During a period of financial difficulty, presidents and chief financial officers can be tempted to restrict the flow of information and to discuss financial exigencies only with senior staff members, so that board members and people throughout the campus do not become worried. However, it is better to get the facts out rather than to allow trustees, faculty members, and others to speculate and be led by their own fears to think wishfully and act precipitously. A lack of confidence can make a bad economy even worse. In this article, the author provides some guidelines for effective communications during a period of financial difficulty.