12 C’s OF BUSINESS

1
WRITING
2 INTRODUCTION

 Business writing refers to memorandums, reports, proposals, emails,

and other forms of writing used in organizations to communicate
with internal and external audiences.
 Business writing has three purposes; to persuade to action, to issue a
directive and to provide a report or response.
3 THE 12 C’s PRINCIPLE

 When writing business letters, it is important to keep the following

points in mind ; completeness, consideration, clarity, courtesy,
credibility, consistency, correctness, concreteness, conciseness,
context, content and coherence.
4 COMPLETENESS
 A business message is complete when it contains all the
information the reader or listener needs for the reaction to be
positive. In business writing, the following directives should be
met:
• Provision of all the necessary information by answering the five
Ws: Who, what when, where and why.
• Clarifying all the points that may seem questionable by the
reader.
• Provision of additional information that may just be of interest
to the reader.
 An incomplete business message is one which is questionable by
the reader and creates difficulty in responding.
5 CONCISENESS

 Conciseness means to be brief but inclusive. Conciseness in

business writing involves stating an idea in the fewest words
possible, avoiding unnecessary repetition of words.
 Conciseness involves writing without compromising on other C’s.
Conciseness shows the writer value of the time of their reader.
6 CLARITY

 The purpose of clarity is to provide the reader with a clear

understanding of the letter’s purpose.
 The writing should be such that the readers understanding should be
equal or familiar to that of the writer. There should be construction
of effective sentences and paragraphs that promote unity of ideas
and sequencing.
 To achieve clarity in your writing, you need to choose short,
familiar and conversational words. And the writing should contain
illustrations or visual aids (i.e. graphs, tables , pictures) that should
attract the attention of the reader and clarify other points.
7 CONSIDERATION

 In business writing the writer has to consider the reader’s feelings

and point of view. The letter should contain more information
concerning the reader than the writer.
 This involves the use of “ you attitude”. This implies that the reader
should be the focus of communication instead of focusing on
oneself.
 Show the benefits to the audience or Interest in the receiver while
using pleasant and favourable words that will make the reader react
favourably.
8 COURTESY

 Courtesy involves being aware not only of others perspective but

also about their feelings.
 Business letters should show respect to the reader and should
demonstrate the writer’s personal respect for the reader and the
company he works for.
 Courtesy in business writing, involves writing in sincerely tactful,
thoughtful, and appreciative language. Use expressions that show
respect and not discriminatory hurtful expressions.
 Courtesy is reflective in nature as it helps your audience
9 CONCRETENESS

 Concreteness refers to using vivid wording within the letter that

appeals to the reader’s senses. If a business letter is dull, the reader
may skim through, missing important points. It prefers use of
denotative words compared to connotative
 A business letter can be concrete , if the following directives:
 Use of specific facts and figures, It is necessary to be precise and
concrete in business communication.
 Put active verbs, Verbs can activate other words and help make your
sentences alive, more vigorous
 Choose words may create an image in the reader’s head
10 CONSISTENCY

 This is following a certain logic and avoiding contradiction by

having a constant standard and opinion. Inconsistency distracts
readers, interrupting their cognitive(brain) process.
 Consistency may involve sticking to simple and straight forward
language, use of proper grammar, format of writing, capitalization
being specific.,
 Consistency in business writing helps in navigating through a
document,
11 CORRECTNESS

 The core of correctness in business writing implies use of proper

grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
 Correctness denotes review of facts, figures and words, maintain
acceptable writing mechanics, choose non-discriminatory language,
and use of constant grammatical form of language. Having other
people examine the material written helps improve correctness.
 Formal language is mainly used in business communication apply
the principles of accepted mechanics to your writing.
12 CREDIBILITY

 This comprises the objective and subjective components of the

believability of a source or message. Credibility in business writing
is all about convincing your audience to trust and respect you
enough for them to take action.
 It involves knowing your audience , backing up claims, citing
sources of various information about your subject of discussion,
control use of hyperbole,
 Paying attention to information, knowing how the information was
collected and whether the information was biased is part if being
credible,
13 CONTEXT

 Context are circumstances in which something happens or in which

something is to be considered.
 Providing a context helps to create a common understanding to an
issue which helps to overcome difference in perception. Context is
provided in the introduction of a document.
 It contributes significantly to the meaning of utterance(what is
written or said)
14 CONTENT
 Content refers to subject matter or things to be written about. It
involves on what to include in the communication and what should
be left out.
 Content come from a variety of sources such as publication
materials, office files, interviews etc. The information obtained from
the various sources must be appropriate and interesting for the
audience and purpose.
 Content is also shaped by tone. When the tone matches the content,
the audience will be more engaged, and you will build a stronger
relationship with your readers.
 Content include statistics, facts, anecdotes, testimonies, and
observations.
15 COHERENCE

 Coherence in business writing involves being logical and easy to read. It

means hanging together so that the meaning is clear.
• Related ideas and details should be close to each other.
• Statements must flow logically. (i.e. use of pronouns)
• Avoid misplaced modifiers.
• Sentences and paragraphs must properly connect.(i.e. use of
repetitions and translational expressions)
 Coherence makes a text easy to read and understand. It is all about
paragraph unity and sentence cohension.