All the job cutback news from the last several weeks, culminating in American Express’s announcement that it will cut 10% of its workforce—7,000 jobs—has me thinking about communicating layoffs. Sadly, it’s a chore I’ve had to perform several times in my career.

My worst experience—which was also my first—goes back a long time ago in a Fortune 500 company far, far away. (Well…Los Angeles.) As the internal communications manager, I learned of a 10% reduction in headquarters staff about 48 hours before the ax would fall. I lobbied for some kind of communication to employees, which wasn’t part of the plan because the president unrealistically hoped to keep news of the layoff out of the media. The best we were able to do was desk-to-desk distribution of a letter under the president’s signature; the letter would be waiting for employees as they arrived on the day of the layoff. (Email wouldn’t be an alternative for another five or six years.)

Of course, one of the affected employees sent the letter to the local daily; it was the lead headline in the business section the next morning. Infuriated, the president stormed into my office and slammed the newspaper on my desk. “I told you this would get into the press,” he fumed.

True, I said, but because they reported on the layoff based on our perspective as outlined in the letter, our message infused the story. Had there been no letter, the employee would have called and the story would have been presented from the distressed employee’s point of view. He accepted that and went sulking back to the C-suite. But the worst fallout came months later at am IABC chapter meeting when I was sitting next to the guest speaker, the regional bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. He saw my name and company on my name tag, and told me, “The next time you want something from the Journal, you can go f**k yourself.” Stunned, I asked what had brought this on. “The Wall Street Journal,” he said, “does not appreciate being scooped by a small local daily.”

Today, given the glass houses in which businesses exist, it’s even dicier than it was back in those pre-Internet days. I recall the story earlier this year of a laid-off Yahoo employee who Twittered his termination. Emerging from a layoff as a healthy organization with a focused workforce is more challenging than ever.

Having been through at least half a dozen layoffs since then, I’ve learned a lot about layoff communications. Here’s a rundown of some of the most important considerations:

Involve company communicators in layoff planning. Too many companies view communicators as the hired guns brought in to clean up the town after the mess has been made. Communications counsel at the earliest stages of planning can be invaluable. I worked at one company where performance was not a factor in determining which employees would be cut. Instead, the decision was based on the amount of time spent on defined tasks and the value attributed to each task. The survivors, then, were left with the knowledge that strong performance wouldn’t count the next time cuts were needed. Productivity plummeted and paralysis set in. Sound communications counsel would have identified how employees would react to the message, leading to an alternate approach.

Communicate clearly to all interested stakeholders. Distinct audiences exist within the employee population: Those affected, those remaining (addressed in more detail below), and supervisors. Communicate through your usual media channels. Get in touch with the analysts covering the company. And if you’re really smart, you’ll reach out to activists targeting your company to give them a candid explanation, blunting the criticism they’re inclined to levy against you.

Be human. The most beloved and effective generals in the military felt the loss of each casualty suffered under their command. Leaders acknowledge the human toll, whether that’s counted in lives lost on a battlefield or jobs lost in a tough economy. The rise of social media has magnified the importance of authenticity, so be authentic. Explain how employees’ welfare was a factor in the decision-making process and outline what’s being done for those who are leaving.

Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep. Don’t tell employees this round of cuts will be all that’s needed if there’s the remotest possibility of doing it again one or two quarters down the road. Also, don’t be specific if you can’t be. If you promise that the layoffs will be over on November 15 but pinks slips are handed out for three days after that, employees will never believe you again.

Focus on the survivors. It’s easy to gloss over the employees left behind while lamenting the loss of those who have gone. After all, they still have jobs. But the victims are gone; it’s the remaining employees you’re counting on to drive the business forward. If they’re paralyzed in the aftermath of the layoff, everything from productivity and innovation to engagement will take a hit. One concern all layoff survivors share is the expectation that they’ll shoulder the work that had been done by those have have left in addition to their existing responsibilities. Explain honestly how the slack will be taken up and what kind of sacrifices will be expected.

Articulate the end state of the process. The fastest way to move beyond a layoff is to treat it as a change process—which is exactly what it is. Employees need to know what the payoff will be for suffering through all this misery. What will the company look like if it’s successful? This vision needs to be expressed at the highest levels of the organization for the big picture, right down to the team level for the impact on individual employees.

Pay special attention to top performers. Your top performers, the indispensable assets to the organization, are also the ones who have the least trouble securing other employment, no matter how bad the economy may be. Odds are they were getting calls from headhunters before the job cuts. If things get too grim, they’ll bolt.

Don’t spin it. Layoffs are ugly, unpleasant, and emotional. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. The best you can do is minimize the pain. Call it what it is—it’s a layoff, not a RIF or an exercise in “rightsizing.” (I hate “rightsizing.” If you didn’t need all those extra people, why’d you hire them in the first place?)

Be transparent. If you know the conditions that could derail your recovery plans, share them with employees so there are no surprises. Share the process that led to the layoff decision, the alternatives that were explored, and why those alternatives were dismissed.

What lessons have you learned from your experiences commicating layoffs?