The Seven Cs of Communication

7 Cs of Communication
Conciseness
Consideration
Concreteness
Clarity
Courtesy
Completeness
Correctness
 Completeness
Provide all necessary information
Answer all questions asked
Give something extra, when desirable
 Completeness

Does your message contain all the

relevant information needed to evoke the
desired response from your receiver?
 Guidelines for Completeness
Provide all necessary information
Answer all questions asked
Give something extra, when desirable
Provide all necessary information
Answer the 5 W questions: who, what, when,
where, why &how
Useful for informative messages
 Completeness: Checklist
Remember the 5Ws: Who?When? Where?
Why? How?
Answer all questions: stated and implied
questions.
Give extra information, when desirable.
 Conciseness
 Precision, accuracy.
 A concise message is complete without being
wordy.
 Conciseness means saying what you have to say
in the fewest possible words.

 Simplify; simplify; declutter your

communication!
 Guidelines for Conciseness
Eliminate wordy expressions
Include only relevant material
Avoid unnecessary repetition
 Eliminate Wordy Expressions
Use single-word substitutes wherever possible
without changing the meanings.

Wordy: At this time Concise: Now

Wordy: Due to the fact that Concise:
Now
Wordy: In due course Concise: Now
 Omit trite, unnecessary
expressions
• Wordy: Please be advised that your
admission statement was received.
• Concise: Your admission statement has been
received.

• Wordy: Allow me to say how helpful your

response was.
• Concise: Your response was helpful.
 Omit “that” and “which: clauses
wherever possible
• Wordy: She bought desks that are of
executive type.
• Concise: she bought executive type desks.
Wordy: The receipt that is enclosed
documents your purchase.
• Concise: The receipt documents your
purchase.
 Eliminate unnecessary
prepositional phrases
Wordy: The issue of most relevance is team
work.

Concise: Team work is most relevant.

e.g. - At, In, From, With, By, About

 Include only relevant material
• Stick to the purpose of the message.
• Delete irrelevant words and rambling
sentences.
• Omit information obvious to the receiver.
• Avoid long introductions, unnecessary
explanations, excessive adjectives and
prepositions, pompous words and gushy
expressions.
 Limit the use of passive voice
Wordy: The total balance due will be
found in page 2 of the report.

Concise: The total balance due is on page

2 of the report.
 Conciseness: Guidelines
1. Use one word in place of phrases; one
sentence instead of two.
2. Read out and “listen” for wordiness.
3. Ask yourself: What material is really
relevant?
4. Look for unnecessary repetition.
 Consideration
• Consideration means preparing a message
with the receiver in mind; from their POV.

• Focus on “You” instead of “I “ or “We.”

• Show audience benefit or interest in the
receiver.
• Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
 Receiver-centric messages
We-attitude: I am delighted to announce
that we will be extending our hours to
make shopping more convenient.

I-attitude: You will be able to shop in the

evenings with the extended hours.
Use of “You” in negative situations
This can be avoided by using the passive
voice, making the receiver part of a group
or depersonalizing the situation.
Emphasize Positive, Pleasant Facts
Negative-Unpleasant Positive-Pleasant
It is impossible to open an account for As soon as your signature card reaches us,
you today. we will gladly open an account…

We don’t refund if the returned item is We refund I when the retuned item is
soiled and unsalable. clean and resalable.
 Consideration: Guidelines
1. See your material for your reader’s POV.

2. “You” is more desirable than “I” or “we” in

most instances.
3. Consciously use positive words; readers
respond favorably.
4. Readers like to see benefits. Be sure benefits
are a prominent part of your message.
 Concreteness
Specific, definite, precise and plain.

× Vague, fuzzy, general .

Using denotative rather than connotative

words.
 Concreteness: Guidelines
Use specific facts and figures
Put action in your verbs
Choose vivid, image-building words
 Use specific facts and figures
Vague, general, indefinite Concrete, precise
Student GMAT scores in 1996, the GMAT In 1996, the GMAT scores averaged 6.00,
scores are higher. by 1997, they had risen to 6.10
 Put action in your verbs
Use active rather than passive voice
Put action in your verbs rather than
nouns and infinitives
 Concreteness: checklist
Were you precise in using facts and figures
wherever possible?
Did you use the active more than the
passive?
Is there action in verbs rather than nouns or
infinitives?
Did you occasionally try to use vivid image-
building words?
 Clarity
Clarity refers to accuracy in transfer of
information.

Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.

Construct effective sentences and
paragraphs.
 Choose precise, concrete and
familiar words
When in doubt, use more familiar words;
receivers understand them better.

Clarity is achieved by a balance between

precise language and familiar language.
 Familiar Vs. Pretentious words
Familiar Pretentious

About Circa (L)

After Subsequent

Home Domicile

For example e.g. (L)

Pay Remuneration

Invoice Statement for payment

Construct effective sentences and
paragraphs
• Length

• Unity

• Coherence

• Emphasis
 Coherence
Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure
you can help us.
Clear: As you are an excellent lawyer, I am sure
you can help us.

Unclear: His report on managers focused on

age and gender.
Clear: His report focused on age and gender of
managers.
 Emphasis
• Place main ideas upfront within a sentence.

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 became difficult
to control.
 Clarity: checklist
 Choose as precise or concrete a word as possible.
 Select words that have a high sense of
appropriateness for the reader.
 Opt for familiar words.
 Limit average sentence length to 15-20 words.
 Insert no more than one main idea in a sentence.
 Arrange words so that the main idea occurs early in
the sentence.
 Courtesy
Aware of others’ perspectives and
feelings.
Grows out of respect and concern for
others.
Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and
appreciative.
Use expressions that show respect.
Choose non discriminatory expressions
 Courtesy: checklist
Ask yourself: does your communication
have a sincere you-attitude?
Cross check your communication( for
tactfulness) with others.
Be cautious about using humour in
communication.
Use non discriminatory language
 Correctness
Use the right level of language
Check accuracy of facts and figures
Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
 Readability Gap
Colleges aren’t schools,
They are learning institutions;
Problems don’t have answers,
They have viable solutions.
People don’t spend money,
They re-allocate resources.
Newsmen don’t use tipsters,
They rely on informed sources!
 Readability Gap
Speakers don’t make speeches,
They give oral presentations.
Bosses don’t set quotas,
They just indicate objectives.
Workers don’t take orders,
Though they implement directives!
 Readability Gap
Machinery can’t break down,
But components can malfunction.
A court does not command,
It just issues an injunction.
Programs don’t have failures,
They have qualified successes.
And jargon doesn’t hurt you—
It just constantly distresses!
Doubts!