Delivering Bad News course
In this course, you learn to structure a bad-news conversation in five phases. You practise tone, compassion and firmness, so that you stay clear and remain in control.
NRTO quality markFree cancellation up to four weeks before the start, so feel free to book now.
In brief. Delivering Bad News is a 1-day classroom course. You can take it in Rotterdam and Zwolle or online, in a group of no more than 8 participants. The price is EUR 625,- excl. VAT per participant, including course materials, lunch on location and a certificate of attendance. For a team or department we also deliver this course in-company.
- Delivering bad news with empathy and clarity
- Five phases for a clear conversation
- Practise straight away with your own workplace situations
- Personal feedback from an experienced trainer
- Insight into pitfalls and how to avoid them
Your trainer: Rob, Michaela, Christy or Joris 995 evaluations in total, averaging 8,9. View the trainers
Delivering bad news calls for nerve and empathy. In this course, you work with experienced trainers on a clear conversation structure in five phases, so that you remain clear and involved. This way you stay in control and give the other person the space they need.
Description
Delivering bad news is part of many roles: announcing a dismissal, disappointing a client or informing a patient of an unwelcome diagnosis. You feel responsible for the message and involved with the recipient. That dilemma is why many people postpone or soften the bad news, while a clear conversation is actually more pleasant for both sides.
In this course you work on the structure of a bad news conversation in five phases: the introduction, delivering the message, room for the impact, thinking about solutions together and making a follow-up appointment. You practise with the right tone, learn how to show compassion while remaining firm, and thus stay in control of the conversation.
You alternate between practice, reflection and theory, with room for your own workplace situations. By actually experiencing what different behaviour achieves, you make the translation to your own job. An intake takes place before the course, so that the programme matches your learning objectives.
Topics
- The five phases of a bad news conversation
- Structure of the conversation
- Content level: formulating clearly and firmly
- Relationship level: showing compassion without softening the message
- Arguing your case and substantiating your message
- Dealing with emotional reactions
- Thinking along about solutions
- Next steps and making agreements
- Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
Result
After this course, you will deliver bad news in a clear and respectful way. You structure the conversation around five phases: you open the conversation, deliver the message clearly, allow room for the emotional reaction, think through the options for what comes next and arrange a follow-up appointment where necessary.
You know how to remain steadfast without coming across as distant, and how to show compassion without softening or postponing the message. You recognise the familiar pitfalls, such as the hope-springs-eternal phase or the reflex to ease the pain, and you know how to avoid them. You also learn to switch between the content level and the relationship level, so that you keep control of the conversation and the recipient feels taken seriously.
Target audience
This course is ideally suited to anyone who occasionally has to deliver bad news. Think of managers, project leaders, sales staff, service staff, care workers, doctors and consultants.
Teaching method
During the course we alternate between experiencing, experimenting with behaviour and techniques, reflecting and exploring theory. In this way the programme suits different types of participants. There is plenty of action: you immediately experience the effect of new behaviour, so you recognise what works.
We emphasise that you are responsible for your own development process and take ownership of it. You are continually invited to reflect and to make links with your own practice. Our aim is to increase your insight and let you make the translation to your daily work yourself. This increases the chance of genuine behavioural change.
Prior knowledge
You do not need any specific prior knowledge to take part in this course. It is useful, however, if you sometimes have to deliver bad news in your work, so that you can link the exercises directly to your own workplace situations.
Comments
Nothing particular to note for this course. The content may vary slightly per group, because during the intake we tailor it to your learning objectives and workplace situations.
Practical information
- Number of days
- 1 day
- Course times
- from 10 am to 5 pm
- Teaching hours
- 6 hours
- Education level
- Suitable for all levels
- Preparation time
- None
- Included
- Course materials and lunch on site
- Certificate
- At the end of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance
- Cancel
- Free up to four weeks before the start (cancellation terms)
Language
The course is given in Dutch as standard. The trainer speaks English. English-language course materials can be used. If at least 3 participants register, the course can also be given entirely in English.
In-company
Would you like to organise this training for a whole group or several groups? This can be cost-effective. For example, we can tailor the content entirely to your organisation, and training a whole group is also cheaper.
Are you looking at large numbers of participants or a complete academy? That involves a great deal. Consider planning and communication, for example, or identifying and agreeing the objectives and content of the training. Or differences in level, feedback mechanisms and safeguarding. Fortunately, Learnit has extensive experience in this field (more than 25 years) and we are happy to help you through this process.
All start dates
1 training day. Confirmed dates first, then in order of date.
- Wed 25 November 2026Certain to go ahead Zwolle · 10:00–17:00 · trainer ChristyFree cancellation until 28 October Enrol
- Wed 25 November 2026 Online · 10:00–17:00Free cancellation until 28 October Enrol
- Mon 16 August 2027 Rotterdam · 10:00–17:00Free cancellation until 19 July Enrol
No suitable start date? Send us a date request, and we'll look at the options together.
This course for your team?
Plan your own group on a date that suits you, at your office, at our premises or online. We tailor the content to your day-to-day work, and training a whole group is cheaper than individual bookings.
- Your date and location
- Tailored content
- Multiple groups or an academy are also possible
- More than 25 years' experience
The trainers for this course
Ratings from participants after completing their course, across all courses by this trainer.
What others say about this course
Delivering Bad News course: average 8.6 from 2 reviews
“The goal I came for was discussed sufficiently. I was able to take away a lot from the tips that were given. The trainer explained everything precisely. She addressed points for improvement, etc. She did a very good job!”
“A very interactive course with plenty of room for your own input and situations that occur on a daily basis.”
“Good impression of the trainer and the organisation. During the course you are given useful tips to apply in practice.”
“A good way to learn how to conduct job interviews in the form of STAR interviews. By asking the right questions, you also get a proper picture of how to conduct conversations in the STAR format.”
"It is a course with plenty of room for real-life problems. The set-up also gives you enough time to practise cases."
“Good, practical course.”
“The recruitment and selection course is really worth recommending. You learn how to use the STAR method to get far more information out of your applicant than they would normally give, because applicants often give the answers to standard questions that you would like to hear. The art is to put situations to them and ask follow-up questions about those, which gives you a much better and more honest picture of your applicant. Great tips and tricks.”
“A pleasant trainer with good practical examples and a good understanding of the participants.”
“A good course that is tailored well to your learning objectives. The atmosphere is relaxed, and thanks to the small groups you can open up quickly!”
“The trainer gave the group the confidence it needed, so that within a short space of time an 'open' conversation/discussion took place and everyone was able to share their story. This resulted in a course that struck the right chord.”
“A very valuable and inspiring course – highly recommended! I recently took part in the Interview Techniques course and I am extremely enthusiastic about the content, the set-up and the guidance. The course was well structured, practice-oriented and full of insights that I could apply in my work straight away. What I found particularly strong was the way the trainer combined theory and practice, with plenty of room for interaction, reflection and input of your own. The atmosphere was also very pleasant and motivating, which only benefited the learning process. I would certainly recommend this course to anyone who wants to explore communication in more depth and is looking for practical tools as well as new inspiration. In short: an investment in yourself that is absolutely worth it!”
“The course was very manageable. A great many topics were covered in two days, with the needs of the group taken into account. Because the group was small, everyone had plenty of opportunity to take part. A hugely enthusiastic, inspiring and very versatile trainer. A good mix of theory and exercises. She explains things well and makes good use of telling examples. Every available resource was put to use (the room was covered in sheets). She is skilled with video and uses it convincingly to hold up a mirror to the participants.”
“Good, clear course in which I learned a lot of things that I can definitely apply in practice!”
“It was very pleasant to attend a course at Learnit. There was a lot of personal attention for everyone and we were pushed out of our comfort zone in a "comfortable" way in order to get better at holding professional conversations.”
“I found the 'confrontational conversation skills and delivering bad news' course interesting. There is a theoretical grounding (general communication, communication specifically aimed at the 'roles' you can adopt in communication, the distinction between the questions 'do I have something to ask?' and 'do I have something to say?' when giving feedback, an explanation of the 4G model that you can apply in practice straight away, using INGE and LSD, etc.) and also a large practical element. That keeps the participants active. The role-play actor was experienced and responded well to the participants' input. The trainer is experienced and managed to put us at ease and offer a clear and safe environment, so that we could make good use of the training day to practise common situations from our own work. In the end we spent most of the time on confrontational conversation skills and less on delivering bad news, but we were given a number of useful pointers on that too.”
“Inspiring and knowledgeable trainer. The course was well matched to our specific question, based on their expertise. The trainer had taken the trouble to understand our field of work, which was pleasant.”
“The recruitment and selection course is really worth recommending. You learn how to use the STAR method to get far more information out of your applicant than they would normally give, because applicants often give the answers to standard questions that you would like to hear. The art is to put situations to them and ask follow-up questions about those, which gives you a much better and more honest picture of your applicant. Great tips and tricks.”
“I had an excellent private course and gained many new insights. Finally structure in my interviews, while still feeling that it does not become a routine trick but a sound, professional job interview.”
“The course material was expertly alternated with practical exercises. The trainer conveys the material to the participants in a professional and enthusiastic way. Because of the small number of participants, everyone had plenty of opportunity to take part. A course I would recommend.”
“Very instructive course. The trainer is professional and takes the time for you.”
“Good preparation, good content, well delivered.”
"A very interesting, instructive and also enjoyable course that everyone can benefit from. The trainer also met all my expectations and managed to convey the material clearly, understandably, interactively and in an enjoyable, instructive way. An absolute must for anyone who wants to learn to communicate better."
"Very interesting and instructive, even though the material on certain topics was already familiar. Every trainer comes up with new and different tips and tools. A good alternation of theory and exercises. Plenty of personal attention, thanks to the small group size. Professionally set up; well prepared, a pleasant intake interview beforehand and a handy reference work. I have gained a lot of knowledge. I am fully engaged with it and apply it daily. Great!"
"This course is certainly to be recommended. During the course you are given various tools that are very easy to apply both professionally and privately. After this course I became more aware of how to conduct a conversation properly, whatever kind of conversation it is."
“Nice and concrete and easy to apply in practice.”
“An interesting and instructive course, in which I picked up a lot of tips. I will certainly try to apply these tips.”
""An excellent trainer who shares the content in a didactically enjoyable way.""
"Enjoyable course, open atmosphere, fits your own learning needs well."
“Everyone thinks they know how to ask questions. But nobody knows exactly what the theory behind it is. Why is it important to ask things, how do you go about it and what are the right questions to ask so that you reach the answer as quickly as possible.”
“I had a private course instead of a two-day course. It was intensive, but incredibly instructive. I notice that filming gives a lot of insight into the way you conduct a conversation. Beforehand I thought it would be a long day, but in the end the time went very quickly. We were able to cover a lot of topics and the variety keeps you sharp. I am very satisfied with the trainer. The personal approach and the link to the previous course in particular were very good.”
“This course puts you in a better position to apply personal and business objectives in a professional and human way.”
"This course was an excellent fit with my learning objective of communicating better."
“A highly passionate and experienced, qualified trainer. Which meant we got the very most out of the course. On the whole a very professional outfit with good communication beforehand.”
“Very instructive course. The trainer is professional and takes the time for you.”
“The content of the course is easy to apply in practice”
"It is a course you can apply in practice, and you learn a great deal about communication. You gain a new perspective on your own role in it."
"The professionalism of the course leader (Roeli), the attention paid to personal learning objectives and the connection between participants meant that the conversation techniques course was experienced as highly positive."
“A course focused on the practical side of performance and appraisal interviews. You learn not only the standard actions, but also the reasons behind them. That makes it immediately applicable!”
“A good impression of the course. It is a course with plenty of practical exercises.”
“I found the content of the course very good. The trainer addressed all the cases and went into each one individually. The feedback given was received very positively.”
“Very enjoyable course, extremely instructive. I was lucky to end up in a nice group, which does make a difference.”
“The course was very manageable. A great many topics were covered in two days, with the needs of the group taken into account. Because the group was small, everyone had plenty of opportunity to take part. A hugely enthusiastic, inspiring and very versatile trainer. A good mix of theory and exercises. She explains things well and makes good use of telling examples. Every available resource was put to use (the room was covered in sheets). She is skilled with video and uses it convincingly to hold up a mirror to the participants.”
"Definitely an enrichment of my toolkit."
“Very useful course with theory well applied in practical exercises!”
“A good course for brushing up your skills. You can agree perfectly well with the training actor what you want to achieve and where your sticking points are, so you can try to improve them. Not for a moment did it feel like a "staged" conversation, which was exactly what I had been afraid of.”
"I found it a worthwhile course. Easy to put into practice."
"The course is tailored as far as possible and made practical with plenty of role plays. I was able to put it to use straight away!"
“A good course that really applies to job interviews, but you can apply the theory to other conversations as well.”
“This course was very instructive. The lines of communication with Learnit are very short, excellent.”
“A training course of great added value! After a job interview I can now confirm my judgement wholeheartedly and with confidence, instead of going on gut feeling..”
Training formats
Classroom
1 day€ 625,-- Pleasant venue with a good trainer
- Small groups
- Inspiring and motivating
In-company
Bespoke trainingOn request- 100% for your group
- Bespoke training
- At your place or ours
Workshop
Up to 4 hours for groupsOn request- Suitable for events
- Interactive and inspiring
- Large groups too
Private training
At our place or yoursOn request- 100% just for you
- Achieve a lot in little time
- Whenever you want
Frequently asked questions
Can I cancel free of charge?
Yes. Up to four weeks before the first day of the course you can cancel free of charge, without giving a reason. You then receive a credit note or, if you have already paid, a refund. If you cancel later, you pay part of the course fee: 25% between four and two weeks before the start, 75% in the two weeks before it and 100% in the final week. Moving to another start date is free of charge up to two weeks before the start, after that 50%. Sending a colleague in your place is always possible. Read the cancellation terms.
Who is the Delivering Bad News course suitable for?
Which five phases do you go through in a bad news conversation?
Is prior knowledge required for the Delivering Bad News course?
What do you learn in the Delivering Bad News course?
What does the teaching method of the Delivering Bad News course look like?
What is the difference between this course and an online communication skills course?
How do I know whether this course suits my situation, or whether a coaching programme would be a better choice?
What do I get from this classroom course that I cannot get from a book or a YouTube video?
How long will it be before I can actually apply what I learn in this course in a real bad-news conversation?
When do you choose this course and when a broader conversation techniques course?
Can I also take this course if I only occasionally deliver bad news, or is it mainly for people who do so regularly?
What does the Delivering Bad News course cost and how long does it take?
You can find the current price at the top right of this course page, along with the schedule, location and delivery format. For in-company or bespoke courses we are happy to provide a quotation on request.
Confirmed to run: Wed 25 November 2026 in Zwolle, can also be attended online
This date already has enough participants. Free cancellation up to four weeks before the start, so you can secure a place now.