Principles of Effective Communication

Prof. Anita Tripathy Lal

FORE School of Management, New Delhianita@fsm.ac.in/anitalal@yahoo.com

M# 09810169890

1. Completeness

a. Provide all Necessary Information

( Five Ws- What? Why? When? Where? Who/Whom? )

b. Answer all questions asked

c. Give something extra, when desirable

2. Concisenessa. Eliminate wordy expressionsWordy: At this time. Concise: NowWordy: Due to the fact that. Concise: Becauseb. Omit trite, unnecessary expressionsWordy: Please be advised that your admission statement was

receivedConcise: Your admission statement has been receivedWordy: Allow me to say how helpful your response wasConcise: Your last response was helpfulc. Limit use of passive voiceWordy: The reports are to be submitted by employees prior

to 5:00pm, at which time they will be received by Mr. Jones

Concise: Please submit your reports to Mr. Jones by 5:00pm

Cont

3.Include only relevant material

Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our company is pleased with the confidence you have reposed in us.

Concise: We appreciate your confidence

4.Avoid Unnecessary Repetition:

Jawaharlal Nehru University- JNU

North American Free Trade Agreement- NAFTA

3.Considerationa. Focus on you instead of I or weWe- Attitude: I am delighted to announce that we

will be extending our hours to make shopping more convenient

You-Attitude: You will be able to shop evenings with the extended hours

Insensitive: You failed to enclose your check in the envelop

Considerate: The check was not enclosed ( passive voice)

Considerate: The envelope we received did not have a check in it. ( depersonalized)

Cont..

b. Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver

Example: You will be glad to know that we have a walk-up window open 7-9am and 3-8pm every weekday.

Modified: You can take care of your banking needs at our new walk-up window. It is open with a capable teller to serve you 7-9am and 3-8pm, Monday through Friday.

Contc. Emphasize positive pleasant facts

Negative-Unpleasant

1.It is impossible to open an account for you today.

2.We do not refund if the returned item is soiled and unsalable

3.When you travel on company expense, you will not receive approval for first class fare.

Positive- Pleasant

1. As soon as your signature card reaches us, we will gladly open an.

2.We refund when the returned item is clean and resalable.

3.When you travel on company expense, your approved fare is for tourist class.

4. Concreteness

a. Use specific facts and figures

b. Put action in your verbs

c. Choose vivid, image-building words

a. Use specific facts and figures

Vauge , General, Indefinite

1. Student GMAT scores are higher.

1. Eastern Europe is making progress in obtaining invest -ments

Concrete, Precise

1. In 1996 the GMAT scores averaged 600; by 1997 they had risen to 610.

2. In 1990 investments in Eastern Europe were about US $ 30 million today that figure has increased by 12%.

b. Put Action in your verbs

Passive( Subject receives the action)

1. The tests were administered by the Professors.

2. Grades of students will be sent to you by the school.

Active( Subject performs the action

1. Professors administered the tests.

2. The school will send students their grades.

c. Choose vivid, image-building words

Bland / Dull Image

1. This is a long letter.

2. Her work in groups was exemplary.

More vivid/Figurative Image

1. This letter is three times as long as you said it would be.

2. She could be called the spark plug of the group.

5.Clarity

a. Choose precise, concrete and familiar wordsAbout( Circa). After ( Subsequent). Home ( domicile)b. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs( Average sentence length between 17 and 20)Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure you

can help us.Clear: Being an excellent lawyer, you can surely

help us.Clearer: As you are an excellent lawyer, I am sure

you can help us.

Example-Clarity A plumber wrote to the National Bureau of

Standards to tell them hydrochloric acid is good for cleansing clogged drains.

In reply to the plumbers message, a technical specialist of the bureau wrote:

The efficacy of HCl acid is indisputable, but the corrosive residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.

The plumber then wrote to thank the bureau for agreeing with him-when of course, the bureau was actually disagreeing with him. Sensing the plumber did not understand, another member tried to set the man straight by writing:

Cont.We cannot assume responsibility for the

production of toxic and noxious residue with HCl acid and suggest you use an alternative procedure.

Again the plumber thanked the bureau. Then in desperation, the department manager wrote: Dont use hydrochloric acid. It eats hell out of the pipes.

6. Courtesy

a. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful & appreciative

b. Use expressions that show respect

c. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions

Chairman ( Chairperson); man-made (manufactured); Workers ( workforce)

a. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful & appreciative

Tactless, Blunt

1.Stupid letter; I cant understand any of it .

2. Clearly , you did not read my text.

More Tactful

1. It is my understanding.

2. Sometimes my wording is not precise; let me try it again.

7. Correctness

a. Use the right level of language

Less Formal ( Participate, Ascertain) instead of More Formal (Join, Find out)

b. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words

( a/ an; accept/ except; anxious/ eager: between/ among)

c. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics

(appearance business messages, grammar& spell checks , editing, font size etc.,)