“We offer our thoughts and prayers.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.”
“They have our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
Better yet, “Our thoughts and prayers GO OUT to them.” Boom. Now we are actively slinging thoughts and prayers around.
Thoughts and prayers. Thoughts. Prayers. Prayers and Thoughts.
It’s become a joke. There are memes about it.
Can’t we do better? Yes we can.
Call to action: Don’t ever publicly offer your thoughts and prayers and don’t allow your leaders to. Be personal. Be creative. Be sincere.
What the fuck does offering your thoughts and prayers mean anyway?
If you are trying to publicly offer something personal on behalf of your organization then be personal. Be sincere. Say something that means something to the people that need to hear your words. Say something that is pertinent to the situation and the people. Offer solace. It’s actually the very least you can do.
The most lazy and insulting thing you can do in a difficult situation is submit a cookie-cutter, factory response.
There’s plenty of critique surrounding using the phrase instead of actually taking action. I’m not even suggesting you must substitute for action. I’m just saying, as a communicator, stop using the tired, meaningless, now comical phrase.
Photo by Pfc. Bailey Kramer
