What are 7C’s oF Communication Completeness Conciseness Consideration Concreteness Clarity Courtesy Correctness Completeness Effective communications are complete, i.e. the receiver gets all the information he needs to process the message and take action. A complete message reduces the need for follow-up questions and smoothens the communication process. Conciseness Conciseness is about keeping your message to a point. This is more about the content of your message rather than its length. Even a short memo can include irrelevant or redundant information. Conciseness helps the receiver focus on what’s important, speeds up the processing of information and caters for improved understanding. Consideration Effective communication takes into account the receiver’s background and points of view. If your message hits a nerve or sounds as disrespectful, the emotional reaction of the receiver might affect the perception of your message. Also, tailoring your message to your audience – e.g. by using argumentations and examples which are relevant to their experience – makes it easier for them to process the contents. Concreteness A concrete message is specific, tangible, vivid. It’s supported by facts and figures for enhanced credibility. It helps your audience gain an overview of the broader picture. Concreteness mitigates the risk of misunderstanding, fosters trust and encourages constructive criticism. Courtesy Courtesy and consideration complement each other in effective communications. Courtesy means respecting the receiver’s culture, values and beliefs – i.e. crafting a message that is genuinely polite and unbiased. Clearness The clearer your message, the easier it gets for the receiver to decode it according to your original intent. While this sounds obvious, most communication pitfalls originate from lack of clarity. Want to deliver an effective message? Start with a clear communication goal and accurate thoughts. Clear communications build on exact terminology and concrete words, to reduce ambiguities and confusion in the communication process. Correctness Correct grammar and syntax vouch for increased effectiveness and credibility of your message. Formal errors might affect the clarity of your message, trigger ambiguity and raise doubts. They might also have a negative impact on the overall perception of the message, which could be seen as sloppy or negligent. Did you Communication Communication is the sharing of thoughts, feelings, messages and information. It usually takes at least two people to communicate. We might be the one doing the sharing or we might be the one on the receiving end. So, communication means understanding what others are saying and also being understood when we are talking. Sometimes we communicate in larger groups – like when we have a conversation with a few people. Body Language Our spoken communication is helped by body language. This is a way of saying what is on our mind without using words.

1. 7
C’
s
OF
COMMUNICATI

2. What arE 7C’s oF
Communication
 Completeness
 Conciseness
 Consideration
 Concreteness
 Clarity
 Courtesy
 Correctness

3. COMPLETENE
SS
 Message is complete when it contains all facts the
readeror listener needs for the reactionyou desire.
 Communicationsenders need toassess their message
through the eyes of the receivers to be sure they have
included all relevantinformation.
 Provide all necessaryinformation.
 Answer all questionsasked.
 Give something extra whendesirable.

4. Provide All Necessary
Information
 Giveall detail which is necessary forcompleteand accurate
understanding.
 Oneway to makeyour messagecomplete is byasking five
W questions;
 Who?
 What?
 When?
 Where?
 Why?
• And other essentials asHow?
These are useful for making requests,announcements, or
other informativemessages.

5. EXAMPL
E
 Toreserve a hotel banquet room, specify the
accommodation needed (What), location (Where),
Sponsoring organization (Who), date and time
(when), event (why), and other necessary detail
(How).

6. ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS
ASKED
 Wheneveryou reply toan inquiry, try toanswerall
questions.
 A colleagueoracustomer’sreaction toan incomplete
reply may leave a badimpression.
 “Omissions castsuspicions”
 If you don’t have particular information, saysoclearly.
 If you have unfavorable information, handle itwith
honesty and tact.

7. EXAMPL
E
 A Software distributor, when replying to a dealer’s
letter, answered only four of seven questions. Because
the original questions
somewhat buried in five
were
long paragraphs, so
unnumbered and
the
respondent overlooked or disregarded tree of them.
The reply, unfriendly and incomplete, caused the
distributor to lose the business and goodwill of a
potential customer.

8. Solution
 List the needed detail from the inquirer on a reply
form that the inquirercan fill outand return toyou. In
thisway bothyouranswerand thatof yourrespondent
will becomplete.

9. GIVE EXTRA DETAIL WHEN
DESIRABLE
 Do more than answer the specific questions pointed
out by thecustomer.
 As, they may not knowwhat they need, orthere
question may beinadequate.

10. Example
 Incomplete Question
How come my request for an interview letter did not
receive a response?
• Extradetail
When was letter sent? Who sent it? To whom was it
sent?
You need to inquireall the information togive proper
reply for theinquiry.

11. CHECKLIST
FOR
COMPLETENE
SS
 Remember the fiveW’s
 Answer allquestions
 Give extra information whendesirable.

12. Conciseness
 Conciseness is saying what you have to say in fewest
possiblewordswithoutsacrificing other C qualities. A
concise message is completewithout being wordy.

13. CONTINU
ED
 A concise messagesaves timeand expense for both
sender andreceiver.
 Conciseness contributes to emphasis; by eliminating
unnecessarywordsyou let important ideas stand out.
 When combined with “you-view”, concisemessages
are more interesting to therecipients.
 Conciseness includes;
 eliminate wordyexpression
 Include only relevantmaterial
 Avoid unnecessary repetition

14. ELIMINATE WORDY
EXPRESSION
 Usesingleword substitute instead of phrases without
changing meaning.
EXAMPLE
Wordy: In duecourse
Concise: Soon
Wordy: please find attached the listyou requested.
Concise: The list you requested isattached.
Wordy: She boughtdesks thatareof theexecutive
type.
Concise: She bought executive- typedesks.

15. INCLUDE ONLY RELEVANT
MATERIAL
 Stick to the purpose of themessage
 Delete irrelevant words andsentences.
 Omit information obvious to the receiver.
 Avoid long introductions, unnecessary explanations,
excessive preposition and adjectivesetc.
 Get to the important point concisely.

16. EXAMPL
E
 Wordy : We hereby wish to let you know that our
company is pleased with the confidence you have
reposed in us.
 Concise: Weappreciate yourconfidence.
 Wordy: At this time I am writing toyou toenclosean
interview card, which has been post-paid, for the
purpose of arranging a convenient time when we
mightget togetherfora personal interview.
 Concise: Please return theenclosed interviewcard to
setupa convenient time foran interview.

17. AVOID UNNECESSARY
REPETITION
 Useshorter nameafteru have used long oneonce.
Instead of using “North Central Company” use“North
Central”.
 Use pronouns or initials rather than repeating long
names. Instead of using “ American Association of
Technical Analysts” again and again, use “it” or “they”
orAATA.
 Cut out all needless repetition of phrases and
sentences. Sometimes it is possible tocombine twoor
even moresentences by using conjunctionsetc.

18. EXAMPL
E
 Wordy: Will you ship up this time, anytimeduring the
month of October would be fine, or even November if
you are rushed (Novemberwould suit us justas well, in
fact a little bit better) 300 of the regular 3 by 15 inches
blue armbands with white sewn letters in the center.
Thank you in advance by sending this along to us by
parcel post and not express, as express is too
expensive.
 Concise: Please ship parcel post, before the end of
November, 300 regular 3 by 15 inch blue feltarmbands
with whitesewn letters in thecenters.

19. CHECKLIST FOR
CONCISENESS
 Useoneword in placeof phrases; one sentence in
place of two. Readout loud to listenwordiness.
 Omit wordiness and outdatedexpressions.
 Ask yourself: Is the materialrelevant?
 Look forunnecessaryrepetition: Does thesameword
or idea repeat toooften?

20. Consideration
 Consideration means preparing every message with
the message receivers in mind: put yourself at their
place; being aware of their ideas, emotions, attitudes,
desires, circumstancesand probable reactions toyour
point.
 Handle the matterfrom theirpointof view, called as
“you-attitude”

21. SPECIFIC WAYS TO
INDICATE
CONSIDERATION
 Focus on “You” instead of “I” and“we”
 Showaudience’s benefit and interest in thereceiver.
 Emphasize positive, pleasantfacts.

22. FoCus oN “You” INstEaD oF
“I” aND “WE”
 Tocreate considerate, audience-oriented messages,
focus on how receivers will benefit, what they will
receive, and what theywantor need to know.
EXAMPLE
We-Attitude: I am delighted toannounce thatwewill
be extending our hours to make shopping more
convenient.
You-Attitude: Youwill beable toshopevenings with
the extended hours.

23. Continued
 Using “we” can be receiver oriented if ‘we’ includes the
recipients of the message. But messages that use “you”
can be insensitive in negativesituations.
EXAMPLE
Insensitive: You failed toencloseyourcheque in the
envelope.
Considerate: The chequewas notenclosed.

24. SHOW AUDIENCE BENEFIT
OR INTEREST IN THE
RECEIVER
 Show howyourreceivers will benefit from the
message.
 Benefits must meet recipient needs, address their
concernand offer them rewards, means they must be
perceived as benefits by thereceivers.
 Tell legitimate benefits of your policyand products
and put yourself in receiver’s place to assess their
perspectives.

25. EXAMPL
E
 only inserting word “you” does notensure “You-
attitude” As;
“You will be glad to know thatwe now haveawalkup
windowopen 7-9am and 3-8pm everyweekday”
Some readers wonder, “sowhat?”
So, it should belike;
“You can now takecareof your banking needsatour new
Walk-up Window. It is open with a capable teller to
serve you 7-9am and 3-8pm, Monday throughFriday”

26. EMPHASIZE POSITIVE,
PLEASANT FACTS
 A third way to show consideration for your receiver is
to accent the positive. This means stressing what can
bedone instead of whatcannot bedone, and focusing
on wordsyourrecipient can consider favorably.
 Negative-Unpleasant:
It is impossible toopen an account foryou today.
 Positive-Pleasant:
As soonasyoursignaturecard reaches us, wewill
gladlyopen an account foryou.

27. CHECKLIST
FOR
CONSIDERATI
ON
 Seeyour material from yourreaders pointof view.
 “You” is more desirable than “I” and“We”.
 Readers like tosee benefits. Be sure benefits area
prominent part of themessage.
 Consciouslyuse positivewords; readers will react more
favorably.

28. CONCRETENE
SS
 Communicating concretely means beingspecific,
definiteand vivid rather thanvagueand general.
 Use denotative words (dictionary based, direct) rather
thanconnotativewords (ideas, notionssuggested byor
associated with aword”.

29. BENEFIT
S
 Receivers knowexactlywhat is required ordesired.
 Increase thechances that the messagewill be
interpreted the way senderintended.
 More vivid and interesting.

30. SPECIFIC WAYS TO
INDICATE
CONCRETENESS
 Use specific facts andfigures
 Putaction in yourverbs
 Choose vivid, image buildingwords.

31. USE SPECIFIC FACTS AND
FIGURES
 Useexactand precisestatementora figure instead of a
general word to makeyour message moreconcrete.
EXAMPLE
Vague, General, Indefinite:
Student GMAT scores arehigher.
Concrete, Precise:
In 1999 the GMAT scores averaged 600; by 1997 thayhad
risen to610.

32. WHEN NOT TO USE
SPECIFIC
DETAILS
 When it is not possible to be specific: you may not
have the precise figures or facts.
 When you wish to be diplomatic: “You have missed
three invitations to my office” is harsh; you may be
more tactful in saying, “I’vesentyou several reminders
to see me in myoffice”.
 When exact figures are unimportantas in; “ more
than half the committee waspresent.”

33. PUT ACTION IN YOUR
VERBS
 Useactive rather than passivevoice because it shows life in
a sentence when a subject acts.
 Active verbsare;
 Morespecific as “ A dean decided” than “ a decision has
been made by”
 Personal as “You will note” rather than “it will be noted”
 Concise as “Figures show” ratherthan “it is shown by
figures”
 Emphatic as “Students held acontest” ratherthan “ A
contest was held by thestudents”.

34. USE PASSIVE VOICE
WHEN
 When you want to avoid personal comments as in
“ The October cheque was not included” is better than
“ you failed to include the Octobercheque” OR
“Attendence at the meeting is required” is less harsh
than “you must attend themeeting”.
 Whenyou wanttostress theobjectof action. As
“You are invited” is more suitable than , “ we invite
you”
 When the doer is not important. As “ Three
announcements were made before themeeting
started” the announcer is notimportant.

35. CHOOSE VIVID IMAGE
BUILDING
WORDS
 Use sensory words, comparisons, figurativelanguage,
concrete nouns, well chosen adjectivesand adverbs.
BUT…
With caution as businesswriting uses fewerdescriptors than
does a magazinearticleor fiction writing.

36. SENSORY
APPEAL
 words which appeal thesenses…
EXAMPLE
Instead of: “It was hot in the factory”
Use: “Sweat trickled down the arms of the line workers”

37. COMPARISO
NS
 Comparisonscan makean idea moreclearand vivid.
UnclearImage:
“This is a longletter.”
Clear Image:
“This letter is three timesas long asyou said itwould be”

38. FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
 Use figures of speech with cautionas theydo make
idea moreclear.
Example
Literal: Herwork in groupswasexemplary.
Figurative: Shecould becalled “ the spark plug” of the
group.

39. CHECKLIST
FOR
CONCRETENE
SS
 Precise in presenting facts andfigures.
 Useactivevoice more than the passive.
 Useactionverbs to make ideaclear.
 Use of image building words wherenecessary.

40. CLARIT
Y
 Getting the meaning fromyour head into the head of
your reader – accurately –is the purposeof clarity.

41. WAYS TO INDICATE
CLARITY
 Chooseprecise, concreteand familiarwords.
 Construct effective sentencesand paragraphs.

42. CHOOSE PRECISE,
CONCRETE AND
FAMILIAR WORDS
 Clarity isachieved in part through a balance between
precise language and familiarwords.
 Precise language means selecting exactly the right
word to conveymeaning.
 Familiar language comprises words of one’s personal
repertoire, familiar to theaudienceand appropriate for
thesituation.

43. EXAMPL
E
FAMILIAR WORDS PRETENTIOUS WORDS
 After
 Home
 Forexample
 invoice
 Subsequent
 Domicile
 E.g.
 Statement forpayment

44. EXAMPL
E
UNFAMILIAR FAMILIAR
 After our perusal ofpertinent
data, the conclusion is that a
lucrative market exists forthe
subjectproperty.
 The data we studiedshow
that your property is
profitable and in high
demand.

45. USE BUSINESS
JARGON
 Use business language and technical termsin
professional situations.
 Avoid when communicating toa person not
acquainted with theterminology.
 Even then if you mustuse the terms, explain briefly
and clearly for properunderstanding.

46. USE EFFECTIVE
SENTENCES AND
PARAGRAPHS
 At thecoreof clarity is thesentence.
 Grammatical statement when clearlyexpressed moves
thoughts within aparagraph.
 Importantcharacteristics toconsiderwhile making
effective sentences and paragraphsare;
Length
Unity
Coherence
Emphasis

47. LENGT
H
 Short sentences arepreferred.
 Suggested average sentence length should be 17- 20
words or it could be from 3- 30 words or so. But more
than 40 words sentence should be rewritten toreduce
length.

48. UNIT
Y
 Keepone main ideaand other ideas must be related to
the main idea.
EXAMPLE
Wrong: I like Jim, and the Eiffel Tower is inParis.
Correct: Mr. James is in his late sixties. Hishands
trembles when heeats.

49. COHEREN
CE
 Wordsarecorrectlyarranged so that ideas correctly
convey the intended meaning.
EXAMPLE
UNCLEAR: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sureyou can
help us.
Clear:
Asyou are an excellent lawyer, I am sureyou can help us.

50. EMPHASI
S
 Thequality thatgives force to importantpartsof
sentences and paragraphs isemphasis.
 Writer needs tounderstand whatshould be
emphasized.
 In acomplex sentence, main idea should be placed in
the main clause and less important points are to be
placed in a subordinateclause.

51. EXAMPL
E
 Little Emphasis:
Theairplane finallyapproached the speed of sound, and
it becameverydifficult tocontrol.
 BetterEmphasis:
As it finallyapproached the speed of sound, theairplane
becameverydifficult tocontrol.

52. OTHER WAYS TO SHOW
EMPHASIS
 Use of ;
Headings
Tabulations
Piecharts
Graphs
Underlining
Italics
Colored fontsetc…

53. CHECKLIST FOR
CLARITY
 Choosepreciseoras concreteaword as possible.
 Selectwords that havea high senseof appropriateness
for thereader.
 Go for the familiarwords.
 Limitaverage length of a sentence is 17- 20 words.
 Insert no more than one main idea in a sentence.
 Arrange words so that the main ideaoccursearly in a
sentence.

54. COURTE
SY
 Courtesy means notonlyawareof others perspective
but feelings.
 Courtesystems froma sincere “you-attitude”
 show respectand concern forothers .
 Consider youraudience.

55. GUIDELINES FOR
GENERATING
COURTESY
 Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful andappreciative.
 Use expressions that showrespect.
 Choose nondiscriminatoryexpressions.

56. BE SINCERELY
TACTFUL,THOUGHTFUL
AN APPRECIATIVE
 Be tactful keeping in mind audience culture,feelings
and respect.
 Avoid being blunt or abrupt as negative feelings arise
from personal negativeattitudeorwhen a person does
not know thecultureof a country …

57. EXAMPL
E
Tactless , Blunt
 Stupid letter; I can’t
understand any of it.
 Clearly, you did not readmy
latest fax.
 I rewrote that letter three
times; the point wasclear.
MoreTactful
 It’s my understanding thatI
did not get what umean.
 Sometimes my wording isnot
precise; let me tryagain.
 I’m sorry the point was not
clear; here is anotherversion.

58. THOUGHTFULNESS
AND
APPRECIATION
 Be politeand courteouswhen communicating with
youraudienceas it help building goodwill.
 Goodwill is worth thousands for an organization
whichcan beachieved by sending cordial, courteous
messages of appreciation.

59. USE EXPRESSIONS THAT
SHOW RESPECT
 No readerwants to receive messages thatoffend.
EXAMPLE
OFFENSIVE: Hey man, what’s this I hear about your
wedding? Youdidn’t tell anyof usabout it. Give my
regards to the ladyand wish her the best.
COURTEOUS: Warmcongratulationson yourwedding!
Well, you certainly took us bysurprise. In fact, justa few
of us suspected you were taking off toget married. But
even though we didn’t hear about it until later. We
wish you thebest.

60. CHOOSE
NONDISCRIMINATO
RY EXPRESSION
 Nondiscriminatory language reflects equal treatment
of people regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin and
physical features.
EXAMPLE
In the past, ‘man’ was used to denote not only male persons
but also humanity at large. Today, many people connect
‘man’ with a ‘male human being’. Thus, English language
usealternativeexpressions for man thatare neuter in form.

61. EXAMPL
E
Questionable
 Freshman
 Manpower
 Man made
More Desirable
 Entering students, firstyear
students
 Workers, employees,work
force.
 Manufactured, constructed,
built

62. CHECKLIST FOR
COURTESY
 Communication should haveyou-attitude.
 Havesomeone reviewyourstatementtoavoid
disrespect.
 Be careful inusing language. Be aware of gender,race,
color, creed etc.

63. CORRECTNE
SS
 Use of proper grammar,punctuationand spellings.
 Some message though grammatically and
mechanicallycompleteand perfect may insultor losea
customer.
SO
 Use the right level of language
 Check accuracy of figures, facts andwords.
 Maintain acceptable writingmechanics.

64. USE THE RIGHT LEVEL OF
LANGUAGE
 There are three levels oflanguage
Formal
Informal
Substandard
Sowriting style foreach level isdifferent.

65. FORMAL
LANGUAGE
 Formal writing is oftenassociated with scholarly
writing:
Doctoral dissertations
Scholarlyarticles
Legal documents
Governmentagreements
and other materialswhere formalityof language is
demanded.
STYLE: Style is non-conversational, usuallyimpersonal
and often contains longsentences.

66. INFORMAL
LANGUAGE
 Informal writing is more characteristic ofbusiness
writing as wordsare short, well-knownand
conversational… As,
More Formal
Participate
Procure
Endeavor
Edifice
Deem
Less Formal
join
get
try
building
think

67. POE
M
Colleges are notschools,
They are learning institutions;
Problems don’t haveanswers,
They have viable solutions.
People don’t spend money,
They re-allocateresources.
Speakers don’t makespeeches,
They give oralpresentations.
Bosses don’t set quotas,
They just indicateobjectives.
Workers don’t takeorders,
Though they implementdirectives.
Machinery can’t breakdown,
But components canmalfunction.
A courtdoes notcommand
It just issues aninjunction.
Programs don’t have failures,
They have qualifiedsuccesses.
And jargon doesn’t hurtyou—
It just constantlydistresses!
Enid C. Stickel

68. SUBSTANDARD
LANGUAGE
 Avoid using incorrect words, incorrect grammar,faulty
pronunciation ,all suggest an inability to use good
English.
SUBSTANDAR
D
Ain’t
Can’t hardly
Aim atproving
Irregardless
Brung
Should of
MORE
ACCEPTABLE
isn’t, aren’t
can hardly
aim toprove
regardless
brought
should have

69. CHECK ACCURACY OF
FIGURES, FACTS AND
WORDS
 Dataand information should be correct, check and
doublecheck theaccuracyof factsand figures.
 Verify statisticaldata.
 Double check yourtotals.
 Avoid guessing at laws that havean impacton you, the
sender and thereceiver.
 Havesomeoneelse read your message if the topic
involvesdata.
 Determinewhethera “fact” has changed overtime.

70. WORDS THAT
CONFUSE
 Our English language is constantlychanging…In fact
even dictionaries cannot keep up with the rapid
change in our language. But the dictionary is still a
major source for locating correct words and their
intended meanings.

71. LIST INCLUDES WORDS
OFTEN CONFUSED IN
USAGE
 Accept,except
 Between andAmong
 Accept is a verb and
means toreceive.
 Except is a verb or a
preposition means
omitting or leavingout.
 Between involvestwo
people orgroups.
 Among involves threeor
more.

72. MAINTAIN
ACCEPTABLE
WRITING
MECHANICS
 Message should be correctgrammatically.
 Computers providespell and grammarcheck to make
editing easy.
 Every message should be carefullywritten.

73. CHECKLIST FOR
CORRECTNESS
 Select the right level of language forcommunication;
either formal orinformal.
 Realize that informal language is used inbusiness
communication.
 Checkyouraccuracyof factsand figures by making
other person read yourmaterial.

74. Thank you