay to fudge or tweak for the sake of a clear story?

 

Michael Davis spends a lot of time helping people share their stories and he made the point that if you include every single detail for the sake of telling the “truth” you are going to lose your audience.

 

He talked instead about the “emotional truth” of a story.

 

Karen Loomis, who does branding and marketing (an area where there could be a strong temptation to stretch the truth) said that it’s one thing to exaggerate or make yourself look a little better if it doesn’t matter.

 

Her example was someone saying the are a good swimmer when they actually aren’t that great. In most cases, that doesn’t matter.

 

But – if that person was trying to get a job as a swim coach, suddenly that isn’t an embellishment. It’s a lie.

 

Dave Roberts agreed that how you tell a story might change and you might highlight or remember something differently based on your emotional state at the moment.

 

So where is the line? What types of things are just part of the human condition where you might hedge to save someone’s feelings? When does it become lying?

 

We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments because this is a WAY more complicated topic than we could do justice in ten minutes.

 

Connect with the panelists:

Karen Loomis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kloomis/

Dave Roberts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-roberts-56690513/

Michael Davis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldavisspeakingcpr/

Dr Robyn Odegaard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynodegaard/

 

Want a summary of the Quick Hits I post every week, plus the links to the LinkedIn pages of each of the panelist to show up in your in-box every week? Just let me know where to send it: https://drrobynodegaard.com/quick-hits-notifications/

 

 

  #QuickHits are designed to exercise your brain by letting you listen in on an unscripted conversation to get other people's thoughts on pertinent subjects. If you would like to join a conversation or have a topic you would like to hear discussed, please message me. https://www.DrRobynOdegaard.com

 

#dontlietome #lying #WhatisTruth