How to deliver bad news

Have you ever been on the receiving end of bad news? How was it delivered? Gently? Or suddenly, maybe even brutally, with no preparation?

I remember a time when my teenage daughter woke up with a blinding headache and a raging fever. I rushed her to the hospital, where the intake nurse assured me that it was a 24-hour virus.

Then the doctor arrived. He said to me abruptly, “We think your daughter might have meningitis. We’ll have to do a spinal tap.” Shocked, I made a nervous noise that sounded like a laugh. Deciding I was taking things too lightly, he added, “You know, meningitis can be fatal.” After that, they had to put me on a stretcher!

Unfortunately, that doctor didn’t know that there’s an art to delivering bad news. It’s important to prepare your listener or reader for the bad news by leading up to it carefully.

Do you have bad news to deliver? To avoid upsetting your clients more than necessary (or even driving them away), try this simple 4-part plan.

1. Use a neutral opening

Never start off with the bad news. Instead, begin with a neutral statement, one that isn’t negative but isn’t too positive, either. Don’t thank your reader for contacting you; you don’t want to sound so friendly that the person thinks good news is coming!

The best approach is to state a fact (other than the bad news):

2. Give an explanation

Don’t state the bad news just yet! Next, explain why you can’t do what the client wants. The idea is to lead up logically to the bad news. After reading your explanation, your reader should be expecting bad news:

3. State the bad news

Now that you’ve prepared your reader, you can deliver the bad news. Begin with a word or a phrase like “As a result” or “For that reason,” to show how the bad news is a logical outcome of the explanation:

4. End with a goodwill close

Do your best to end on a positive note and leave your reader with a good impression, in spite of the bad news. You can do this by ending with a close that is friendly and helpful.

Even though you couldn’t do what your reader wanted, see if you can offer something else in exchange:

If you follow this simple 4-part plan, you’ll be able to deliver bad news and still keep your client’s business!

What approach have you used in the past to deliver bad news? Did it work, or did it backfire? Do you think this method will help you? Let us know in the comments below!