The Jefferson Fisher Podcast - 3 Steps to End a Relationship with Respect

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Ending a relationship — whether it’s romantic, professional, or personal — is never easy. But dragging it out or softening the blow too much? That’s not kindness, that’s confusion. In this episode, I break down exactly how to cut ties with clarity and compassion, so you can move on without burning the bridge behind you. This episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth. Upgrade Your Every Day. Get 40% off at cozyearth.com/jefferson or use code JEFFERSON at check out. Order my new book, The Next Conversation, or listen to the full audiobook today. Like what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a 5-star review! Suggest a topic or ask a question for me to answer on the show!  Want a FREE communication tip each week? Click here to join my newsletter.  Join My School of Communication Watch my podcast on YouTube  Follow me on Instagram  Follow me on TikTok Follow me on LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do fintechs like Float choose Visa? As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale, expertise, and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. How do you end a relationship, whether it's for work, whether it's romantic? How do you cut ties with someone? Well, at the end of today's podcast, you're going to walk away with exactly how to do it. You ready? Welcome to the Jefferson Fisher podcast, where I'm on a mission to make

your next conversation the one that changes everything. If you enjoy learning tools to improve your communication, there's something I want you to do. There is a button wherever you're listening called subscribe or where you're watching. I want you to click it. It's not gonna take two seconds and the reason why is because I am promising you that what I'm going to continue to do is deliver value on how to improve your communication skills and whenever you subscribe or you like or you comment it tells the platform this is good content and that's my promise to help deliver good content in a way that is easy, accessible, and hopefully friendly. This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth. I love Cozy Earth. It's a sponsor because

I wear their stuff. Their sheets are on my bed and I travel in it. I wore a sweatshirt that was a Cozy Earth sweatshirt. All throughout my tour, I just got back from the Today Show and it was fantastic. You can go to CozyEarth.com slash Jefferson for 40% off. Use the code Jefferson as CozyEarth.com slash Jefferson. Use the code Jefferson for 40% off. How do you end a relationship? This is how it typically goes. This is how it typically goes.

You come down, you meet with me, we sit down over coffee, you come into my office. So let's just put it, let's roleplay this. Right now, wherever you're listening, maybe you're walking, you're sitting down, let's imagine it. You and I come into a space, and I am the one that has to deliver bad news. I'm the one that has to end it. You sit down, and I say, so how are you? You good? Yeah, how's your family and everybody? They all right? Oh, oh, that's crazy. Yeah, that's crazy, right? And this weather, this weather,

it's just doing wild things. I know they said it was going to be hot, but if it wasn't, man, yeah, it had rain. It's crazy. So, listen, I think you're just, you've been such a good person, and you're so great, and I've really enjoyed getting to know you and it's... Stop. Time out. Cut. Is this not just painful? I mean, I'm the one role-playing this and it is painful for me. It's awkward. It hurts. Ugh. Anytime you need to deliver bad news, the person who has to deliver, it is one of the worst feelings because you know that it's coming. It's the cliffhanger. I'll bet you, you know people, and maybe you're one of them, that will delay doing it as much as possible. You will be in a relationship for six months

longer than you need to. You'll let that person work with you for six months longer than you need to because you're not sure how you need to end it. You talk to somebody and like, are you breaking up with that person? Like, ah, yeah, I need to, I just, I don't really know how.

And it is such a disservice to you. Please stop. I'm gonna teach you how to do this. Instead of this horrible, this mush, this quick saying of I don't know how I'm gonna feel, you have a pit in your stomach when you're brushing your teeth, you're on the commute, whenever you know you're gonna meet with that person,

your heart's just beating in your chest, stop. Stop, we're gonna clear that up. Number one, first problem is the small talk. Number one, do not begin with small talk. When somebody's coming to sit down with you and you're like, hey so how are you? Oh, you're good? Yeah, how's your your pickleball? Did you do you see that bird the other day? Yeah, man. We always like to say it's crazy. Oh, that's crazy. There's nothing crazy about it. Stop doing that. The small talk

is one of the worst pain points because you as a listener, if you've ever been on the other side of this, you know exactly how it feels. You're like, what's what's wrong? Something's off. I can tell we have this sixth sense about us where we go. Nope, something's not right. I can. This is a setup. This is a trap. What's going on? And you're just kind of waiting for the hammer to drop. What happens is there's small talk, small talk, small talk, and they give you the phrase. You ready? The phrase is, so listen, boom, and it just tinks from there.

They know the bottom has just dropped out. They know that it's the worst thing that could possibly happen. It's not genuine. It's not kind. And it's not honest thing that possibly happened. It's not genuine, it's not kind, and it's not honest. Stop doing it. Instead, in this small talk, what I want you to do is to label the conversation. Label the conversation. You're gonna just, you got to turn on the cold water, y'all. You got to turn on the cold water sometimes. Sometimes the the most kind thing you can do is be the most direct that you can be. Meaning when

you delay the hard conversation, you are only making it worse for both of you because you are you are not operating in a state of authenticity. The quicker you can get to that main point, I just hit my knuckles so hard. Whenever you connect together in a way that does not break your knuckles, whenever you get really, you bring that time closest to, let me rip off the band-aid instead of ripping off slowly, you're familiar with that, the better things are gonna be. And it's true, it's true because while they're waiting for the hammer to drop, you're the one that, let's be honest, the reason you do all that small talk is not for them, it's for you to make yourself feel better, to make you feel a little

bit more calm and comfortable. You're doing it for you when in actuality it does nothing for them. It only spikes their anxiety. It makes them understand that what all came before it is just not genuine It's not true It was just fluff because now you're about to deliver the news you really wanted to do instead of all the small talk You're gonna label the conversation. What does that sound like Jefferson? It sounds like this is gonna be a difficult conversation This isn't gonna be fun to talk about it sounds as easy, this is going to be a difficult conversation, or this is going to be hard. This isn't going to be fun to discuss.

I'm not looking forward to this conversation. This might come as a surprise to you. This might come as a shock to you. For me, in my world, in my team, anybody law firm related otherwise, when they have to deliver bad news, what I ask is they say, you're not going to like this. First thing, the phone call. They say, you're not going to like this. And it allows me to go, okay, I'm ready. And like mentally, I'm kind of preparing myself to go, okay, all right, let's hear it. And then whatever comes after, it

is what it is. Instead of leading with the phone call of hey so okay we well we we got an issue it's not just ending a termination it's our it's not just ending a relationship it's not just terminating a relationship it's also any bad news at all but I like I want to focus specifically on ending a relationship today you hear how small talk is not kind, being unclear is not kind, even though it tries to make yourself feel better. Label the conversation. You get to sit with them, let's say in a romantic setting. You need to break up with somebody. It can be as easy as, this isn't going to be a fun conversation. Or if

it's totally catching them off guard, you can even say, this is probably going to catch you off guard. This is going to, this might come as a surprise to you. Two, number two, let's move to number two. The first thing out of your mouth after that, you're going to give it a two second little break to allow them to ready themselves and they will. First thing out of your mouth is the news. Is the news. In a work context, you're saying, we need to let you go. In a romantic relationship, it's we need to break up. Whatever it is, you have to get to the bottom line, immediately.

Don't start going back to small talk. Don't start going back to mush. You're going to deliver the hard news This isn't working out for me You're not gonna this this isn't working out. That's fine Deliver the the bottom line right out of the gate because it is being direct remember bringing connection So number two is get to the point right away number three So you say simple that is I guess like it's self-explanatory get to the point number three is now you can lead

With the gratitude now you can bring on the compliments We always do it backwards. We love to do it backwards let's say you and I are in a romantic relationship right now and I'm saying the first thing out my mouth is I sit down with you and I are in a romantic relationship right now. And I'm saying, the first thing out of my mouth is I sit down with you and I immediately go into what? Past tense. Hey, so you're really, I think you're really great and I've really enjoyed, you know, just getting to know you these past few months. What's the first thing you're thinking? What's happening? Uh oh, we're breaking up. This is terrible. What did I do? And all of a sudden I'm going, no, no, no, it's not you. It's me. You're done right. It's you. I mean, it's when I say it's you, I mean it's me. Meaning it's me.

I'm the one that is leading this conversation. Yes, I'm the one. It's not about them. It's not about what they've done wrong. It's not you, you, you, you. You've done terrible stuff. If you're gonna do anything, number three says, add on gratitude. Now you can add the compliments. Now you can add the positivity. Because you want to end on a positive note. This is not where you start laying out all the things they've done wrong.

When you say, look, this is gonna be a difficult conversation, it's time for us to depart ways. You know, you're just, you're not for me. I really don't like, I don't like the sound of your voice. You know, you're just, you're not for me. I really don't like, I don't like the sound of your voice. You always come in late. You never get your projects on time. You're not really my cup of tea. When you just go you, you, you, you, you, you, there is nothing left. This person will end up hating you forever. When this might be your last conversation. in the conversation on a positive note,

as positive as you can make it, even if you don't really care for this person, I don't care, end your life in a positive way. It will always last longer than you ended in the negative. If you just wanna burn every bridge, kick down the house, whatever it is, always in positive. So this is where you get to say, I have to say, let's put in an example. This is where you might say I

Need to have a difficult conversation with you. It's time to let you go Here I just said that then I'm gonna add on the you've been a great you've been a great person I've really enjoyed getting to know you these last two months and I think I'm really looking forward to your career and where you're gonna be headed. It's just not gonna be here Really really enjoy, you know getting to know you you see how I am I am looking forward to whatever the future is for this person in a romantic setting. It might be Listen, this is gonna be hard to talk about. It's not working for me. I've really enjoyed getting to know you, and I think we've had a lot of laughs and a lot

of memories. I know you're going to have an awesome future. This is not going to be together. You hear how that's a whole lot more kind than if I were to say, this is going to be hard to talk about. We need to go separate ways, yeah, you're just not for me. You're pretty terrible, and I just lay out all of my grievances. Don't, that's not the time. That's not the time. So, how do we wrap this thing up? How do we end

this conversation? Number one, anytime you have to have a conversation where you're breaking things up, ending a relationship, whether it's romantic, work, friendship, skip the small talk. Number one, skip the small talk, label the conversation, pour the cold water on it. This is gonna be hard to talk about. This isn't gonna be fun for either of us.

I'm not looking forward to this conversation. Easy as that, you're ripping off the band-aid. Number two, get to the point immediately. We need to go our separate ways. We need to set, we need to go our separate ways. I need to let you go. You're off the team. We need to break up. And three is own the eye. It's not you, all the things you've done wrong. It's me. I'm talking about me and I'm going to add on the positive of the things that I enjoyed about us That is going to be where it is, but it is not going to be continuing on in the future

far better than the small talk of oh you good, so listen Don't do that. It's not kind. Let's be kind in our conversations, especially when it's time for you to break them off. And that's just normal. That's natural. Now, I want to add on this bit about there might be times where you think, oh, I can't do that. They're going to hate me. They're going to hate me.

Let's talk about that. They're not. They're not. I mean, they might. They might, depending on it. What do I know? But they can't do it forever. And you can't control that.

That's my point. You can't control somebody's feelings. My dad would tell me, anytime I could remember not wanting to do something because of being afraid of somebody else's reaction to things. And I would say, well, dad, they're going to be mad about it. And he'd go, yeah, I guess they'll be mad. I said they're going to be disappointed. And he'd go, yeah, I guess they'll be disappointed. And it was such a way for me to start thinking of the, yeah, you know what, he's, that's, it's true.

I can't do anything with their feelings. Yeah, they're gonna be sad. Yeah, they're gonna be sad. And then life's gonna continue on. Yeah, they're gonna be disappointed. Then life's going to continue on. Can't control anything about their opinions for you to say, oh, what if they're not gonna like me?

Because that's why we delay it. All right, we're disappointed of, we're worried about their reaction, how are they going to feel about it. But you can't carry that. Don't carry the weight of their own feelings. Don't feel their feelings for them. Don't feel their feelings for them. Best thing you can do is be as direct as you can be. That's how you end our relationship, whether it's romantic, friendship, work-wise, and this is where I have to say it's time for us to go. You've been great. Listen, you've been great. It's time for us to end the episode. Thank you for listening. As always, if you'd like to continue on in the conversation and improve your communications, you can go to my social media or my membership.

I am really loving the live Q&As and hot seats that I'm able to do. You can find all the show notes down there at the bottom. Or if you have not yet got my book, The Next Conversation, I encourage you to do so. As always, you can try that and follow me.