Effective Communication:

Seven Cs
For transmitting effective written or oral messages, Certain principles must be
followed. These principles are advocated by Francis J. Bergin provide guidelines for
choice of content and style of presentation adapted to the purpose of the receiver of
the message.

They are also called the seven Cs of communication.

They are:

1.Completeness

2.Conciseness

3.Clarity

4.Correctness

5.Consideration

6.Courtesy

7.Concreteness
Completeness

Every communication must be complete and adequate.

Incomplete messages keep the receiver guessing, create
misunderstanding and delay actions.
Every person should, therefore, be provided with all the required
facts and figures.
For example, when factory supervisor instructs workers to produce,
he must specify the exact size, shape, quality and cost of the product.
Any assumptions behind the messages should also be clarified.
While answering a letter, all the questions raised in the letter must be
replied.
Completeness

The message should be complete to bring the results

desired. You should know what information the reader
needs or desires, even though he might not have
specified them.

Try to comprehend what is the objective of the

message received.
COMPREHENDING WHAT IS THE
OBJECTIVE OF THE
COMMUNICATION
Completeness

1. Respond to all the queries asked in the message.

2. Provide all the necessary information.
3. Give something extra, if possible.
Example of Incomplete letter to a new
savings depositor:

Thank you for the confidence you have shown us

by the account you recently opened. All our
facilities are at your disposal, and anytime we can
be of service, please call on us. Our appreciation
is best expressed by our services being of use to
you.
Revised, complete letter to the new
savings depositor:
Thank you for the confidence you have shown in
us by opening the savings account. Our goal is to
make all our services available to you both
helpful and pleasant. Your account offers you the
following benefits:

• YOUR PASSBOOK DEPOSITS EARN 4 %

annual interest compounded every quarter.
ONLINE BANKING facility helps you make online transactions 24 x 7.
Please come to our branch to know more about this just once and you
will be handle all your transactions sitting on your laptop anywhere.

24 hour ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) at a place close to your office

and home. The list of all our ATMs in your city is attached.

You are most welcome to come in whenever we can assist you. Please
consider this association as your final stop for all your savings and
borrowing needs.

Waiting eagerly to meet you in our premises,

Thanking You & with Regards,

Namita Pawan
Asst. Relationship Manager
 Completeness in Communication
(contd.)

Question: Please fax me in return the departures

from Singapore to Hong Kong on 8th

download best ppts on career success

and professional growth at
 Completeness in Communication
(contd.)

Responding to above you have to give complete

information about the flights as to times of the
day, airline flying that route, costs, and departure
and arrival times.
Completeness in Communication
Conciseness

In business communication, you should be brief and be able to

say whatever you have to say in fewest possible words without
sacrificing the other C qualities. Conciseness is desired because
of the following benefits:

1. A concise message saves time and expense for both sender

and receiver.
2. Conciseness contributes to emphasis; by eliminating
unnecessary words, you let important ideas stand out.
3. When combined with a “you-view”, concise messages are
inherently more interesting to recipients as they avoid
unnecessary information.
Conciseness in
Communication
Business executives are dead-busy. They don't have time to go
through unnecessarily lengthy messages. The writer is also a
loser if he writes wordy messages because it involves more
time and money to type and read. Conciseness makes the
message more understandable and comprehensible.

1.Eliminate wordy Expressions.

2.Include only relevant material.
3.Avoided unnecessary Repetition.

Conciseness refers to saying whatever we want in fewest in

possible words without sacrificing the other C qualities. A
concise message saves time and expense for both sender and
receiver. Conciseness refers to elimination of unnecessary
words and inclusion of interesting topics for the recipients.
Examples:
Wordy: Please come here at this time.
Concise: Please come here now.
Wordy: Please return my papers back.
Concise: Please return my papers.
Wordy: Could you repeat that last point again?
Concise: Could you repeat that last point?
Wordy: I will revert back to you shortly.
Concise: I will revert to you shortly.
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.
Wordy: My cousin brother arrived from Hyderabad.
Concise: My cousin arrived from Hyderabad.
Wordy: I passed out of college last year.
Concise: I graduated from college last year.
Wordy: You asked her hand in marriage, no?
Concise: Did you propose to her?
Wordy: Where are you put up?
Concise: Where are you staying?
Bad Example of an email:

Hi Matt, I wanted to touch base with you about the

email marketing campaign we kind of sketched out
last Thursday. I really think that our target market is
definitely going to want to see the
company's philanthropic efforts. I think that could
make a big impact, and it would stay in their minds
longer than a sales pitch. For instance, if we talk
about the company's efforts to become sustainable,
as well as the charity work we're doing in local
schools, then the people that we want to attract are
going to remember our message longer. The impact
will just be greater. What do you think? Jessica
Revised Example of the same email:
Watch what happens when we're concise and take
out the filler words:

Hi Matt,
I wanted to quickly discuss the email marketing
campaign that we analyzed last Thursday. Our target
market will want to know about the company's
philanthropic efforts, especially our goals to become
sustainable and help local schools. This would make
a far greater impact, and it would stay in their minds
longer than a traditional sales pitch.
What do you think?
Jessica
Clarity

1. Clarity means getting your message across so the receiver will

understand what you are trying to convey.
2. You want that person to interpret your words with the same
meaning you have in mind.
3. Accomplishing that goal is difficult because, as you know,
individual experiences are never identical, and words have different
meanings to different persons.

Here are some specific ways to help make your messages clear:

1. Choose short, familiar, conversational words.

2. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
3. Achieve appropriate readability (and listenability).
4. Include examples, illustrations, and other visual aids, when
desirable.
 Clarity in
Communication
Communicating with Clarity
To communicate in a way that conveys your meaning and
demonstrates respect for your listeners, make sure to remind
yourself that you have the right to speak and to be heard.
Avoid apologies and banish blame. To communicate with
clarity, be sure to:
Know your point. Be crystal clear about what you want to
achieve as a result of your communication.
Limit yourself to three main points. Any more than that and
you confuse your listener.
Focus on the individual’s behavior and avoid making
slanderous remarks about his personality when offering
feedback. The purpose of offering clear feedback is to
improve performance, not to make an enemy by decimating
the individual’s confidence.
Clarity demands that the business message
should

1. Use the right level of language

2. Proper punctuation make the writing clear
3. Check accuracy of fact figure & Words

Getting the meaning from your head to the

reader’s head accurately is the purpose of
clarity.
Of course, you know it is not simple. We all
carry around our own unique interpretations,
ideas, thinking, experiences associated with
the words.
 USE THE RIGHT LEVEL OF LANGUAGE
• Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise words
and familiar words. For example, although it is appropriate to use
technical terms and business jargon's in professional institutions but
they need to be avoided when communicating with a person who is
not acquainted with the terminology.
Example:
• Possibly unfamiliar: Assessed valuation;
Familiar to the layperson: Property value for tax purposes.
• Possibly unfamiliar: Charge to your principal.
Familiar to the layperson: Increase the balance of your loan.
• Possibly unfamiliar: Buyouts;
Familiar to the layperson: Purchase by other company.
• Hyper-hydration
Familiar to a layperson: Excessive sweating
 Proper Punctuation
A wrong punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence:

1. The teacher said the student was guilty.

1a. The teacher, said the student, was guilty.
2. The prisoner smiled and laughed twenty minutes after his
head was cut off.
2a. The prisoner smiled and laughed; twenty minutes after, his
head was cut off.
3. Women without her man, is helpless.
3a. Woman, without her, man is helpless.
 CHECK ACCURACY OF FACTS & FIGURES & WORDS

• Bad Example
Hi Vaishali, I wanted to write you a quick note about
Deepak, who's working in your department. He's a nice
person and I'd like to talk to you more about him when you
have time. Best,
Shivendra
What is this email about? Well, we're not sure. First, if there
are multiple Deepaks in Vaishali’s department, she won't
know who Shivendra is talking about.
Next, what is Deepak doing, specifically, that's generated this
email? We don't know that either. It's so vague that Vaishali
will definitely have to write back for more information.
 REVISED EMAIL TO MAKE IT MORE CLEAR

Hi Vaishali, I wanted to write you a quick note

about Deepak Khanna, 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? Best
wishes, Shivendra
• This second message is much clearer, because the reader has the information
he needs to take action.
Correctness

1. The term correctness as applied to business messages means right

level of language and accuracy of facts, figures and words.
2. If the information is not correctly conveyed, the sender will lose
credibility.
3. Transmission of incorrect information to superiors will vitiate
decision making process.
4. Transmission of incorrect information to outsiders will spoil the
public image of the firm.
5. To convey correct messages, grammatical errors should also be
avoided.
6. You should not transmit any message unless you are absolutely
sure of its correctness.
 Correctness in
Communication
 Correctness
• To be correct in communication the following principles should be
borne in mind:

1. Use the correct level of language

2. Include only facts words and figures
3. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
4. Apply the correct word.
5. There should be proper grammar punctuation spelling and
paragraphing

At the core of the correctness is the proper use of grammar, punctuations and
spelling. A message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still
insult or lose a customer.
 Using the correct level of the
language
There are different levels of languages which
.
may be formal, informal, and substandard.
Formal writings are usually associated with
the scholarly writing, legal documents, and
other documents where correct formality is
the style in demand.
• Examples: Formal and Informal Approach
• More Formal: Participate. Less Formal: Join
• More Formal: Interrogate. Less Formal: Question
• More Acceptable and Sub standard
• Substandard: Can’t hardly, More Acceptable: Can hardly
• Substandard: I regardless, More Acceptable: regardless
• Substandard: Myself, Deepak, More acceptable: I am Deepak.
• Substandard: The officer is on leave, he will come after a few days.
• More acceptable: The officer is on leave, he will come in a few days.
• Substandard: Our boarding is full.
• More Acceptable: Our boarding house is full.
• Substandard: The convict knew his mistake in the court.
• More acceptable: The convict realised his mistake in the court.
• Substandard: His desk in on the back side of my desk.
• More acceptable: His deck is at the back of my desk.
 Accuracy of Facts & Figures
• Many a times it is impossible to convey the message
directly from the sender’s head to the receivers head. This
can be done to an extent by checking the accuracy of figures
and facts which includes:
• 1. Verifying your statistical data.
• 2. Double-checking your totals
• 3. Avoid guessing of laws that have an impact on sender or
receiver
• 4. Determine whether a fact has changed over a time.
 Maintaining Acceptable Writing Mechanics

This topic relates to the proper use of words and spellings. But in today’s
world writing have been made easy as spell-checkers and various
kinds of word formatting are available. Example:

Hi Deepak, Thanks so much for meeting me at lunch today! I enjoyed our

conservation, and I'm looking forward to moving ahead on our project. I'm sure
that the two-weak deadline won't be an issue. Thanks again, and I'll speak to you
soon! Best, Shivendra
If you read that example fast, then you might not have caught any
errors. But on closer inspection, you'll find two. The first error is that
the writer accidentally typed conservation instead of conversation.
This common error can happen when you're typing too fast. The other
error is using weak instead of week. Again, spell checkers won't catch
word errors like this, which is why it's so important to proof read
everything!
 Applying the Correct word
Accept-Except: Here accept means to receive and except means to omit.
Biannually-Biennially: Biannually means 2 times a year and biennially
mean every 2 years.
Adjacent: Quite near; Adjoining: Attached.
Careful: Particular in all matters; Cautious: Guarded
Cite: to quote; Site: Exact Location
Contemptible: What is to be hated; Contemptuous: One who hates
Discreet: Tactful, diplomatic; Discrete: Distinct
Deprecate: To criticise; Depreciate: To come down in Value
Exhausting: Tiring; Exhaustive: Comprehensive
Hoard: To illegally amass; Horde: A pack of
Flair: Talent; Flare: Sudden outburst
Facilitate: To make easier; Felicitate: To praise
Fatal: Leading to death; Fateful: Impending disaster
 Applying the Correct word
Ingenuous: Honest; Ingenious: Talented
Flaunt: To show off; Flout: To defy
Luxuriant: Plenty; Luxurious: Lavish
Moral: Inherent goodness of heart; Morale: Created by a sense of
morality
Ordinance: Order, Decree; Ordnance: Army’s Weaponry
Official: Anything issued by the Authority; Officious: Bossy, Interfering
Sensual: Voluptuous; Sensuous: Pertaining to the senses
Urban: Pertaining to City; Urbane: Simple
Eatable: Food Item; Edible: Fit to be eaten
Definite: Fixed; Definitive: Conclusive
Complement: To fulfill the quota; Compliment: To express regards
Canvas: Coarse cloth used for painting; Canvass: To solicit support
Affluent: Rich; Effluent: Discharge; Adept: Familiar; Adopt: To Own
Consideration

1. Consideration means that you prepare every message with the

recipient in mind and try to put yourself in his or her place.
2. Try to visualize your readers (or listeners)—with their desires,
problems, circumstances, emotions, and probable reactions to your
request.
3. Then handle the matter from their point of view
4. This thoughtful consideration is also called "you-attitude,"
empathy, the human touch, and understanding of human nature. (It
does not mean, however, that you should overlook the needs of your
organization.)
Consideration in Communication
Consideration

1. Consideration underlies the other six C's of good business

communication
2. You adapt your language and message content to your receiver's
needs when you make your message complete, concise, concrete, clear,
courteous, and correct.

However, in four specific ways you can indicate you are considerate:

• Focus on "you" instead of "I" and "we."

• Show reader benefit or interest in reader.
• Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
• Apply integrity and ethic
 Applying YOU instead of I or WE
• Example
We-attitude
• I am delighted to announce you that we will be
extending our hours to make shopping more
convenient.
You-attitude:
• You will be able to shop in evenings with the hours
extended now till 10 pm.
 EMPHASISE POSITIVE PLEASANT FACTS
• This means stressing what can be done instead of what cannot be
done, and focusing onwards your recipient can consider favorably.
• Examples : Situation 1:
• Unpleasant: We don’t refund if the returned item is soiled or
unsalable.
• Pleasant: We refund when the returned item is clean and resalable.
• Situation 2:
• Unpleasant: When you travel on company expense, you will not
receive approval for first class air fare.
• Pleasant: When you travel on company expense, your approved fare
is for economy class.
• Situation 3:
• Unpleasant: 65% of the class could not get either A or B grade.
• Pleasant: 35% of the Class made it to either B grade or more, with
15% making it to the top A Grade.
Courtesy

• Courteous messages help to strengthen present business

friendships, as well as make new friends.
• Courtesy stems from sincere you-attitude.
• It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of "please's"
and "thank-you'd."

To be courteous, considerate communicators should

follow these suggestions regarding tone of the

communications.

• Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative.

• Omit expressions that irritate, hurt, or belittle.
• Grant and apologize good-naturedly.
Courtesy in Communication
 BEING SINCERELY TACTFUL, THOUGHTFUL
AND APPRECIATIVE
• Tact : A few people are intentionally waiting for someone
to argue, so being tactful avoids any cause of discourtesy by
avoiding any negative feedback from the sender.
Example:“Clearly, you did not read my latest fax” can be
written as “Sometimes my wordings are not precise; let me
try again.”
• Thoughtfulness and Appreciation
• It means bringing a thought in the entire conversation and
appreciating the reply / action from the other party.
Example: “ Madam Chanda Kochhar, it was so nice of you
to take time off from your busy schedule and come to visit
us here in the North East.”
 USE EXPRESSIONS SHOWING RESPECT
John, I wanted to let you know that I don't appreciate how your team
always monopolizes the discussion at our weekly meetings. I have a
lot of projects, and I really need time to get my team's progress
discussed as well. So far, thanks to your department, I haven't been
able to do that. Can you make sure they make time for me and my
team next week? Thanks, Phillips

Hi John, I wanted to write you a quick note to ask a favor. During our
weekly meetings, your team does an excellent job of highlighting their
progress. But this uses some of the time available for my team to
highlight theirs. I'd really appreciate it if you could give my team a
little extra time each week to fully cover their progress reports.
Thanks so much, and please let me know if there's anything I can do for
you! Best, Phillips
 Learn to Apologise
Dear Phillips,
I have just received your comment on the weekly
meetings and I apologise if you have felt that my
team is dominating them. It is not intentional. It is
just that my Sales guys are irrepressible and have so
much to tell every week after their tours and
customer calls.
I realise that the HR department contributes a
considerable amount to the company’s success and
we need to hear their story out. I will ensure that we
do not encroach on your time in future. Please
accept my apologies once again. Regards, John
Concreteness

• Communicating concretely means being specific,

definite, and vivid rather than vague and general.
• The following guidelines should help you
compose concrete, convincing messages:

• Use specific facts and figures.

• Put action in your verbs.
• Choose vivid, image-building words.
Concreteness in Communication
 USING SPECIFIC FACTS AND
FIGURES
• General, Indefinite: She’s a brain;
• Concrete, Precise: Her percentage have
increased from 84% in S.Sc to 88% in H.Sc.
• General, Indefinite: Eastern Europe is
making progress in obtaining investments;
• Concrete, Precise: In 1990, investments in
Eastern Europe were about US $30 million;
today that figure has increased by 12%.
 PUT ACTION IN YOUR VERBS
• “The President has decided” is more specific then “A
decision has been made”.
• “You will note” is both personal and specific than “It
will be noted.”
• “ The start of the movement towards our residences
might be considered.” Boring; “Let’s go home!”
• This news bring will bring tears of joy in your eyes.
You are the new MD of the Bank!” instead of “
“After much deliberation of the Selection committee
it has been decided that the current MD should be
asked to resign. As for the new occupant of the top
floor, corner office, it is Ms Sharma of the Treasury.”
 Use Vivid, Image Building Words
• His work in group was exemplary and action
oriented.
• He could be called the “The spark plug of the
group”
• The results are very good this year and are expected
to be very good next year.
• The results this year have been excellent and we
expect them to touch the mountain in the coming
year.
• Her meal at dinner time is a small bowl of rice.
• Her only meal in the entire day is half a bowl of rice.
The End is
Near!
The ‘END’