The skills you need guide to interpersonal skills

Doctors and other healthcare professionals 
may need to 
communicate bad or unexpected news to patients and families, for 
example, diagnosis and prognosis. Such professionals have often 
received training and practised scenarios to help them to deliver such 
news effectively and sensitively.
• 
Police and other law enforcement officers 
may need to communicate 
bad news to victims of crime or their family and friends. Such 
professionals will have received at least basic training in delivering 
bad news.
• 
Managers in organisations 
may need to communicate difficult 
information on several levels, for example, to staff who are under-
performing or if redundancies are necessary. Managers may also 
need to report bad news upwards to directors or board members, for 
example, if profits are down or some arm of the organisation is failing.
Whatever your line of work, there will be times when you will need to be able 
to communicate difficult information effectively to others. This is an important 
employability skill, something that many employers will look for. You may be 
asked to give examples in a job interview or during some sort of appraisal or 
professional development programme.

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89
2.
ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SKILLS
EMOTION AND CHANGE
There are two main factors that make communication seem difficult: 
emotion and change.
EMOTION
People tend to look at emotions as being positive or negative. Happiness is 
positive and therefore sadness must be negative; calmness is positive whereas 
stress and anxiety are negative. Emotions are, however, a natural response 
to situations, and the only time that we need to be concerned is when we 
consistently feel emotions inappropriate to our current situation. Emotions are 
therefore not positive or negative but appropriate or inappropriate.
When faced with unexpected news we may find ourselves becoming upset, 
frustrated, angry, or perhaps very happy and excited. It is helpful to recognise 
how we react to things emotionally and to think of different ways in which 
emotions can be controlled if necessary. Similarly, as will have become clear 
from Chapter 2, if we need to communicate information which may have an 
emotional effect on another person, it is helpful to anticipate what that effect 
might be and to tailor what we say or write accordingly.
CHANGE
Often difficult conversations are about some sort of change, for example, 
changes in your job or ways of doing things, changes in finances or health, 
or in a relationship. It is important to remember that change is inevitable.
Different people handle change in different ways. Some respond very 
positively to a change in circumstances whereas others may only be able to 
see problems and difficulty at first. If possible, it is beneficial to think about the 
positive side of the change and the potential opportunities that it may bring. 
It is better for an individual’s well-being if they are able to embrace change as 
positively as possible, thus helping to minimise stress and anxiety.

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90
2.
ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SKILLS
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT 
CONVERSATIONS
There has to be a balance between communicating something difficult and being 
as sensitive as possible to those concerned. The skill set required to do this may 
seem somewhat contradictory, because you may need to be both firm and gentle 
in your approach.
Recommended skills include:
•