ABSTRACT
A bad-news message tells the recipient something that they doesn’t want to hear: for example, no refund or no job openings at this time. A well-organized bad-news message explains the reason(s) for the bad news before it announces the bad news. The bad-news message has five parts that usually translate into three paragraphs. Unlike good-news messages, bad-news messages rarely have keepsake value. The audience of a bad-news message usually is one person. The need to preserve a good relationship while delivering bad news can make the writing of a bad-news message difficult. In most bad-news situations, three or four sentences suffice to create the polite beginning. Ideally, the bad-news sentence will appear in the middle of the second paragraph, and middles are points of low emphasis. The explanation of the bad news comes at the beginning of the second paragraph and is an important transition in the message.
