Lecture 2

7Cs of Communication
The great 7 Cs – What are they?
1. Completeness
2. Conciseness
3. Consideration
4. Concreteness
5. Clarity
6. Courtesy
7. Correctness
 1. Completeness
• Provide all necessary Information
• Answer all Questions asked
• Give something extra, when desirable
• Remember the 5 W’s; Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• Answer all questions; stated and implied
• Bad example:
• Hi all,
• Let us meet tomorrow to discuss the product launch event. Please be there on time.
• Thanks
Chris
• Good example:
• The best way to have written this email is:
• Hi all,
• Let us meet tomorrow at 11 am at Conference room 3 to discuss the product launch event. We will have to decide the
keynote speakers and complete the event invite draft tomorrow. Please be there on time.
• Thanks
Chris
2. Conciseness
• Eliminate Wordy Expressions
• Include only relevant material
• Avoid Unnecessary Repetition
• Use one word in place of phrases, one sentence in place of two
• Read out loud to “Listen” for wordiness
• Omit outdated expressions
• Ask yourself what material is really relevant
• Look for unnecessary repetition and delete it
• Bad example:
• Hi Suzanne,
• I think we need to talk about the CSR campaign, I mean the one which we need to do as a
quarterly exercise. I think it is a great way of enhancing our brand image. Basically, it would
just be a visit to an orphanage but we can sort of do other things too. For instance, we could
take the kids out for a short trip to a nearby park or zoo. Let us sit and talk tomorrow.
• Regards
Jennifer
• The mail is full of fillers and extended phrases wherein she could have finished the email in
just two sentences, such as the one below.
• Good example:
• Hi Suzanne,
• I need to discuss the quarterly CSR campaign with you. Let us take the kids out this time to a
nearby park or zoo instead of just visiting them. This will help enhance our brand image. We’ll
talk in detail tomorrow.
• Regards
Jennifer
3. Consideration
• Focus on “You” instead of “I” or “We”
• Show audience interest or benefit in the receiver
• Emphasize positive Pleasant facts
• See your material from reader’s point of view
• Readers like to see benefits. Be sure benefits are a prominent part of
the message
• Consciously use positive words, readers will react more faborably
• Imagine that you are unable to pay a promised bonus. How do you
communicate this?
• “We are unable to pay bonuses now. The business is awaiting
payment from a major client. Once this payment is received, we can
consider paying contractual bonuses as soon as is practicable.”
• This could be better conveyed as follows:
• “Unfortunately, we are not presently in the position to pay your
bonus. However, as soon as our major client has settled their account,
we will pay any bonuses owed to you. We’re sorry about this delay,
but are sure you understand our need for positive cash flow and the
long-term benefits this will deliver to you.”
4. Concreteness
• Use specific facts and figures
• Put action in your verbs; use Active voice not Passive
• Choose vivid, image-building words but in business writing use them
sparingly
• Bad example:

• “Hilltop Resort is the best resort. Do come to us on your next holiday”

• This is a vague ad message. It is made to sound like just another resort advertisement among
a hundred others. The audience will never remember this ad message. There are no
concrete details to take away from this message.

• Good example:

• “Hilltop Resort is the jewel of the western hills. Take a break from your work. Escape from
life’s chaos and stress. Relax and rejuvenate yourself at Hilltop. Go back fresh and
energized!”

• This message gives you visualizing details. The reader can actually imagine being in a
beautiful resort breathing fresh air and swimming in a pool instead of slogging away at his or
her office. That is a concrete message conveyed to the audience.
5. Clarity
• Choose precise, concrete and familiar words
• Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
• Sentence; 17-20 Words
• Select words that have high sense of appropriateness for the reader
• Opt for the familiar word, the word that is not pretentious
• Insert no more than one idea into a sentence
• Arrange words such that main idea appears early in the sentence
• Instead of saying, “We have considered the consequences of the existing policy
on the hiring strategies we employ with our human resources department and
updated them accordingly,” say, “We have updated our hiring policy.
6. Courtesy
• Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative
• Use expressions that show respect
• Choose nondiscriminatory expressions
• Ask yourself; does the communication have a sincere “you-attitude”
• Be aware of discriminations based on gender, race, age, color, creed,
ethnic origins, religious sects
7. Correctness
• Use the right level of language
• Check and double check accuracy of figures, facts and words
• Maintain Acceptable writing mechanics; use grammar checks and
spell checks
• Realize that informal language is most used in business
communication
• Dear David,

• Further to our conservation today, I am attaching the plan for the first stage of
the project. Hope the one weak deadline is okay with you and your team.

• Regards
• Sally

• There were two glaring spelling errors in this e-mail. ‘Conversation’ was spelled
‘conservation’ and ‘week’ was spelled ‘weak’. Though these are minor errors,
they could gravely impact the credibility of your professionalism and the brand
image of the organization you represent. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to
check all your spellings and prefixes before you send an email, especially if you
are sending it to a client or a vendor outside of your company.