I kind of like how they do it in Japan. Warden walks past the condemned, every day, sometimes for years, and one day says “today”.
“..death row inmates are only notified of their execution a matter of hours before it is to take place. They live like this for years, terrified that each day could be their last and that today they will be hanged.”
No time for protests, either, the world finds out, when the family is told to collect the remains.
I did not even know that Japan still had capital punishment. I looked it up on Wikipedia. Yup, much like you said by hanging. It is very rare though.