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7 Cs of Effective

Communication

(The principles of communication providingguidelines for choice of content and style ofpresentation, adapted to the purpose and

receiver of your message.)

PRESENTED BY:-

Deepak Bajaj

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Seven Cs

When we talk about Effective Communication,one thing that comes to our mind is what thebasic

principles ofeffective communication are .

These principles tell us how your message canbecome effective for yourtarget audience.

They also shed light on the styleand importanceofmessage.

These principles are commonly known as 7 Csofeffective communication.

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Seven Cs of Effective

Communication

1. Completeness

2. Conciseness

3. Consideration4. Concreteness

5. Clarity

6. Courtesy7. Correctness

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1) Completeness

A message is completewhen it contains all facts thereader or listener needs for the reaction you desire.

Message receiver, either listener or reader, desirescompleteinformation.

Example: Suppose you are working for a multinational company

which is engaged with engineering goods , like A.C. One ofyour major customers wants some technical information

regarding thermostat (because he wants to convey thesame to the end users ). In this case you have to providehim complete information in a short span of time.

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Continued

If possible, provide him some extra information which hedoes not know,.

In this way you can maintain goodbusiness relations with

him; otherwise, he may switch to an other company. Completeness offers numerous benefits as it helps:

achieve desired result without the expense of additionalmessages.

build goodwill between the sender and receiver.

avert costly lawsuits which may result if importantinformation is missing.

show concern for the receiver.

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Five Ws

One way to make your message complete is to answer thefive Ws.

WHO?

WHAT? WHEN?

WHERE?

WHY?

The five-question method is useful when you writerequests, announcements, or other informative messages.

For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make clearWHATyou want, WHENu need it, WHEREit is to be sent.

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. Continued

At the end we can say that, you mustprovide the receiver:

1. all necessary information requested by

him.2. Answers to all questions carefully

3. some more information, which he is not

requiring , just to maintain goodrelations.

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2) Conciseness

Conciseness is saying what you have tosay in the fewest possible words.

It is the prerequisite to effective internal

and external communication. A concise message saves time and

expenses for both sender and receiver.

It contributes to emphasis----- importantideas stand out.

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How to achieve conciseness ?

To achieve conciseness, you have to

consider the following.

1.Avoid wordy expression

2.Include only relevant material

3.Avoid unnecessary repetition.

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Avoid Wordy Expression

Use single word substitutes instead of phrases.

Wordy : At this time

Concise : Now

Wordy: Due to the fact that

Concise: Because. Omit trite, unnecessary expressions

Wordy :Please be advised that your admission statementwas received.

Concise: Your admission statement has been received. Wordy : Allow me to say how helpful your response

was.

Concise : Your last response was helpful.

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Continued

Avoid overusing empty phrases.

Wordy: It was known by Mr. Aslam that we must reduceinventory.

Concise: Mr. Smith knew we must reduce inventory.

Replace wordy conventional statements with conciseversions.

Wordy: Please find attached the list you requested.

Concise: The list you requested is attached.

Wordy: Such refreshing comments are few and far between.

Concise: Such refreshing comments are scarce.

Omit which and that clauses whenever possible:Wordy: She bought desks that are of the executive type.

Concise: She bought executivetype desks.

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Include only relevant information

Always try to provide only relevant

information to the receiver of the message.

Stick to the purpose of message

Delete irrelevant words

Avoid long introduction, unnecessary

explanation etc.Get to the important point concisely.

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Examples:

Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that ourcompany is pleased with the confidence you havereposed in us.

Concise: We appreciate your confidence.

Wordy: At this time I am writing to you to enclosean interview card, which has been post-paid, forthe purpose of arranging a convenient time whenwe might get together for a personnel interview.

Concise: Please return the enclosed interview card toset up a convenient time for an interview.

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Avoid unnecessary Repetition

Sometimes repetition is necessary foremphasis.

But when the same thing is said two or threetimes without any reasons, the messagebecome wordy and boring. Therefore, try to

avoid unnecessary repetition.

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Some ways to eliminate unnecessary words

Use shorter name after you have mentioned thelong one once.

Instead ofNorth Central Company use North

Central.Use pronouns or initials E.g.

Instead ofworld trade organization use WTO orYou can use IT forInformation Technology.

(Keeping in view the fact that receiver knowsabout these terms)

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3) Consideration

Preparing every message with the message receiver in

mind.

Specific ways to indicate consideration are as follows:

Focus on You instead of I and We. Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver.

Emphasize positive , pleasant facts.

Focus on You instead of I and We.

Using You does help project a you attitude, but

overuse can lead to a negative reaction.

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Continued

Creating you-attitude may require avoiding tellingothers how they feel, assuming you know their needs.

We- attitude: I am delighted to announce that we will beextending our hours to make shopping moreconvenient.

You- attitude: You will be able to shop evenings withthe extended hours.

I -attitude: I live less than 15 minutes from your office,

which is convenient for me.You-attitude: Your location is so convenient , I would

have no trouble arriving on time , even in bad weather.

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You can be insensitive in negative situations.Moreover messages that contain we can be receiveroriented if we includes the recipient of the message.

The use of you in negative situations can be avoidedby employing the passive voice, making the receiver

part of a group , or depersonalizing the situation.

Insensitive: You failed to enclose your check in theenvelop.

Considerate: The check was not enclosed.(passivevoice)

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

Continued

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Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver.

Readers may react positively when benefits are shownthem.

E.g.

You will be glad to know that we now have a walk-upwindow open 7-9a.m. and 3-8p.m. every weekday.

You can now take care of your banking needs at our newwalk-up window. It is open with a capable teller to serve

you 7-9 a.m. and 3-8 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you are writing to a large group or a person , try to

personalize the reader benefits instead of stating them ingeneral way.

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Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.

Accent the positive things i.e. stress on what can be doneinstead of what cannot be done.

NegativeUnpleasant: It is impossible to open an account

for you today.Positive-pleasant: As soon as your signature card reaches us,

we will gladly open an account for you.

Another message with negative tone.

we regret that since you closed your account your name willbe missing from our long list of satisfied customers. Wesincerely hope that despite the best efforts of our fine staffthere were no occasions on which you felt we failed toserve you properly.

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4) Concreteness

Being concrete means being specific , definite and vividrather than vague and general.

Misunderstandings of words have produced tragedies inboth war and peace, in business and non business

situations. Use denotative words instead of connotative words to gain

concreteness.

Using obvious words let your receiver know exactly whatis desired.

Guidelines for composing concrete and convincing message. Use specific facts and figures.

Put actions in your verbs.

Choose vivid, imagebuilding words.

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Use specific facts and figures.

Whenever possible use concrete facts and figures inplace of general statements in oral as well as writtencommunication.

Vague statement: Students GMAT scores are higher. Concrete/precise statement: In 2009 the GMAT

scores averaged 600; by 2010 they had risen to 610.

Put actions in your verbs.

Be ,give, have, hold, make,put and take can bedesignated as deadly verbs when the action theyintroduce is hidden in a quiet noun.

Guidelines for composing concrete messages

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E.g.

Action hidden in quiet noun: the function of this office thecollection of payments and the compilation of statements.

Action in the verbs: This office collects payments and

compiles statements.Put actions in Verbs , not in Infinitives

Action hiding in infinitive: The duty of the secretary is tocheck all incoming mail and to record it. In addition it ishis/her responsibility to keep the assignment book up todate.

Action in the verb:A secretary checks and records allincoming mail and keeps the assignment book up to date.

Guidelines for composing concrete messages

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5) ClarityGetting the meaning in thehead of receiver accurately.

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Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.Easily understandable and appropriate for the

situation.

Short VS. Long sentences

When uncertain , use familiar words . e.g.

Unfamiliar: After our perusal of pertinent datathe conclusion is that a lucrative market exists

for the subject properly.Familiar :The data we studied show that yourproperty is profitable and in high demand.

Clarity

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Technical terms should be avoided or must beexplained during the document rather thanlater.

Understanding the receiver helps in choosingappropriate and familiar words.

Construct effectively sentences andparagraphs (length , unity , coherence & unity)

Length: 17-20 words. If it exceeds 40 words orless than 10 words?

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Knowing your audience allows you to usestatements of courtesy.

Being courteous means to say sorry or thankyou ?

Politeness that grows out of respects and concernfor others.

Guidelines to achieve courteous manner

Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.

Use expressions that show respect.Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.

6. Courtesy(to know othersperspectives and feelings)

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Courtesy

Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.

Tactful

Being abrupt or blunt shows your discourtesy.Being unaware of cultural differences may lead

you towards discourteous behaviour. e.g.

Tactless : I rewrote that letter three times the pointwas clear.

Tactful: I am sorry the point was not clear here is

another clear version.

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..Continued

Thoughtfulness and appreciation

Cordial and courteous messages help in buildinggood will.

Use expressions that show respect.Offending messages must be avoided.

Omit irritating expressions

I dont agree with you VS. the fact thatIrresponsible VS. You forgot to

Omit questionable humour

Laughter to one person is disgust for another

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7) Correctness

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7) Correctness

At the core of correctness is correct grammar,punctuation and spelling.

Message must be perfect grammatically and

mechanicallyThe term correctness, as applied to business

messages also mean three characteristics

o Use the right level of language

o Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words

o Maintain acceptable writing mechanics

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Use the right Level of

LanguageThere are three levels of language:1. Formal

2. Informal

3. Substandard.

Make a quick guess: What kind of writing isassociated with each level? What is the style of

each?

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Formal and Informal Words

Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing:doctoral dissertations, scholarly, legal documents, top-level government agreements and other materials whereformality is demanded.

Informal writing is more characteristic of business writing.

Here you use words that are short, well-known andconversational as in this comparison list:

More Formal less formal

Participate Join

Endeavor try

Ascertain find out

Utilize use

Interrogate question

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Substandard Language

Avoid substandard language. Using inappropriatewords, incorrect grammar, faulty pronunciationsuggest that the writer is unable to use goodEnglish. Some examples are as follows:

Substandard More Acceptable

Cant hardly can hardly

Aim to proving aim to prove

Desirous to desirous ofStoled stolen

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Facts and Figures Accuracy

Check accuracy of facts, figures and words

It is impossible to convey meaning precisely, through words, fromthe head of the sender to a receiver. Our goal is to be as precise as

possible, which means checking and double-checking to ensurethat the figures, facts and words you use are correct.

A good check of your data is to have another person read andcomment on the validity of the material

Figures and facts

Verify your statistical data

Double-check your totals

Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you, the sender andyour

Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data.

Determine whether a fact has changed over time

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Proper Use of Confusing Words !

OurLanguage (any) is constantly changing. In fact, even dictionariescannot keep up with the rapid change in our language. The followingwords often confuse:

A, An use a before consonants andconsonants sounds or a long usound. Use an before vowels.

Accept, except accept is a verb and means toreceive. except is a verb or a

preposition and relates toomitting or leaving out.

Anxious, eager Anxious implies worry, eagerconveys keen desire

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The EndThank You