I agree it's a "people skill", but I think phrasing it that way has two road blocks. The first is that the self-help industry of "people skill" books and their

I agree it's a "people skill", but I think phrasing it that way has two road blocks. The first is that the self-help industry of "people skill" books and their "phone tag" translations through the media and general population has turned "people skill" into a word that I think to a lot of people sounds like manipulation or dishonesty. There's a friendly way to tell people anything, the key is getting people to understand that "friendly bad news" isn't manipulative in and of itself. In my opinion, it's being more realistic than any "just telling it like it is" approach can be. The second is that "people skill" covers a lot of things, where "be kind when communicating" is still broad, but a more actionable instruction. For "low EQ" (and I include myself in that category) people, it's those actionable things that really matter.