7cs of communication

 Completeness
 Conciseness
 Consideration
 Concreteness
 Clarity
 Courtesy
 Correctness
 Completeness:
Completeness - The communication must be complete. It should
convey all facts required by the audience. The sender of the
message must take into consideration the receiver’s mind set
and convey the message accordingly. A complete
communication has following features: Complete communication
develops and enhances reputation of an organization.
Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing
and no additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if
the communication is complete.
A complete communication always gives additional information
wherever required. It leaves no questions in the mind of
receiver.
Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the
audience/readers/receivers of message as they get all desired
and crucial information.
It persuades the audience.
 Completeness prevents the need for further communication,
amending, elaborating and expounding (explaining) the first
one and thus saves time and resource.
 Examine the following pairs of sentences where the second is
an improvement over the first one in being complete:
 1. I did not receive any response for the complaint I lodged:
 I made a complaint to the Branch Manager on June 23, 2003
on the inordinate delay at the cash counter. Can I get a
response?
 2. I want a room booked in your hotel for three days in the
first week of the month of July:
 I will be arriving on July 3rd morning by Pandora Express. I
want a single room accommodation for three days from 3rd
morning. I want a room with attached toilet, running hot
water facility and telephone (if available). Kindly do the
booking in my name.
 Example of Usage of Completeness for Effective Communication:
Incomplete letter to a new savings depositor:
Thank you for the confidence you have shown us by the account you recently opened. All our
facilities are at your disposal, and anytime we can be of service, please call on us. Our
appreciation is best expressed by our service being of to you.
Revised, complete letter to the new savings depositor:
Thank you for the confidence you have shown in us by opening the savings account. Our goal is
to make all our services available to you both helpful and pleasant.
Your account offers you the following benefits:

 YOUR PASSBOOK DEPOSITS EARN 7% interest compounded half-yearly

 BETTER-THEN-CHECKING facility helps you make online transactions and even 24 hour ATM
(Automatic Teller Machine)
 You are most welcome to come in whenever we can assist you. Please consider this association
as your financial head-quarters for your savings and borrowing needs.
Waiting eagerly to see you in our premises
 Provide all necessary information
 Answer the five W’s; who, what, when where, why and
one H; how.

 Answer all questions asked

 Look for questions that might be under the lines, buried
within a paragraph. Locate them and answer them.

 Give something extra, when desirable

 Use your judgment in offering extra material if the sender’s
message is incomplete.
 conciseness
 Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating what
you want to convey in least possible words without
forgoing the other C’s of communication. Conciseness is a
necessity for effective communication. Concise
communication has following features:
 It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
 It underlines and highlights the main message as it
avoids using excessive and needless words.
 Concise communication provides short and essential
message in limited words to the audience.
 Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible
to the audience.
 Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.
 excercize1
 Replace the following with a single word.
 A large number of
 Despite the fact that
 Personal opinion
 Each and every
 Has the opportunity to
 End result
 At this point in time
 Compare and contrast
 At an early time
 In a case in which
 answer
 The phrases can be replaced with a single word as follows:
 Many
 Although
 Opinion
 Each, every, all
 Can, could
 Result
 Now
 Compare
 Early
 When, where
 Exercise 2
 Circle the unnecessary words in the following sentences.
 The creditor must first establish that the debtor is undoubtedly
bankrupt.
 Our main role is to raise money by way of donations in order to fund the
works of these charities.
 Professor Smith was picked by each and every person on the committee.
 As a matter of fact, Pleasantville has a strong position in the forestry
industry.
 The student needs to obtain high marks in science in order to study
medicine.
 The manager will, insofar as is possible, make sure that the information
is true and accurate.
 We will send out brochures to the general public.
 You must be willing to challenge yourself in order to get the most out of
your education at university.
 answer
 The unnecessary words were in the following phrases.
Replace them with the word in brackets.
 first, undoubtedly
 by way of donations in order to, the works of
 and every
 as a matter of fact
 to obtain, in order
 insofar as possible, true and
 out, general
 in order, your education at
 excercize3
 Make the following sentences more concise without
removing any information.
 We are working hard so the poor are given the basic
essentials to lift themselves out of poverty.
 Students should make contact with us for help with their
future plans prior to the start of semester.
 It is apparent that the tragedy could have been avoided if
the company had talked to workers regarding hazards
which existed in the workplace.
 The total population of the island is 12,046 with the future
possibility of 5% growth by 2012.
 A commerce graduate can leverage knowledge they have
acquired in their coursework and apply it to the real world.
 answer
 The sentences can be rewritten as follows:
 We are working hard to give the poor the basics to lift
themselves out of poverty.
 Before semester starts, students should contact us for
help with their plans.
 It appears the tragedy could have been avoided if the
company had talked to workers about workplace
dangers.
 The population of the island is 12,046 with the
possibility of 5% growth by 2012.
 A commerce graduate can apply knowledge from their
course to their work.
 consideration
 Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective
communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the
audience’s view points, background, mind-set, education level,
etc. Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their
requirements, emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-
respect of the audience is maintained and their emotions are not
at harm. Modify your words in message to suit the audience’s
needs while making your message complete. Features of
considerate communication are as follows:
 Emphasize on “you” approach.
 Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience.
This will stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
 Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is
possible” rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive
words such as jovial, committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.
 excercize
 The same “You – attitude” should be
incorporated in written communication. It gives
the letter a pleasant and positive overtone.
 Look at the two following announcements given
by a bank on the same subject.
 1. We are happy to announce that transaction
can be made even after 3.00 PM till 5.00 PM at
the teller-counter.
 2. You will be (or customers will be) able to do
transactions after office hours, at the Teller
counter till 5.00 PM.
 Avoid “you attitude” in negative
situations
 Cable TV Operator 1: You have
failed to pay the dues for the month
of July for your cable connection.
 Cable TV Operator! : The dues for
cable TV connection for the month
of July remain unpaid.
 The second one is more considerate
and the first one is insensitive.
 concreteness
 Concrete communication implies being
particular and clear rather than fuzzy and
general. Concreteness strengthens the
confidence. Concrete message has following
features:
 It is supported with specific facts and figures.
 It makes use of words that are clear and that
build the reputation.
 Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.
 Concreteness can be achieved:
 Using specific facts and figures.
 Put action in your verbs.

 Choose vivid, image-building words

 Use specific facts and figures
 Vague, indefinite  concrete, precise
 Student GMAT scores  In 1996 the GMAT
aare higher scores averaged
600:by 1997 they had
risen to 610
 Her grade point
 She is a brain
average in 1996 was
3.9 on a four point
scale
 b. Put Action in your verbs
Verbs can bring your concreteness back to being alive and
more dynamic. Use of verbs especially the active verbs
make your sentence more Specific, Personal and Concise.
Even the passive verbs are more useful sometimes when
you want to avoid any personal or accusing comments.
Examples:

 “The Principal Has decided” is more specific then “A

decision has been made”.
 “You will note” is both personal and specific than “It will be
noted”.
 c. Selection of more vivid and image-
building words
This section refers to the use of language or
words which are capable of creating an
atmosphere in the mind of the reader that he
imagines himself, being, in that situation rather
than using words which would bounce over the
gray matter. The inclusion of vivid words also
helps in creating a scenario that the writer or
speaker has a wider scope of imagination instead
having an image of sticking to the basics.
 Vivid words
 Figurative language  More vivid

her work in group she could be

was exemplary called :the spark plug
of the group

some women were many women faced

stopped in their the “glass ceiling” in
promotions this company
 clarity
 Getting the meaning from your head to
the reader’s head accurately is the
purpose of clarity. Of course, you know
it is not simple. We all carry around our
own unique interpretations, ideas,
thinking, experiences associated with
the words.
 clarity
 Accurately is the purpose of clarity.
 Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.
 Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
 Try for an average sentence length of between 17
and 20 words.
 Length
 Unity
 Coherence
 Emphasis
 a. Selection of precise, concrete and clear words
Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between precise words and
familiar words.Defining the above sentence, example, although it is
appropriate to use technical terms and business jargon's in professional
institutions but they need to be avoided when communicating with a person
who is not acquainted with the terminology.
Example:

 Possibly unfamiliar: Assessed valuation; Familiar to the layperson: Property

value for tax purposes.
 Possibly unfamiliar: Charge to your principal(banking); Familiar to the
layperson: Increase the balance of your loan.
 Possibly unfamiliar: Buyouts; Familiar to the layperson: Purchase by other
company.
 Possibly unfamiliar: People plying on skywalk; Familiar to the layperson:
People moving on over bridge
 b. Constructing effective sentences and paragraphs

In this important characteristics to consider are length

unity and coherence.
 Length: Generally short sentences are preferred, the
suggested average sentence length should be about 17-
20 words, because longer sentence may cause lack of
concentration in sentence.
 Unity: In a sentence whether it is simple, compound or
complex the link i.e. the unity matters which means to
have one main idea traveling through the entire
conversation. Every sentence or word must be closely
related to each other.
 Unity is one main idea of the message
should be united for e.g “
 I like john and eiffel tower is in paris”
is not a unified sentence
 More unified (I like SEEMA she is so
kind to me)
 Eiffel tower is in paris and paris is the
most beautifull city in the world
 emphasis
 Put main idea in front with in a sentence
 “Airplane was difficult to control”
 Little emphasis …the airplane finally
approached the speed of sound and it
became very difficult to control
 Better emphasis…..as it finally
approached the speed of sound ,the
airplane become very difficult to control
 Courtesy
 - Courtesy in message implies the message should show
the sender’s expression as well as should respect the
receiver. The sender of the message should be sincerely
polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic. Courteous
message has following features:
 Courtesy implies taking into consideration both
viewpoints as well as feelings of the receiver of the
message.
 Courteous message is positive and focused at the
audience.
 It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver
of message.
 It is not at all biased.
 a. Being sincerely tactful, thoughtful and
appreciative

 Tact: Though few people are intentionally waiting for

someone to argue, so being tactful avoids any cause
of discourtesy and avoiding any negative feedback
from the sender. Example: “Clearly, you did not read
my latest fax” can be written as “Sometimes my
wordings are not precise; let me try again”.
 Thoughtfulness and Appreciation: It means bringing
a thought in the entire conversation and appreciating
the reply from the other party.
 Tackless,blunt  More tactfull
 Stupid letter:I cant  Its my understanding
understand
 I rewrote that letter  I am sorry the point
three times the point was not clear :here is
was not clear another version
 c. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions
Another requirement for courtesy is the use of nondiscriminatory language
that reflects equal treatment of people regardless of their gender, race, age
and physical features. Some of the examples are given below:

 Situation 1
 Questionable: Each customer will have the new changes noted on his bill.
 More desirable: Customers will have the changes noted on their bill.
 Situation 2
 Questionable: Our criteria are firm; he is to be a scholar, he is to be a good
teacher.
 More desirable: Our criteria suggest he or she is supposed to be a scholar and
a good teacher.
 Correctness
 - Correctness in communication implies that there are
no grammatical errors in communication. Correct
communication has following features:
 The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
 If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence
level.
 Correct message has greater impact on the audience/readers.
 It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and
figures used in the message.
 It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the
message.
 Awareness of these 7 C’s of communication makes you
an effective communicator.
 a. Using right level of language
There are different levels of languages which may be formal, informal, and
substandard. Formal writings are usually associated with the scholarly writing,
legal documents, and other documents where formality is the style in demand.
Examples:
Formal and Informal Approach

 More Formal: Participate. Less Formal: Join

 More Formal: Interrogate. Less Formal: Question
 More Acceptable and Substand
 Substandard: Can’t hardly, More Acceptable: Can hardly
 Substandard: Irregardless, More Acceptable: regardless
 b. Checking accuracy of figures, facts, and words
Many a times it is impossible to convey the message directly from the sender’s
head to the receivers head. So this can be done to an extent by including
figures and facts like as follows:

 Verifying your statistical data

 Double-checking your totals
 Avoid guessing of laws that have an impact on sender or receiver
 Determine whether a fact have changed over a time.
 Other factor is the inclusion of words that don’t confuse for example the
following will help in clearing this topic.
Example 1: Accept-Except: Here accept means to receive and except means to
omit.
Example 2: Biannually-Biennially: Biannually means 2 times a year and
biennially mean every 2 years.
 c. Maintaining acceptable writing
mechanics

This topic relates to the proper use of

words and spellings. But in today’s
world writing have been more easier,
since, spell-checkers and various kinds
of word formatting's are available.
Thank you