Perception is a balance sheet item.

Most organisations treat perception as an output of communications. It is closer to an input of finance.

The discount a supplier applies, the salary premium a candidate demands, the speed at which a regulator returns a call — these are all perception costs, and they are all payable in cash.

Once you accept that, the question changes. It stops being what should we say, and becomes what belief is costing us money, and what would have to be true for it to change.

That question has an answer. It usually has a price too, and the price is almost always lower than the cost of leaving the belief in place.