Bearing Bad Tidings without Losing Your Head

You know your message will make people angry.  The night before your presentation, you dream that your employees storm your house with pitch forks and torches.  With downsizing and profits falling, many more people are experiencing unhappy audiences.  So how do you keep the masses somewhat mollified while announcing lay-offs or meager returns?  Valium in the water cooler?

In short, you can’t prevent your audience from feeling sad, mad or betrayed, when you convey depressing news.  You are dealing with humans who have human emotions.  You can, however, do a few things to keep the rotten tomatoes and death threats at bay.

1.    Run Away

Although many of you probably wish this suggestion was legitimate, it’s not.  If you are in a position that requires you deliver bad news, you must communicate it yourself.  No one respects a manager who forces others to do the dirty work for him.

2.    Acknowledge Anger

Let people release some steam by expressing anger, but don’t allow them make others uncomfortable or prevent the room from understanding your message.  Asking an angry person to fully explain her grievance will help her calm down, and the discussion might provide some constructive points to explore.  Legitimizing anger through acknowledgment defuses that anger somewhat.  Be careful not to legitimize irate outbursts that are irrelevant.  Unfounded objections, if entertained, will distract everyone from your intended message.

3.    Be Honest

Is honesty the best policy?  Some experts argue that you should buffer your message and present bad news in a light that makes it seem like good news.  These people are called politicians, and as history tells us, many of them have ended their careers under the guillotine.  You may fool your audience for a few minutes or a few weeks, but rest assured they will eventually feel betrayed when they realize that your seemingly sweet news was, in fact, sour for them.  When you don’t treat your audience with the honesty and respect they deserve, don’t expect them to stay level-headed.

4.    Deliver a Direct & Clear Message

Understand your message and deliver it quickly.  People sense when they are about to receive bad news.  Don’t prolong and elevate the agony by beating around the bush.  Before you present, it is important to make sure that you know what your message is and how you want to present it.  If you are expecting your audience to react with violent outbursts of “Off with her head!” it is even more important to stay on course.  Confidence in your message shows that you have confidence in your company’s decision.  Generally, people find it more difficult to argue with a confident presenter.

5.    Express Empathy

When she learned that the people of Paris were starving because there was no bread, Marie Antoinette supposedly exclaimed, “Let them eat cake!”  If you approach a difficult topic with that same lack of empathy, then you might leave the presentation room without a head yourself.  Taking some time to think about your audience’s point of view is important when you are delivering undesirable news.  If your audience believes that you genuinely understand their plight, they will accept your message more willingly.

 

 

 

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