7 C’S OF COMMUNICATION

7 C’S OF COMMUNICATION
The 7 C's of communication also known as the seven principles of
communication, is a checklist that helps to improve the
professional communication skills and increases the chance that the
message will be understood in exactly the same way as it was
intended.
1.Completeness

The message must be complete. The sender should convey all the facts
required by the audience. The sender of the message must take into
consideration the receiver, context and topic and should communicate
all the facts and figures related to the message required for the
complete understanding of the receiver.
In order to make your message complete, you must to answer/mention
the five W's.
Who What
Where Why
When

See this example,

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the meeting we're having
tomorrow!
See you then.
The information given is incomplete for obvious reasons.
The five question method is useful when you write requests,
announcements, or other informative messages. For instance, to order
(request), make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be
sent. By adding these, the above message takes a more complete form.

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow's meeting on the new
telecommuting policies. The meeting will be at 10:00 a.m. in the second-
level conference room. Please let me know if you can't attend.
2- Conciseness
The message must be conveyed in the least possible or fewest words.
Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication. The message
should be to the point, precise and it should highlight and prominent
the essential and main features of the information.
A concise message is both time-saving as well as cost-saving which
makes it more appealing and comprehensible (understandable) to the
audience due to its limited usage of words and to the point nature.
For achieving the conciseness you have to consider the following.

i- Avoid Wordy Expression

For example instead of using “at this time” you can just use only a
concise word:- NOW , Always try to use “ To the point Approach”.
ii- Include only relevant information
Always try to provide only relevant information to the receiver of the
message.
Stick to the purpose of message
Avoid irrelevant words and information
Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc.
Get straight to the important point concisely

iii- Avoid un-necessary repetition

Some times repetition is necessary for focusing some special issue. But
the excess of repetition makes the message wordy and boring. That’s
why try to avoid un-necessary repetition.
Use pronouns or initials/short forms once you have mentioned the full
name e.g. instead of world trade organization use WTO or you can use IT
for Information Technology.(keeping in views that receiver knows about
these terms)
See this example
Will you please send us in the near future, during the month of June
would be fine, and even July if you are pressed for orders in June, 45
volumes of introduction to business communication by parcel post or
since the parcel maybe heavy by carrier van.
By following the above mentioned techniques, the message takes
the form as

‘’Please send 45 volumes of introduction to business

communication by carrier van as to reach before July 31.’’
3- Consideration

Consideration means to keep receiver’s interest/intention in mind while

preparing the message. It is very important in effective communication
while sending a message you should always keep in mind your target
group by putting yourself in receiver’s place . Consideration is keeping in
mind the desires, problems, circumstances, background, emotions and
reactions of the readers of your message.
Ways of showing consideration:
a) Focus on you instead of I and We when the news is good and we
when the news is bad.
b) Show audience or receiver benefited or interested in the message.
b) Stress on positive elements and pleasant facts.

See this example

I am delighted to announce that we have extended our shopping hours to
make shopping more convenient for our customers.
Readers react more positively when benefits are shown to them. Always
try to address his/her need and want.
Always show/write to reader that what has been done for them as they
are concerned and cared about. e.g.,

“You will be able to shop in the evening with the extended hours.”

Now consider bad news

You failed to send the amount.
Try saying it like that,
We’re sorry to inform you that we have failed to receive the
amount.
Or the amount was not received.
4- Concreteness

It means that message should be specific, definite and vivid rather vague
and general. Misunderstanding of words creates problems for both parties
(sender and receiver). When you talk to the receiver, always use facts and
figures instead of generic or irrelevant information.
The following guidelines help to achieve the Concreteness in message.

i- use specific facts and figures

ii-choose image building words

Bad ex: Pakistan’s steel mill produced huge amount of steel.

Good Ex: Pakistan’s steel mill produced ten thousand tones of
steel this year.
5- Clarity

 Accuracy is the purpose of clarity. In effective communication the

message should be very much clear. So that reader can understand it
easily. You can achieve clarity by following these steps,
i- If you have a choice between long words and shorter one, always use
shorter one.
Ii- Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
Iii- Always choose familiar and easy words.

See this example

After planting a large number of plants the deer came into the botanist's
farm and crushed them.
You can make the message more clear by re-arranging the sequence of
information in the sentence, e.g.,

After our botanist had planted ten thousand berry plants, the deer came
into his farm and crushed them.
6- Courtesy
Courtesy is showing good manner to your receiver.  Implication of
socially accepted manners like ‘’please’’, ‘’sorry’’ and ‘’thank you’’ is a
form of courtesy that grows out respect and concern for others.
Courteous communication generate a special tone in their writing
and speaking. Consider the following.

Be tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.

Omit expressions that irritate or disrespect the audience.
Use expressions that show respect for the others.
Don't use blunt expressions.

See this Example: I cannot agree with your proposal.

Good Example: I am sorry, the proposal doesn’t suit me.

Another Ex : You have failed to understand my proposal.

Good Ex: I am sorry, the point was not clear. I'll try again.
7- Correctness

Correctness is proper use of grammar, punctuations and spellings. Also

the concept of correctness implies absolute accuracy and information
provided in the message.
Principles of correctness
- Use the right level of language according to specific situations.
- Check and double check the accuracy of words used, grammatical
structures, spellings, punctuation.
- If numeric information is being stated, check the accuracy of figures,
facts and digits.
- Verify your statistical data and double-check your totals.
Hi Daniel,
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,
Jack Miller
If you read that example fast, then you might not have caught
any errors. But on closer inspection, you'll find some. Can you
see them?

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 proofread everything!