As a former newspaper reporter, I was always skeptical about people – presidents, CEOs, owners, spokespeople – who were too slick for their own good. You know the type. They say the right things, do the right things. But do they really mean what they say? Do they really believe what they’re doing? Or is it all just a façade?

I’ve always felt that, in business and in life, honesty truly is the best policy. Whether you’re right or wrong, be honest with yourself and your constituents, take responsibility and be authentic.

The slick vs. authentic dilemma recently came to light while I was working on a couple of Godfrey podcasts. The first one covered Convergent PR – the blending of traditional business-to-business PR tactics with the new, social media PR tactics (one of which, coincidentally, is podcasts).

The podcast team asked itself, How slick, how professional do we want this podcast to be? Should we write a script for the podcast or just work from talking points? In the beginning, the team was divided between slick and authentic. In the end, we decided on authentic. That’s what podcast listeners want, and that’s what they’ll get!

Whether you’re creating a podcast, a videocast, a social media press release or another "Web 2.0" element to support your PR program – and your company’s brand – follow the honesty policy. Business-to-business customers are incredibly smart, savvy and well-read these days. Slick just doesn’t cut it anymore. Be yourself, be your brand – be authentic.