Principles of Effective Communication

Prof. Anita Tripathy Lal

FORE School of Management, New Delhi
anita@fsm.ac.in/anitalal@yahoo.com
M# 09810169890

1. Completeness
a. Provide all Necessary Information
( Five Ws- What? Why? When? Where?
Who/Whom? )
b. Answer all questions asked
c. Give something extra, when desirable

2. Conciseness

a. Eliminate wordy expressions

Wordy: At this time. Concise: Now
Wordy: Due to the fact that. Concise: Because
b. Omit trite, unnecessary expressions
Wordy: Please be advised that your admission statement was
received
Concise: Your admission statement has been received
Wordy: Allow me to say how helpful your response was
Concise: Your last response was helpful
c. Limit use of passive voice
Wordy: The reports are to be submitted by employees prior
to 5:00pm, at which time they will be received by Mr.
Jones
Concise: Please submit your reports to Mr. Jones by 5:00pm

Cont
3.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

4.Avoid Unnecessary Repetition:

Jawaharlal Nehru University- JNU
North American Free Trade Agreement- NAFTA

3.Consideration
a. Focus on you instead of I or we
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
Insensitive: You failed to enclose your check in the
envelop
Considerate: The check was not enclosed ( passive
voice)
Considerate: The envelope we received did not have
a check in it. ( depersonalized)

Cont..
b. Show audience benefit or interest
in the receiver
Example: You will be glad to know that we have
a walk-up window open 7-9am and 3-8pm
every weekday.
Modified: You can take care of your banking
needs at our new walk-up window. It is open
with a capable teller to serve you 7-9am and
3-8pm, Monday through Friday.

Contc. Emphasize positive pleasant

facts
Negative-Unpleasant

Positive- Pleasant

1. As soon as your
signature card reaches
us, we will gladly open
an.
2.We do not refund if the 2.We refund when the
returned item is soiled
returned item is clean
and unsalable
and resalable.
3.When you travel on
3.When you travel on
company expense, you
company expense, your
will not receive approval
approved fare is for
for first class fare.
tourist class.
1.It is impossible to open
an account for you
today.

4. Concreteness
a. Use specific facts and figures
b. Put action in your verbs
c. Choose vivid, image-building words

a. Use specific facts and figures

Vauge , General, Indefinite
1. Student GMAT scores are
higher.
1. Eastern Europe is making
progress in obtaining invest
-ments

Concrete, Precise
1. In 1996 the GMAT scores
averaged 600; by 1997
they had risen to 610.
2. In 1990 investments in
Eastern Europe were about
US $ 30 million today that
figure has increased by
12%.

b. Put Action in your verbs

Passive( Subject receives the
action)

Active( Subject performs the

action

1. The tests were

administered by the
Professors.
2. Grades of students will be
sent to you by the school.

1. Professors administered
the tests.
2. The school will send
students their grades.

c. Choose vivid, image-building words

Bland / Dull Image
1. This is a long letter.

2. Her work in groups was

exemplary.

More vivid/Figurative Image

1. This letter is three times as
long as you said it would
be.
2. She could be called the
spark plug of the group.

5.Clarity
a. Choose precise, concrete and familiar words
About( Circa). After ( Subsequent).
Home ( domicile)
b. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
( Average sentence length between 17 and 20)
Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure you
can help us.
Clear: Being an excellent lawyer, you can surely
help us.
Clearer: As you are an excellent lawyer, I am sure
you can help us.

Example-Clarity

A plumber wrote to the National Bureau of

Standards to tell them hydrochloric acid is good
for cleansing clogged drains.
In reply to the plumbers message, a technical
specialist of the bureau wrote:
The efficacy of HCl acid is indisputable, but the
corrosive residue is incompatible with metallic
permanence.
The plumber then wrote to thank the bureau for
agreeing with him-when of course, the bureau was
actually disagreeing with him. Sensing the
plumber did not understand, another member
tried to set the man straight by writing:

Cont.
We cannot assume responsibility for the
production of toxic and noxious residue with
HCl acid and suggest you use an alternative
procedure.
Again the plumber thanked the bureau. Then in
desperation, the department manager wrote:
Dont use hydrochloric acid. It eats hell out of
the pipes.

6. Courtesy
a. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful &
appreciative
b. Use expressions that show respect
c. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions
Chairman ( Chairperson); man-made
(manufactured); Workers ( workforce)

a. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful &

appreciative
Tactless, Blunt
1.Stupid letter; I cant
understand any of it .
2. Clearly , you did not read my
text.

More Tactful
1. It is my understanding.

2. Sometimes my wording is
not precise; let me try it
again.

7. Correctness
a. Use the right level of language
Less Formal ( Participate, Ascertain) instead of More
Formal (Join, Find out)
b. Check accuracy of figures, facts and words
( a/ an; accept/ except; anxious/ eager: between/
among)
c. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
(appearance business messages, grammar& spell
checks , editing, font size etc.,)