More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Notice first: read these and say what they share — "**Name it**: 'I have hard news. We are not going forward with your candidacy.'" / "**Hold silence**: '...' (deliberate pause; do not soften)" / "**Why honestly**: 'The decision came down to a single factor — depth of operating experience in this specific sector — which we weighted heavily.'"
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Bad-news delivery at C2: (a) NAME IT in the first sentence ('I have hard news. We are not going forward with your candidacy.'), (b) HOLD THE SILENCE — do not rush to fill it, (c) GIVE THE WHY honestly without using 'unfortunately' to dilute, (d) MAKE THE RELATIONSHIP EXPLICIT — what continues, what changes, what you commit to next.
2.Open: telling a friend you can't host them this weekend after promising.
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'I have to break a promise. I can't host you this weekend, and I'm sorry — let me tell you what happened and what I can do instead.'
3.Honest why for declining to publish a colleague's piece.
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'The piece isn't where we need it on the central argument; I don't think more edits will get it there. That's a judgment call, and it's mine to make.'
4.Explicit relationship close after firing a long-term contractor.
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'Our work together ends on the 30th. I'd like to recommend you for the project at X; I'll make the introduction this week if you'd like.'
5.Sort these into "natural" and "not natural" and justify each decision out loud: "**Name it**: 'I have hard news. We are not going forward with your candidacy.'" · "**Hold silence**: '...' (deliberate pause; do not soften)" · "**Why honestly**: 'The decision came down to a single factor — depth of operating experience in this specific sector — which we weighted heavily.'" · "**Relationship**: 'I will write you a candid reference if it would help, and I'd like to stay in touch over the next year.'"
6.Build three sentences on this pattern about your own week — one neutral, one emphatic, one tentative.
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Bad-news delivery at C2: (a) NAME IT in the first sentence ('I have hard news. We are not going forward with your candidacy.'), (b) HOLD THE SILENCE — do not rush to fill it, (c) GIVE THE WHY honestly without using 'unfortunately' to dilute, (d) MAKE THE RELATIONSHIP EXPLICIT — what continues, what changes, what you commit to next.
1.Fill: 'Let me ____ you ____ ____.' (2 + 2 words)
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spare … the pretence
2.Fill: 'We ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ telling people directly.' (6 words)
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err on the side of
3.Fill: 'I'm ____ ____ ____ ____ for the next round.' (4 words)
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leaving the door open
4.Complete in context: "I'd rather deliver this straight than leave you guessing."
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to deliver (news) straight
5.Complete in context: "Let me spare you the pretence — the decision was clear."
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to spare (someone) the pretence
6.Complete in context: "I'm giving you the news on the record before you hear it elsewhere."
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(to deliver / give) the news on the record
7.Complete in context: "We err on the side of telling people directly."
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to err on the side of (X)
8.Complete in context: "Ride out the silence — they need it more than you do."
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to ride out (a difficult silence)
9.Complete in context: "I'm leaving the door open for the next round — and I mean it."
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to leave the door open
10.Cover the list. Which words can you still recall, and what does each one add that a simpler word wouldn't?
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to deliver (news) straight — to state it without softening into deception | to spare (someone) the pretence — to refuse the softening that wastes the listener's time | (to deliver / give) the news on the record — to formally state, not informally hint | to err on the side of (X) — to default toward one principle when in doubt | to ride out (a difficult silence) — to allow it to do its work without rushing to fill it | to leave the door open — to preserve future possibility deliberately
1.Give two natural word partners for "to deliver (news) straight" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: I'd rather deliver this straight than leave you guessing.
2.Give two natural word partners for "to spare (someone) the pretence" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Let me spare you the pretence — the decision was clear.
3.Give two natural word partners for "(to deliver / give) the news on the record" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: I'm giving you the news on the record before you hear it elsewhere.
4.Give two natural word partners for "to err on the side of (X)" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: We err on the side of telling people directly.
5.Give two natural word partners for "to ride out (a difficult silence)" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Ride out the silence — they need it more than you do.
6.Give two natural word partners for "to leave the door open" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: I'm leaving the door open for the next round — and I mean it.
7.Choose three words from this lesson and build one sentence that uses all three naturally.
1.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to deliver (news) straight": "I'd rather deliver this straight than leave you guessing."
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Keep the meaning of: to state it without softening into deception
2.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to spare (someone) the pretence": "Let me spare you the pretence — the decision was clear."
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Keep the meaning of: to refuse the softening that wastes the listener's time
3.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "(to deliver / give) the news on the record": "I'm giving you the news on the record before you hear it elsewhere."
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Keep the meaning of: to formally state, not informally hint
4.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to err on the side of (X)": "We err on the side of telling people directly."
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Keep the meaning of: to default toward one principle when in doubt
5.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to ride out (a difficult silence)": "Ride out the silence — they need it more than you do."
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Keep the meaning of: to allow it to do its work without rushing to fill it
6.Summarise the lesson's main idea in exactly 20 words — no more, no less.
1.Scenario: turning down a final-round candidate they expected to get.
2.Scenario: telling a writer their piece is being killed.
3.Scenario: telling a long-term supplier the contract isn't renewing.
4.Long turn (2 minutes, no notes): You are a senior leader. Teacher plays a long-tenured direct report. You must end their role on the team (re-assignment, not firing). You have 8 minutes to (1) deliver straight, (2) hold the why, (3) handle their reaction without retreating, (4) end on explicit next steps. No compliment sandwich, no concern theatre.
5.Record 90 seconds using at least four of: to deliver (news) straight, to spare (someone) the pretence, (to deliver / give) the news on the record, to err on the side of (X), to ride out (a difficult silence). Listen back and mark one thing to make more precise.
1.Plan first: write a three-line outline (position → strongest support → concession) before you draft.
2.Write a 170–190-word letter or internal memo delivering bad news to a specific person or audience. You MUST: (a) name the news in the first two sentences, (b) give the honest why without 'unfortunately', (c) make the relationship's future explicit, (d) use at least three target items, (e) include zero compliment-sandwich filler. (170–190 words). Include: to deliver (news) straight, to spare (someone) the pretence, (to deliver / give) the news on the record, to err on the side of (X), to ride out (a difficult silence), to leave the door open.
3.Model analysis: compare your text with the model. What does the model do in its first and last sentences that yours doesn't?
1.Letters delivering refusal, complaint or condolence reward candidates who name the difficult thing in the first paragraph rather than burying it.
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Open by naming the news; spend the middle giving the honest why; close on what continues.
2.Where is the news NAMED?
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Sentence 2 — flat statement of the decision.
3.Where does the writer give the WHY honestly?
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Sentence 4 — 'the kind of leadership the next chapter of the company needs'.
4.Where does the writer PROTECT the person and the team separately?
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'It is a leadership decision. It is not a reflection on the team Jordan built…'
5.Where is the RELATIONSHIP made explicit?
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Structured handover; candid reference; help shape the search.
6.What is the writer refusing to do?
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Hide behind performance language; soften the why; pretend the team should also turn over.
1.In your own words, when do you use "Delivering bad news at C2"?
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Bad-news delivery at C2: (a) NAME IT in the first sentence ('I have hard news. We are not going forward with your candidacy.'), (b) HOLD THE SILENCE — do not rush to fill it, (c) GIVE THE WHY honestly without using 'unfortunately' to dilute, (d) MAKE THE RELATIONSHIP EXPLICIT — what continues, what changes, what you commit to next.
2.Complete naturally: "I'd rather deliver this straight than leave you guessing."
Show answer
to deliver (news) straight
3.Complete naturally: "Let me spare you the pretence — the decision was clear."
Show answer
to spare (someone) the pretence
4.Complete naturally: "I'm giving you the news on the record before you hear it elsewhere."
Show answer
(to deliver / give) the news on the record
5.Complete naturally: "We err on the side of telling people directly."
Show answer
to err on the side of (X)
6.Complete naturally: "Ride out the silence — they need it more than you do."
Show answer
to ride out (a difficult silence)
7.Two-minute retell: summarise the reading/listening from this lesson without looking at it.
8.Which bad-news conversation have you been postponing — and what would naming it in the first sentence sound like?
9.Where in your communication do you over-soften and lose accuracy?
1.Warm-up — five lines, five registers — 'We trust further measures will not be necessary.'
2.Warm-up — five lines, five registers — 'Before we trade numbers, what are you actually trying to protect?'
3.Warm-up — five lines, five registers — 'We're stuck on the principle, not the number.'
4.Warm-up — five lines, five registers — 'It happened on my watch.'
5.Warm-up — five lines, five registers — 'I have hard news, and I want to deliver it straight.'
6.Stage 1 — the diplomatic readout — The crisis: a joint venture between two companies has broken down over a missed safety inspection. You are the spokesperson for your side. Deliver a 90-second public readout. Teacher tries to translate it back into 'what really happened' — if the translation is plausible but not certain, you've calibrated correctly.
7.Stage 2 — the back-channel negotiation — Same crisis. You now sit down privately with your counterpart (teacher) to see if the venture can survive. You have 10 minutes. You must: (a) surface an interest behind your stated position, (b) propose one objective criterion for resolving the inspection dispute, (c) make one log-roll that trades across two issues, (d) know and NOT threaten with your BATNA.
8.Stage 3 — mediating the internal fallout — Teacher plays both team members in alternation (signalling the switch). You chair. You MUST: (a) reframe an attack as a shared question, (b) summarise back what you're hearing from each side, (c) depersonalise the disagreement at least once, (d) name the deadlock rather than paper over it, (e) end with one explicit next step both can sign onto.
9.Stage 4 — the public crisis statement, then the hostile questions — 'Who knew about the missed inspection, and when?'
10.Stage 4 — the public crisis statement, then the hostile questions — 'Why should anyone trust your account given today's earlier statement?'
11.Stage 4 — the public crisis statement, then the hostile questions — 'What happens to the people affected if the venture collapses entirely?'
12.Stage 5 — the bad news, delivered straight — The venture is being wound down and one long-standing contractor's role ends with it. Teacher plays the contractor. You have 90 seconds: name the news in the first sentence, hold a silence of at least four seconds without filling it, give the honest why, and make explicit what you'll do next for them. No compliment sandwich.
13.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to reserve the right to".
14.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a frank exchange of views".
15.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "without prejudice to".
16.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement)".
17.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "ZOPA (zone of possible agreement)".
18.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to log-roll".
19.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to depersonalise (a disagreement)".
20.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "good-faith reading".
21.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to own (the failure)".
22.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "duty of candour".
23.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to deliver (news) straight".
24.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to leave the door open".
25.Which of the five registers did you switch into most naturally, and which one still feels like a costume?
26.Where in the sixty minutes did honesty and diplomacy pull in opposite directions — and which one won?
27.If this crisis were real and yours, which of the five stages would you rehearse again before Monday?