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Delivering bad news, whether communicating up, down, or across the organization, is a difficult task. Two questions often come to mind on this dilemma:

(1) How to structure the bad news message and

(2) How to communicate the bad news.

How to Structure the Bad News Message

Answer the tough questions up front. The best way to structure a bad news message is to answer the tough questions up front. For example, if a manager must announce layoffs, he should answer his employees’ specific questions first rather than beat around the bush. The employees’ questions will likely be: How does this affect me? What is my severance package? When will this take place?

Be direct. Be honest, but be sensitive. Avoid language that attempts to evade responsibility or obscure the issue. In addition, speak in the active voice to show that you accept accountability. For example: “I have reviewed your request for a marketing assistant, but unfortunately I can’t squeeze any more out of the budget this year.”

Use clear language. Too often, unclear statements result in misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Rehearse what you need to say beforehand to prevent making any misleading or vague statements. Use straightforward sentences and language to convey the bad news.

Focus on what can be done. In the midst of a crisis, we often react negatively to the things we cannot control. Or we express what cannot be done. In a bad-news message, focus on the positive, on what can be done. For example, if talking with a customer about a delayed shipment, replace the negative language, “We cannot possibly fill your order by June 19,” with positive language, “We will be able to fill your order by June 30.”

How to Deliver the Bad News Message

Avoid e-mail. If you’ve ever opened an e-mail containing bad news, you may have sensed a lack of respect and empathy, if not blatant passive-aggression. No doubt, e-mail is a highly impersonal method of communicating bad news. Most people can better interpret and accept the bad news message when it is delivered in person.

Use one-to-one dialogue. Face-to-face communication allows for gestures and body language to help in conveying the tone and genuine expression of regret and concern. It also allows for interaction and feedback, and possibly greater acceptance of the bad news. If face-to-face interaction is not available, use the phone. Since the person you are talking to cannot read your body language or see your facial expressions, it is critical that you keep your voice energetic and your tone positive.

Listen. The recipients of the bad news will likely have questions and concerns. Show them that you understand their feelings by focusing on what they’re saying. Take notes, ask clarifying questions, and paraphrase their concerns. For example, say, “I hear you. I know this isn’t easy to accept.”

Be calm and composed. Pay close attention to your behavior and attitude when under stress. It is easy to become consumed with the reactions of others and resort to defensive behaviors. Maintain control and self-monitor your feelings, words, tone of voice, and body language.

Recently, Keith Olbermann, on his MSNBC news show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, cited Fox News as the “worst persons in the world.” He claimed that the Fox News Channel is blatant right-wing propaganda. He also noted that President Obama, in a recent TV interview (the same interview, incidentally, as the now-notorious fly-swatting incident, in which, according to news reports on MSNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN and elsewhere, the President demonstrates his “remarkable fly-swatting skills”) claimed that there was at least one news channel dedicated to undermining his administration at all costs. Olbermann suggests that the President was referring to Fox News.

Back in the day when the Republicans controlled both houses as well as the Presidency, a period that might well go down in history as a modern-day Dark Ages or Reign of Terror, the Fox News channel was considered to be the bastion of credible news. So much so that all other news agencies were too afraid even to question their authority.

Fox News, owned by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., had started on the premise that conventional news sources like CNN and network news operated on a principle of a subtle left-wing cultural bias resulting from the educational and social milieu of their journalists. The solution that Fox News apparently proposed was to dedicate a news channel to supposedly “fair and balanced” news coverage. “Fair and balanced” became their watchword, but it soon proved to be ironic. Over time, their supposedly objective news coverage has been exposed as right-wing propaganda that was pretty blatantly pandering to the Bush administration while they were in power.

This brings us to MSNBC’s news lineup. MSNBC is a news channel that is produced as a joint venture, as the name suggests, between Microsoft (the monolithic software giant founded by Bill Gates) and NBC. Their lineup of news shows supposedly offers us the alternative to Fox News, but, as implied by Keith Olbermann, what they are really offering us is left-wing propaganda that panders to the Obama administration.

The tragic consequence of all this government pandering and institutional propaganda is that the number-one casualty in mainstream news coverage is credibility. Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins of today, with their stunning expos

If you do not know what the SummerSlam event is then you must have lived under a rock until now. SummerSlam 2011 is one of the most famous and awaited events of the year that takes places on August 14th. Hundreds of professional wrestlers are attending the event and tens of thousands of fans will be there in order to watch them demonstrate their skills and abilities.

Massive crowds will shout and support their favorite contestants, hundreds of decibels will pierce through the air and an overall celebrating atmosphere will make the days that the event will be encompassing, a unique experience that does not compare to anything else on this earth.

Even though there are not many things to be known about the upcoming 2011 event, people are speculating that the event will feature some massive surprises that will utterly thrill the fans. When it comes to the venue and the city the event will be held in, there are not many things that have been disclosed to the public yet. But still, that does not keep the fans from speculating a lot of things regarding the way the event will be held next year.

SummerSlam 2011 is all about brute force and massive power. The contestants will mesmerize their audience with old classic moves and of course, with some new ones that some of the contestants, like John Cena have been preparing for some time now. All of the famous WWE wrestlers that you have seen on TV will attend the event in order to demonstrate that what they can do on TV, they can also do right in front of you.

If you have a favorite contestant then you will be able to place a bet on him and pray that he will win. Yes, the SummerSlam 2011 is also a great opportunity to make some good money if you are well versed regarding this sport.

Until now, SummerSlam 2011 news look promising and it seems that there will be some spice going on next year. All of the contestants are getting ready in the meantime and training their weak points in order to have better chances when standing against great wrestlers, like the brutal John Cena who never loses a match that easily and always delivers a good entertainment for everyone watching him.