The Seven C’s of Effective Communication-9724949948

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CHAPTER 2.

The Seven C’s of Effective

Communication

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SEVEN C’S

1. Completeness

2. Conciseness

3. Consideration

4. Concreteness5. Clarity

6. Courtesy

7. Correctness

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ALL SEVEN C’S CAN APPLY TO BOTHORAL AND WRITTENCOMMUNICATION

COMPLETENESS:

Message receivers-either listeners or readers desirecomplete information to their questions.

Completeness offers numerous benefits

First: complete messages are more likely to bring thedesired results without the expense of additionalmessages.

Second: they can do better job of building goodwill.

Third: complete messages can help avert costlylawsuits that may result if important information is

missing.

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KEEP THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES IN

MIND:

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. Locate them and then answer precisely.

Give something extra, when desirable:

use your good judgment in offering additional material if the sender’s message was incomplete.

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CONCISENESS

conciseness is saying what you have to say in thefewest possible words without sacrificing the otherC qualities.

Conciseness contributes to emphasis; by eliminatingunnecessary words, you let important ideas standout.

To achieve conciseness, observe the followingsuggestions:

Eliminate wordy expressions.

Include only relevant material.

Avoid unnecessary repetition.

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Eliminate wordy expressions.

Use single – word substitutes instead of phrases.

1. Wordy: At this time

Concise: Now

2.Wordy: Due to the fact thatConcise: Because

3. Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know thatour company is pleased with confidence you havereposed in us.

Concise: We appreciate your confidence.

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Include only Relevant Material:

The effective, concise message should omit notonly unnecessarily wordy expressions but alsoirrelevant statements.

Observe the following suggestions:

1. Stick to the purpose of the message.

2. Delete irrelevant words and rambling sentences.

3. Omit information obvious to the receiver.

4. Avoid long introductions, unnecessaryexplanations, excessive adjectives andprepositions, pompous words, gushy politeness.

5. Get to the important point tactfully and concisely.

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Avoid unnecessary Repetition:

When the same thing is said two or threetimes without reason, the message becomeswordy and boring.

Three ways to eliminate unnecessaryrepetition:

1. Use a shorter name after you havementioned the long one once.

2. Use pronouns or initials rather than repeatlong names.

3. Cut out all needles repetition of phrases andsentences.

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For example: Wordy: Will you ship us sometime, anytime during

the month of October would be fine, or evenNovember if you rushed (November would suit us justas well in fact a little bit better) 300 of the regular 3-

by 15-inch blue felt armbands with white sewn lettersin the center.

Thank you in advance for sending these along to usby parcel post and not express as express, is tooexpensive.

Concise: Please ship parcel post, before the end of November 300 regular 3-by 15-inch blue feltarmbands with white sewn letters in the center.

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CONSIDERATION

Means preparing every message with themessage receives in mind; try to put yourself in their place:

Three specific ways to indicate considerationare:

Focus on “you” instead of “I” and “We”.

Show audience benefit or interest in thereceiver.

Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.

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CONCRETENESS

Communication concretely means beingspecific, definite, and vivid rather than vagueand general.

Misunderstandings of words have producedtragedies in both war and peace, in businessand non business situations.

The following guidelines should help youcompose concrete, convincing

messages: Use specific facts and figures.

Put actions in your verbs.

Choose vivid, image-building words.

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USE SPECIFIC FACTS AND FIGURES:

Whenever possible, use an exact, precisestatement or a figure in place of a generalword to make your message more concrete.

Vague, General,Vague, General,IndefiniteIndefinite

Concrete, preciseConcrete, precise

Student GMAT scores arehigher.

In 1996 the GMAT scoresaveraged 600;by 1997they had risen to 610.

She’s a brain Her grade-point averagein 1996 was 3.9 on a four-point scale.

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PUT ACTIONS IN YOUR VERBS

Verbs can activate other words and helpmake your sentences alive, more vigourous.

Use active rather than passive verbs

Put action in your verbs rather than in nounsand infinitives.

Use the Active Voice

Passive (Subject Receivesthe action)

Active (Subject Performsthe action)

The tests were administeredby the professors.

Professors administered thetests.

Grades of students will besent to you by the school.

The school will send studentstheir grades.

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ACTIVE WORDS MAKE YOURSENTENCES MORE

Specific – “The dean decided” is moreexplicit than “A decision has been made.”

Personal – “You will note” – personal

“ it will be noted” – Impersonal Concise – “Figure shows”

“It is shown by figures”

Emphatic – “The students held a contest”

“A contest was held by thestudents.”

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PUT ACTIONS IN VERBS, NOT INNOUNS

Seven verbs- be, give, have, hold, make, put, andtake-(in any tense) might be designated as “deadly”when the action they introduce is hidden in a “quietnoun.”

The examples below show how much each deadlyverb with the noun and preposition (all underlined)can be changed into an action verb that shortens thesentence.Action hiding in a

“Quiet” NounAction in the Verb

The proposal has a

requirement for…….

The proposal requires

that……

Students held themeeting in the office.

Students met in theoffice.

Professor X. will giveconsideration to the

report.

Professor X. will considerthe report.

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CHOOSE VIVID, IMAGE-BUILDINGWORDS

Business writing uses less figurative language thandoes the world of fiction.

Sensory Appeal: Concrete language often evokes asensory response in people; it appeals to one or more

of the five senses. Comparisons: Analogies or comparison can make an

unclear idea clear or make an idea more vivid.

Bland Image More Vivid Image

Proposals submitted this quarter

were uninteresting.

Too many simple sentences, too

many simplistic ideas gave theimpression of the writing of afirst student.

This is a long letter This is three times as long as yousaid it would be.

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Figurative Language

Use figures of speech with caution.

Literal(and Dull) More Vivid, Figurative

Her work in groups wasexemplary.

She could be called “thespark plug of the group.”

Some women were stoppedin their promotions.

Many women faced the“glass ceiling” in theircompany.

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CLARITY

Getting the meaning from your head of yourreader – accurately – is the purpose of Clarity.

Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.

Construct effective sentences andparagraphs.

When in doubt, use more familiar words;audiences will understand them better.

Familiar Pretentions

about Circaafter Subsequent

home domicile

For example e.g.

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CONSTRUCT EFFECTIVE SENTENCESAND PARAGRAPHS:

Length: Sentence should between 17 10 20words.

Unity: In a sentence-whether simple,compound, or complex-you have one mainidea, and any other ideas in the sentencemust be closely related to it.

Coherence: In a coherent sentence the wordsare correctly arranged so that the ideas

clearly express the intended meaning.

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EMPHASIS

Most often, put main ideas up front within asentence.

The quality that gives force to importantparts of sentences and paragraphs isemphasis.

In a complex sentence the main idea shouldbe placed in the main clause; the lessimportant points are in

subordinate(dependent) clauses or phrases.

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FOR INSTANCE:

Little emphasis: The airplane finallyapproached the speed of sound, and itbecame very difficult to control.

Better emphasis: As it finally approached thespeed of sound, the airplane became verydifficult to control.

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COURTESY:

True courtesy involves being aware not onlyof the perspective of others, but also their

feelings.

It is not merely politeness with mechanicalinsertions of “please” and “thank you”,

although applying socially accepted mannersis a form of courtesy.

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THE FOLLOWING ARE SUGGESTIONS



THE FOLLOWING ARE SUGGESTIONSFOR GENERATING A COURTEOUSTONE:

Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, andappreciative.

Use expressions that show respect. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.

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BE SINCERELY TACTFUL,THOUGHTFUL, AND APPRECIATIVE

Tact: Though few people are intentionallyabrupt or blunt, these negative traits are acommon cause of discourtesy.

Tactless, Blunt More TactfulClearly, you did not readmy latest fax.

Sometimes my wording isnot precise; let me tryagain.

I rewrote that letter threetimes; the point was clear.

I’m sorry the point wasnot clear; here is anotherversion.

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THOUGHTFULNESS ANDAPPRECIATION:

Writers who send cordial, courteousmessages of deserved congratulations andappreciation help build goodwill.

Be especially thoughtful and courteous whencommunicating with Asian cultures; they likethe soft, more polite approach in both oraland written communication.

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USE EXPRESSIONS THAT SHOWRESPECT

No reader wants to receive message thatoffend.

Such questions are discussed in two groups:irritating expressions and questionable

humor. Omit irritating expressions:

Avoid these expressions particularly usedwith “you” or “your”.

I do not agree with you

Surely you don’t expect

You did not tell usYou leave us no choice

Your complaint

Your failure

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OMIT QUESTIONABLE HUMOR:

Laughter to one person is disgust foranother; each of us has a different sense of humor. When in doubt be more formal.

Informal notes:

Note 1. Offensive: hey man, what I hearabout the good news? You sure pulled a fastone this past weekend-and then didn’t tellany of us about it.

Note 2. More Courteous:Warm congratulations on your wedding!

Well, you certainly took us by surprise. Infact, just a few of us even suspected you

were talking off to get married.

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CHOOSE NONDISCRIMINATORYEXPRESSIONS

Use of nondiscriminatory language thatreflect equal treatment of people regardlessof gender, race, ethnic origin, and physicalfeatures.

“Man” wordsIn western culture there is more concern

than in other cultures about using the termman.

Questionable More desirable

Freshman Entering students ; first yearstudents

Manpower Workers; employees:; workforce; personnel

Man-made Manufactured; constructedbuilt

The best man for the position The best person; the best

candidate for the position.

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SINGULAR PRONOUNS

English lacks a neuter singular pronounsignifying “he” or “she”.

The trend today is to avoid using he, him,and his, when referring to the hypothetical

person or humanity in general.

Questionable More Desirable

Anyone who comes toclass late will get his

grade reduced

Students who come lateto class will have their

grade reduced.“You guys should all beconcerned about theissue”

Both men and women, allof you should beconcerned about theissue.

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CORRECTNESS

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

The term correctness, as applied to businessmessages, also means the following three

characteristics:

Use the right level of language.

Check accuracy of figure, facts and words.

Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.

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USE THE RIGHT LEVEL LANGUAGE

More Formal Less Formal

Participate Join

Procure GetEndeavour Try

Ascertain Find out

Deem Think (believe)

edifice Building

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CHECK ACCURACY OF FIGURE FACTS



CHECK ACCURACY OF FIGURE, FACTSAND WORDS.

A good check of your data is to have another

person read and comment on the validity of the material.

Figures and Facts:

1. Verify your statistical data.

2. Double-check your totals.

3. Avoid guessing at laws that have an impacton you, the sender, and your messagereceiver.

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The Seven C’s of Effective Communication-9724949948