TIP # 3 | Say as much as you can up front
Communicate all the essentials early and then try to move on.
This Substack is dedicated to helping people everywhere communicate more effectively about difficult topics. The pieces go in order so if you haven’t started at the beginning, go back to the main page and scroll down.
Let’s review:
Tip #1 - face the music. Be brave and decide to talk about something difficult.
Tip #2 - decide what problem your conversation needs to solve. Communication is problem-solving.
Now, for tip #3.
While deciding how solve the problem in front of you, think about everything you could possibly say. Then run your top ideas by someone who can advise you and help keep you safe (your spouse, business partner, the legal or HR team, for example).
Next, prep your messages to say much as you can upfront so that you can get the situation behind you quickly. If you work at a big organization, the legal and HR team may express concern or try to stop you, but go back to them using the explanation I include below.
This works for interpersonal communications, but it is especially relevant for corporate announcements or media interviews on difficult topics.
Let’s say your married CEO had an inappropriate relationship with a married subordinate - against company policy - and she’s planning to announce her resignation, effective immediately.
Your problem is that someone with questionable judgement has been running your company. Now you have to reassure stakeholders that company leadership is making good decisions about important matters that concern them. You must communicate with that in mind.
If the CEO says that she’s resigning to “spend more time with her family,” then you will probably have to address the issue of broken policy and / or infidelity down the line. These things rarely stay hidden.
If that happens then you might end up with a CEO resignation story. And then a few days later, the inevitable leak of the broken policy/infidelity story. And it probably won’t stop there. You might also have a potential board/employee exodus or drop in stock prices story. Every one of these stories erodes trust with all of your stakeholders.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Get it out upfront and get it behind you.
In terms of media interviews, announce difficult news with all the detail you can safely share so that it’s over sooner. Don’t hold back so that each new detail gets its own news cycle. That keeps the story in focus longer and does more damage.
I’ve been teaching this concept for a couple of decades and in one of my sessions a trainee described it this way.
“When you drop a big rock, you’ll displace a lot of dirt and it may take a couple of days to settle. But that’s better than dropping smaller rocks every couple of days and kicking up a new dust cloud with every one.”
It’s a good visual. Drop the big rock. Displace the earth and let the dust settle. Try to do it only once.
Click here for a link to Tip #4 - communicate the essentials but leave out the unhelpful bits. Don’t confuse or distract your audience with unnecessary details.