Disclosure Test Worksheet
Updated .
This worksheet applies the briefing’s ethics gate to a message or technique: would this still work if the listener knew exactly what you were doing and why? You answer six yes, no or unsure questions. The result is Passes, Needs a rewrite or Cut it, shown with the rule used, the answers that drove it and one next step for each answer that needs attention. It runs in your browser and your answers go nowhere.
How it works
The briefing’s ethics gate is one question: would this still work if the listener knew exactly what you were doing and why? If it works only when hidden, the technique is cut. This worksheet asks that question from six sides, because a single yes is easy to give and hard to check. Its home is the briefing itself; the worksheet is a way to apply it to one message at a time.
- Questions 1 and 2 ask the gate directly: can you say it, and would they still agree once they heard it.
- Question 3 checks the commonest way a message fails the gate. A deadline or limit that is not real works only while the reader believes it.
- Questions 4, 5 and 6 check three conditions that keep the choice real: an easy no, the facts they would want, and time to think.
The rule, in order
- Cut it if the answer to question 1, 2 or 3 is No. The message relies on hiding what you are doing, or on a limit that is not real.
- Needs a rewrite if no answer to 1 to 3 is No, and at least one answer to 4, 5 or 6 is No, or any answer at all is Unsure.
- Passes if all six answers are Yes.
An Unsure answer never earns a pass. It sends you back to settle the question, which is the useful outcome when you are in a hurry to send.
What this is, and is not. The rule is this tool’s own rule of thumb, written to apply the briefing’s test. It is not a validated instrument, not a research finding and not a benchmark, and it produces no score. It also depends entirely on honest answers. A pass means your answers raised nothing to change; it cannot tell you whether the message is accurate or kind.
The outside evidence. Question 3 reflects a pattern documented for web interfaces. The Federal Trade Commission staff report (September 2022) describes countdown timers on offers that are not actually time-limited, and Mathur and colleagues (2019) found countdown timers in their crawl of about 11,000 shopping websites, some of which reset while the offer remained available. Those sources concern shopping interfaces. They do not test this worksheet, and whether using it improves the messages people send is Not reported.
Worked example
A coach is about to message a prospective client: “Only two spots left this month, so decide by tonight.” Five spots are actually open. This is an invented illustration.
- Question 1, could you say it out loud: Yes, because the coach could say “I am telling you the spots are limited so you decide quickly.”
- Question 2, would they still agree if they knew: Unsure.
- Question 3, is every limit real: No, because five spots are open.
The rule gives Cut it, driven by question 3. The next step for that answer is to name who set the limit and why, and to remove it if the coach cannot. The coach rewrites: “There are five places this month and I start new clients on the first of each month. If you want a place, let me know by the 28th, and if the timing does not suit you, the next start is in December.” Answering again, all six answers become Yes and the result is Passes. A different set of answers would give a different result, and only you can judge your own message.
Frequently asked questions
What does Unsure do to the result?
It prevents a pass. If every answer is Yes or Unsure, with no No on questions 1 to 3, the result is Needs a rewrite and the next step is to settle that answer before you send.
Why is there no score?
A score would suggest the six questions are equally weighted measures of something, and nothing in the research this site cites supports that. The worksheet gives a three-way outcome and the rule behind it, so you can see why you got it.
Is a pass proof that my message is ethical?
No. It means your six answers raised nothing for the worksheet to flag. It depends on honest answers and covers only these six questions, so it cannot catch what you did not think to ask.
What if my deadline is real?
Answer Yes to question 3 and put the reason in the message, so the reader can see who set the deadline and why. A real deadline passes the gate when you can say it openly.
Where do the six questions come from?
They are this site’s own, derived from the briefing’s test: would this still work if the listener knew exactly what you were doing and why. They are not drawn from a published scale.
Does the worksheet save my answers?
No. The answers stay in your browser and are cleared when you reload the page.
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