Intent

In today’s Tips for Assholes we’re discussing advanced rumor techniques, the last in our Stirring the Pot series.  We covered content extensively yesterday, so we’re going to finish up with a look at delivery.

Delivery, of course, is a personal, idiosyncratic issue, but it’s also inexorably tied to content and recipient.  Content-independent enhancement, however, can by achieved with several of the bluffing and flattery techniques previously touched on.  For example, the nested rumor, by posing as second-hand hearsay, irrationally gains an air of truth (borrowed from the supposed source), while simultaneously laying an escape route and distancing you from the topic.