Delivering Bad News by Phone

B1 · Intermediate1 hr 6 minBusiness EnglishLesson 6 of 8 · Outline

Aims

Goal: deliver bad news to a client by phone in under two minutes — Buffer, News, Support — so they're disappointed in the situation, not in you.

The lesson, stage by stage

  1. Warm up5 min

    Warm-up: Let's Chat About Delivering Bad News

    2 warm-up questions

  1. Reading10 min

    Reading: What the listener is judging

    Read a 175-word text about What the listener is judging

  2. Vocabulary8 min

    Vocabulary: Bad News Vocabulary

    7 items

  3. Framework6 min

    Framework: BNS Framework for Bad News

    BNS: Buffer-News-Support, 3 steps

  4. Reading10 min

    Reading: Three model deliveries

    Read a 291-word text about Three model deliveries

  5. Practice7 min

    Practice: Fix the Bad News Delivery

    Error-correction exercise, 5 items

  6. Dialogue10 min

    Dialogue: Delivering Bad News to a Client

    Role-play: You need to call a client to inform them that their product shipment will be delayed by two weeks due to a supplier issue. (9 lines)

  7. Discussion10 min

    Discussion: Your mission: the two-minute call

    3 discussion questions

Open the full lesson

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Target vocabulary

In a Tuton account these words become your student's vocabulary deck, so they come back in practice between lessons.

buffercushionregrettableunforeseenmitigatealternativeempathize

This plan comes from the Phone & Video Calls course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.