--- title: One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News description: Be mindful of your body language canonical: https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-14T04:01:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:46:40.399Z article:section: Ideas og:title: One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News og:description: Be mindful of your body language og:url: https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c55b4628886c050/69886786428a9e770cccf8ac/comforting-hands.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: comforting-hands og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News twitter:description: Be mindful of your body language twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c55b4628886c050/69886786428a9e770cccf8ac/comforting-hands.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Oct 14, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  I'm here for you I'm here for youGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Oct 14, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Monitor your body language and make sure it’s positive though your words may be negative. Via [The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591844568/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591844568): --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/whats-the-best-way-to-deliver-bad-news/)**_._** **Join over 215,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/"},"headline":"One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News","datePublished":"2015-10-14T04:01:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:46:40.399Z","description":"Be mindful of your body language","url":"https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/","keywords":["Psychology","relationships","communication"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c55b4628886c050/69886786428a9e770cccf8ac/comforting-hands.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c55b4628886c050/69886786428a9e770cccf8ac/comforting-hands.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"comforting-hands","caption":"comforting-hands","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4067110/how-to-deliver-bad-news-2/","name":"One Powerful Tip for How to Deliver Bad News"}}]}] ```