How Presenters can Deliver Bad News with Poise

Public speaking can be difficult at the best of times. It’s hard to overcome the nervousness involved with speaking in front of a roomful of people. Of course, you also have to make sure that your voice is clear enough and loud enough that people at the very back can hear what you’re saying. Then there’s also the matter of knowing your subject well enough that you can speak off the cuff about it if something were to happen to your notes. To top it all off, you’re expected to readily answer questions from the audience during the Q&A period.

All of these things are tough. But it’s even tougher when you’re going to deliver bad news.

Despite the difficulty of this task, you can do it gracefully. (By the way, if you relate to any of these situations, make sure to check out the Fearless Presentations ® upcoming class schedule. We can help!) These tips show how presenters can deliver bad news with poise.

How Presenters can Deliver Bad News, and Not Get Attacked by a Mob.

Allow Yourself to Get Used to the Bad News Before Making the Announcement.

Whether you’re delivering news about a death or layoffs within a company, you need time to accept what’s happening before you deliver a speech. Allow time for your body and emotional state to process prior to giving the news. You don’t want to be emotional during the announcement, right?

The audience relies on you to set the tone of how they should feel, so be strong. Go over the notes thoroughly, and give yourself time to let the idea soak in. Then take a deep breath and try to be objective, and not overly emotional. It’s fine – even good – to be sympathetic, but you don’t want to be breaking down at the podium. That’s just not professional. Let your body language speak for you.

Pay Attention to the Room’s Atmosphere.

You need to be a good judge of how the people in the room, your audience, are feeling about the subject. If everyone is upset, you will need to be more sympathetic. Potentially treat your audience as if they are family members receiving news about the loss of a relative. If people are angry and look ready to riot over the news, you need to temper your speech to keep their emotions under control. You wouldn’t want to aid their anger with your own emotional response. Choose your language carefully – don’t use inflammatory words, and keep everything as neutral as possible. Keeping things neutral means there’s no room for anyone to misconstrue things or gain false hope about the future.

No matter how much you practice delivering negative news, your giving the news will come off as a complete surprise. Don’t let your own feelings overshadow staff members having tough conversations. Many leadership skills are key elements to delivering bad news in an effective way. Be empathetic, use eye contact, provide relevant information, and allow the person to feel their own way about the news.

Be Ready to Answer Questions and Identify Possible Solutions.

This all goes back to knowing your material inside and out before you start. Know the unpleasant news, the reason behind it, who’s affected, and then a little more on top of that. When you present tough talks with detailed information, people are less likely to have an extreme emotional reaction and will more easily acclimate to the idea. Because there’s the maximum information you have available, staff will view you as an empathetic leader and less likely to want to hurt the bearer of bad news.

When the news is bad, people will have questions. It’s inevitable. They will want to know how the issue affects them, what happens next if they’re in any danger, and the list goes on. Write down a list of possible questions the audience might have, and identify possible solutions to their problems. It might even be a good idea to practice being on the receiving end of bad news with someone else. So you can preemptively figure out what questions may arise.

Look on the Bright Side of Things

After getting unwelcome news, people need to see the bright side to keep on going. These are human beings you’ve just had a hard conversation with. It’s your job to close the speech with a silver lining (although you might really have to look for this one) so that you don’t end your speech on a note of doom and gloom. A productive way to help end in a positive manner is by executing the sandwich method of complimenting or giving information. Provide your audience with something in a positive light followed by the tough news and finish it off with another positive.

Even if it’s only “management is doing everything we can to rectify the situation so that nothing similar to this ever occurs again” or, “we have to comfort each other in this time of sadness,” people need to know that preventable measures are in place on their behalf.

The Sandwich Method Can Help Give Bad News.

This can be especially effective when discussing budget cuts or having to dismiss a staff member. Though these are negative consequences, finding a way to create a positive spin alleviates some expected, big reactions.

For example, “Joe, your service to the company is appreciated and the whole team really likes you. If you recall, though, last month, a customer complained about you service to her. We got another similar complaint today. Unfortunately, we don’t have an unlimited number of customers, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go. I wish you luck with your next job. Just know that our final decision wasn’t made lightly.”

The person who is being terminated will still react emotionally. (Anyone would in the same situation.) However, using this delivery of difficult news, the person focuses less on the bad things. The positive items make the negative a little more bearable.

Again, it’s not easy to deliver bad news, but with practice and empathy, you can do it successfully. After all, someone has to be the messenger, and it’s best that someone with training, poise, and control do it. Are you up to the daunting task?

For additional details, see Persuasive Speech Outline Example.