Qualities of a Good Business Communication:

Clear and Complete Message

Introduction: Lord Chesterfield, English

Diplomat and writer, in Letters to his son,
classic eighteenth- century literature, wrote:
“The first thing necessary in writing letters
of business is extreme clearness….every
paragraph should be so clear that the
dullest fellow in the world may not be able
to mistake it, nor obliged to read it twice in
order to understand it.”
• Example of an unclear letter: Once, a young lady – we will call her
Ann – decided to accept her sister’s invitation to spend a vacation in
California.
• Although Ann had written her sister planning to say when her train
would get in, there was no one to meet her when she arrived.
• After waiting a few minutes, she called her sister’s home.
• “Ann”, she heard, “I am so glad you called.
• I will be right down.
• I have your letter, and I know you meant to say when you would
arrive.
• But you didn’t.
• I will bring the letter to show you.”
• Same situation happens in business as well.
• Studies found that 25% of business letters were so
unclear that readers could not understand them.
• 15% were written to clarify previously written letters.
• 10% were so tactless that they got no answer or
brought complaints.
• These cause brain drain in communication.
• To eliminate brain drain, letters must be clear and
complete.
Clarity and completeness of letters will be discussed in
line with different types of business letters.

• They are:
• 1. The nonletter: no letter to be written
• 2. The “A” letter: routine information letter or
“Yes” letter
• 3. The “B” letter: “no” letter
• 4. The “C” letter: sales letter or the persuasive
request
 The nonletter
• It is a situation where no letter is written, but
message is communicated.
• George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans),
nineteenth century English novelist, once
wrote, “Blessed is the man who having
nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy
evidence of the fact.”
• Businesses and industries are struggling to
reduce today’s avalanches of unnecessary
paperwork.
• An unwarranted amount of money goes for
time spent preparing, composing, typing, and
filing such correspondence.
• Storage costs also become unreasonable.
• Business needs to eliminate unnecessary
correspondence.
• Preparing letter is more costly than most
people realize.
• Costs entail not only stationery and postage,
but also a considerable expenditure of time
both the originator and secretary or typist,
plus other general office expenses.
• On an average $10 is spent preparing and
sending a letter.
• Telephone, on the other hand is much
cheaper.
• As most of the management’s time is spent
reading, speaking, and listening, unnecessary
messages are costly.
• Establishing a category of nonletters
emphasizes the fact that there are letters you
don’t have to write and shouldn’t.
The “A” type of letter – The Routine Information
Letter or the “Yes” Letter
• It is a letter or memorandum that asks for or gives
routine information or good news.
• Of “A”, “B”, or “C” letters, this first one, the routine
information letter, is the easiest to write.
• Most business communications fall into this category.
• The chief caution here is to follow notes to be sure that
all necessary information is included.
• The pattern of “A” type of letter suggests that the main
message is stated at the beginning of the letter.
• Any additional information simply follows in order of
importance.
The “A” letter might be diagramed as shown in
the figure
 The “B” Letter – The “No” or Bad
News Letter
• Such letter carries a disappointing or bad news message, such as a
refusal.
• Business letters should carry the good will of the sender.
• Therefore, it takes more care to plan a negative letter, in the hope
that it will be accepted by the reader without offense.
• Care should be taken so that the letter becomes acceptable to the
reader without offense.
• Generally, the best plan for this letter, is to
• (a) start with an idea which the reader will agree in order to put the
reader in a frame of mind to accept the negative message;
• (b) give the negative message quickly and clearly; and
• (c) end on a pleasant note.
The “B” letter might be diagramed as shown in
the figure
 The “C” Letter – The Sales Letter or the
Persuasive Request
• Much business revolves around the effective
writing of the “C” letter, the sales letter or the
persuasive request.
• The sales – type letter is not always designed to
sell a product or service.
• Sometimes it is planned more as a persuasive
request, to sell or promote an idea.
• Even the job application letter with a resume can
be considered a type of sales letter, since it is
written to sell the applicant to the potential
employer.
The “C” letter might be diagramed as shown in
the figure
• The star at the top of the diagram represents
the attention getter of the sales letter.
• To get attention of the reader, it is generally
necessary to have some distinguishing feature
at the beginning of the message to prevent
this letter from becoming lost among the rest
of the incoming mail or being filed in the trash
can.
• Under the star, the circle resting on each other
represent the ideas planned to build up
reader’s interest in doing what the letter asks
and also to build up desire to follow through.
• The last feature of this outline is a hook – like
a fishhook – planned to grab the reader and
move him/her to the desired action.
 Guidelines to be followed to make the letter
clear and complete

• 1. Planning the letter:

• A. Make Notes or Outline: Communications benefit from
notes or outlines.
• In case of replying a letter, read it and underline the key
areas and note those on the border.
• If not replying, make a brief list of points.
• A memo pad of distinctive color may be used.
• The next step is to identify by number the order the points
should follow.
• Quick, well planned, clear, and concise letters become
automatic if notes or outlines are made.
• B. Arrange ideas in logical order.
• C. Make Message Clear: unclear message may
require writing of another letter.
• Vague or murky messages lead to many costly
consequences.
• 2. Writing the Letter:
• A. Check information for accuracy: Gather all
necessary information and check their accuracy.
• If something you want to say is doubtful, do not
report it; or report it as being doubtful and
explain why you have some question.
• “Suspect everything.
• If your mother tells you she loves you, check it
out.”
• B. Speak directly to the reader: in business,
you should try to write as if you are sitting
across from the other person speaking directly
to that person.
• If you are writing to more than one person,
pretend you are speaking to just one of them.
• This one-to-one communication process is a
strong force to help make your writing clear.
• C. Take care of words, sentences, and paragraphs:
short words are easier to understand than long words.
• Try to eliminate gobbledygook expression.
• Gobbledygook is talk or writing, that is pompous
(snobbish) , involved, and full of jargons and long
words.
• Example: “Due to metabolic inability to cope with a
recent shift change, I did not respond to external
stimuli, thereby remaining in a comatose condition” –
is a gobbledygook expression.
• It should be “I overslept”.
 How gobbledygook can be
avoided?
• To avoid gobbledygook, one should improve his/her
vocabulary.
• It can be done through using a good business
dictionary.
• Reading and checking it for meaning, pronunciation,
and spelling.
• Alternatively, a thesaurus can be used.
• A thesaurus is a reference book containing word
synonyms and antonyms.
• A thesaurus gives you a wide choice of words with
similar meanings so you can select the best word for
your purpose.
• Sentences: there is no rule about the best length of
sentence.
• Sentences containing 15-20 words are better.
• Shorter sentences are clear and better.
• Active form of sentences are better than passive form.

• Paragraphs: there is no rule about the best length of

paragraphs.
• But, you should make sure that one paragraph contains
one point.
• Shorter paragraphs are easy to read.
• Beginning paragraph should be short and inviting.
• D. Use of Transition devices: transition words tie ideas
together or make changes smooth.
• They aid continuity and clarity with and between sentences
and paragraphs.
• They are like couplings that make connections between
coaches.
• Some of the commonly used transition devices are:
• i. repetition of key words and phrases, and
• ii. Linking words and phrases such as, now, then, while,
later, meantime, furthermore, consequently, accordingly, in
view of, because, thus, conversely, however, on the other
hand, despite, provided, if, even though, unless, as a result
etc.
• E. Grammar: ability to use good grammar/English
helps promotion.
• Those who are weak in English cannot follow
instructions properly.
• They also cannot give good order.
• Writing in correct English will help you to earn
respect of others.
• The improper use of grammar, including
punctuation and spelling, is one of the biggest
headaches in today’s business world.
• F. Punctuation: some people may think that
punctuation is scattered around a page only to
make it look better.
• Others may even think that the main use of
studying punctuation is to keep English teachers
employed.
• But actually, punctuation is used only to make
meaning clearer.
• Example: “ Woman without her man is a savage.”
– improper use of punctuation.
• “ Woman! Without her, man is a savage”. –
proper use of punctuation.
• G. Spelling: correct spelling makes meaning
clearer and specific.
• If there are spelling mistakes, receiver may think
that the sender is ignorant, uneducated, lazy and
careless. Example:
• H. Summarizing and Listing: It saves time of the
reader.
• Saves time and money of the writer.
• It helps reader understand the message correctly.