3. Defining Communication
• Communication is the art of transmitting information,
ideas and attitudes from one person to another.
• It is the process of meaningful interaction among
human beings.
9. Roleand Significance
Basis of all human
interaction
Exchange of ideas
Dynamic Process
(Personal and
Social Process)
Facilitates Mutual
Understanding
Helps plan,
strategize,
negotiate and
manage conflicts
Tool to control,
motivate or
influence other
10. Critical success factor for life
The majority of your
perceived ability comes from
how you communicate
70% How you
communicate it
30% What you know
Source: CGAP Direct
11. • Communication will solve all problems
• Communication is always positive
• More communication is better
• Words carry meanings
• Communication is a natural ability
COMMUNICATION MISCONCEPTIONS
14. CHECKLIST FOR THE SENDER
• Align verbal and non verbal signals
• Check assumptions
• Be precise and clear
• Be aware of receiver’s needs and background
• Minimize interference
• Ask for feedback
• Appropriate time and environment
• Seven Cs— Credibility/Completeness,
Courtesy, Clarity, Conciseness, Correctness,
Consistency, Concreteness
15. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility/ Builds trust
Completeness
16. Provide All Necessary Information
Answering the five W’s helps make messages clear:
Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
Answer All Questions Asked
Look for questions: some may even appear buried
within a paragraph. Use your good judgment in
offering additional material if the sender’s message
was incomplete.
Give Something Extra, When Desirable
18. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility/ Builds trust Completeness
2. Courtesy/Consideration Improves relationships
19. Focus on “You” Instead of “I” or “We”
Using “you” does help project a you-attitude.
But overuse can lead to a negative reaction.
Example
•We-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.
21. Tactless, Blunt More Tactful
•Stupid letter; I can’t
understand any of it.
•Clearly, you did not
read my latest fax.
•It’s my understanding…
•Perhaps the information
sent in the previous fax was
not clear enough. Let me
clarify the policy once again.
..
Be Sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful,
and Appreciative
22. Avoid negative – unpleasant words
• It is impossible to open an account for you today.
• We don’t refund if the returned item is soiled and
unusable.
Practice Exercise
23. Choose Nondiscriminatory Expressions
Another requirement for courtesy is the use of
nondiscriminatory language that reflects equal
treatment of people regardless of gender,
race, ethnic origin, and physical features.
Questionable More Desirable
Freshman
Manpower
Entering students; first year
student.
Workers; employees; work
force personnel
24. Show courtesy by avoiding tactless & blunt
language.
• Your letter is not clear at all
• You failed to enclose your cheque in the
envelope.
Practice Exercise
25. Use gender friendly substitutes
• Mankind
• The best man for the job
• Manmade
• Manpower
• Businessman
• Sales man
• Chairman
Practice Exercise
26. Practice Exercise – Contd.
• You guys should all be concerned about the
issue.
• Each manager has an assigned place – he
should park his car….
• Each customer will have change noted on his
bill
27. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility / Builds trust
Completeness
2. Courtesy Improves relationships
3. Clarity Makes comprehension easier
28. Avoid wordy, unfamiliar & clichéd
expression
I am in receipt of your letter No. 213 dated Nov.
19,20xx and wish to acknowledge with thanks.
29. Choose Precise, Concrete, and Familiar
Words
Clarity is achieved in part through a balance
between precise language and familiar language.
Precise words need not be pretentious.
Familiar Pretentious
After
Home
For example
Subsequent
Domicile
e.g. (L)
30. Construct Effective Sentences and
Paragraphs
A clearly built sentence helps to systematically
align thoughts within a paragraph.
Important characteristics to consider are length,
unity, coherence, and emphasis.
Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure
you can help us.
Clear: Being an excellent lawyer, you can
surely help us.
31. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility/ Builds trust
Completeness
2. Courtesy Improves relationships
3. Clarity Makes comprehension
easier
4. Correctness Builds confidence
32. CORRECTNESS
At the core of correctness is proper grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
Along with grammatical and mechanical
correctness, appropriateness of a message is also
important .
The correctness, as applied to business messages, also
means the following three characteristics:
• Use the right level of language.
• Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words.
• Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.
33. Use the Right Level of Language
Informal writing is more characteristics of business
writing—even more so if that writing occurs in an E-mail
message.
More Formal Less Formal
Participate
Procure
Endeavor
Join
Get
Try
Do not forget to check accuracy of figures,
facts, and words
.
34. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility/ Builds trust
Completeness
2. Courtesy Improves relationships
3. Clarity Makes comprehension
easier
4. Correctness Builds confidence
5. Consistency Introduces stability
35. Consistency
The message should be relevant and
consistent with the main theme of interaction
Communication is an unending process. It
requires repetition to achieve understanding.
Repetition, with variation, contributes to
learning both facts and attitudes.
36. Bad Example
Amna,
I wanted to write you a quick note about the
report you finished last week. I gave it to Usman
to proof, and he wanted to make sure you knew
about the department meeting we're having
this Friday. We'll be creating an outline for the
new employee handbook.
Thanks,
37. An Alternative
Dear Ms. Amna,
I wanted to update you about the report you finished
last week. I gave it to Mr. Usman to proof, and he let
me know that there are a few changes that you'll need
to make. He will email you his detailed comments later
this afternoon.
Thanks,
Rabia Ahmad
39. CONCRETENESS
Be specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and
general.
Use denotatives (direct, explicit, often dictionary based)
rather than connotative words (ideas or notions
suggested by or associated with a word or phrase).
Use specific facts and figures.
Put action in your verbs.
Choose vivid, image building words.
40. Use Specific Facts and Figures
It is desirable to be precise and concrete in both
written and oral business communication.
Concrete, Precise
In 1996, the GMAT
scores averaged 600;
by 1997 they had risen
to 610.
Vague, General,
Indefinite
Student GMAT
scores are higher.
41. Put Action in Your Verbs
Verbs can activate other words and help make
your sentences alive, more vigorous.
1. Use active rather than passive verbs.
2. Put action in your verbs rather than nouns and
infinites.
42. Bad Example
The establishment of a different approach on
the part of the committee has become a
necessity.
44. Choose Vivid, Image-Building
Words
Business writing uses less figurative language than
does the world of fiction.
Bland Image
This is a long letter.
She's a brain
More Vivid Images
This letter is three times as
long as you said it would.
Her grade-point average in
1996 was 3.1 on a four -
point scale-
45. Rewrite the following in concrete form as the
sentences are too general and vague.
This computer transfers date from a usb fast
Our product has won several prizes.
Exercise
46. Put action into the words by using active instead
of passive voice.
Tests were made by us
A full report will be sent to you by the supervisor.
The contract had a requirement ….
Mr. Singh will give consideration to the report ….
Exercise
47. Use vivid image building words – adjectives and
adverts , and use less of abstract nouns
The camera has a system that gives good
pictures.
Exercise
48. 7 C’s of communication
C’s Relevance
1. Credibility/ Builds trust
Completeness
2. Courtesy Improves relationships
3. Clarity Makes comprehension easier
4. Correctness Builds confidence
5. Consistency Introduces stability
6. Concreteness Reinforces confidence
7. Conciseness Saves time
49. CONCISENESS
Use the fewest possible words without
sacrificing the other C qualities.
To achieve conciseness
– Eliminate wordy expressions.
– Include only relevant material.
– Avoid unnecessary repetition.
50. Eliminate Wordy Expressions
Use single words in place of phrases. Even
Winston Churchill made extensive use of
simple, one syllable words.
Example
Wordy: At this time
Concise: Now
Wordy: Due to the fact that
Concise: Because
51. 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.
52. Exercise
Find single word substitutes for the phrases
Along the same lines
At this time
Consensus of opinion
Date of policy
Due to the fact that
During the time of the day
During the year of
Few and far between
For a price of
53. 4S’s of communication
S’s Relevance
Shortness Economizes
Simplicity Impresses
Strength Convinces
Sincerity Appeals
54. Practice Exercise
Identify what went wrong in this email and try to
rectify it:
Dear Mr. XX,
I wanted to write you a quick note about Ahmad, who's
working in your department. He's a great asset, and I'd
like to talk to you more about him when you have time.
Regards,
YY
55. One correct possibility
Dear Mr. XX,
I wanted to write you a quick note about Ahmad, who's working in
your department. In recent weeks, he's helped the IT department
through several pressing deadlines on his own time.
We've got a tough upgrade project due to run over the next three
months, and his knowledge and skills would prove invaluable. Could
we please have his help with this work?
I'd appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call you
to discuss this further?
Regards,
YY
(Designation)
56. CHECKLIST FOR THE RECEIVER
Listen Actively
Suspend Judgment -- keep an open mind
Clarify -- Check the exact meaning
Paraphrase -- tell them what they told you
Summarize -- reflect on the main points
Analyze feelings -- see what is really meant
by observing body signs
Editor's Notes
Communication will solve all problems: It may result in creating new problems.
Communication is always positive: It may be positive or negative.
More communication is better: more negative communication will result in more negative results. Quality is more important than quantity.
Words carry meanings: nonverbal communication will carry most of the meanings.
Communication is natural ability: You can develop and sharpen communication skills.
As soon as your signature card reaches us, we gladly open an……. We refund when the returned item is unsoiled and resaleable
If I understand your letter correctly….
We have not received your check.
Many thanks for your letter No.213 of November 19, 20xx.
I wanted to write you a quick note about Ahmad, who's working in your department. In recent weeks, he's helped the IT department through several pressing deadlines on his own time.
We've got a tough upgrade project due to run over the next three months, and his knowledge and skills would prove invaluable. Could we please have his help with this work?
I'd appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call you to discuss this further?
