The Seven Cs of

Effective
Communication
The Seven Cs of Effective
Communication
⚫ To compose effective written or oral messages, you must
apply certain communication principles. These principles
provide guidelines for choice of content and style of
presentation, adapted to the purpose and receiver of your
message is called the “seven Cs,” they are completeness,
conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity,
courtesy, and correctness.

⚫ The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that your

meetings, emails, conference calls, reports, and
presentations are well constructed and clear – so your
audience gets your message.
 THE SEVEN Cs
1. Completeness
2. Conciseness
3. Consideration
4. Concreteness
5. Clarity
6. Courtesy
7. Correctness
 1- COMPLETENESS
Message is complete when it contains all facts the
reader or listener needs for the reaction you desire.

As you strive for completeness, keep the following

guidelines in mind;

⚫ Provide all necessary information.

⚫ Answer all questions asked.
⚫ Give something extra when desirable.
⚫ Provide All Necessary Information
Answering the five W’s helps make messages clear: Who,
What, When, Where, and Why.
⚫ Request for the merchandise
⚫ Reserve a hotel banquet room

⚫ Answer All Questions Asked

Look for questions: some may even appear buried within a
paragraph. Locate them and then answer precisely.
⚫ Give Something Extra, When Desirable
Use your good judgment in offering additional material if the
sender’s message was incomplete.
⚫ I think I would like to attend my first meeting of the association, even
though I am not acquainted with your city. Will you please tell me
where the next meeting is being held?
 COMPLETENESS
EXERCISE
1. Please email me in return the departures from Lahore
to Karachi on the 8th.
2. Today there is meeting in the office.

3. You are the president of an industry association and

have received the following inquiry from an out of town
member, “I think I would like to attend my first meeting
of the association, even though I am not acquainted
with your city. Will you please tell me where the next
meeting is being held?

⚫ How would you reply to this letter keeping in mind

Completeness of the message?
Incomplete Letter
⚫ “Thank you for the confidence you have showed us by the account you
recently opened. All our facilities are at your disposal, and any time we
can be of service, please call on us. Our appreciation is best expressed by
our being of service to you.”

How would you like to revise this message this letter keeping in mind
Completeness of the message?
Revised Letter
Thank you for the confidence you have shown in the First Federal by the
savings account you recently opened. Our goal is to make all our services to
you both pleasant and helpful.
Among the conveniences and services available to you at First Federal, you may
be especially interested in these:
⚫ YOUR PASSBOOK DEPOSTITS earn 61/2% interest compound monthly.
⚫ BETTER-THAN-CHECKING services helps you pay bills by phone, earns,
interest on your money, and permits using our 24-hour cash machines.
⚫ MORTGAGE LOANS help you to buy, build, or refinance a home or to
borrow for property repairs and improvements.
⚫ With our MONEY MARKET CERTIFICATES you can earn interest at various
current high rates, depending on time and amount of your investment. The
enclosed leaflet gives you more details about these and other services
available to you at First Federal.
⚫ FREE CUSTOMER PARKING is provided in the lot north of your office. The
teller stamps your parking slip, entitling you to free parking while doing
business here. Office hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm weekdays except for
Friday, when the doors remain open until 6:00pm.
You are most welcome to come in whenever we can assist you. Please consider
this association your financial headquarters for your savings and borrowing
needs.
 2- CONCISENESS
Conciseness is saying what you want to say in the
fewest possible words without sacrificing the other C
qualities. A concise message is complete without
being wordy.

To achieve conciseness, observe the following

suggestions;

⚫ Eliminate wordy expressions.

⚫ Include only relevant material.
⚫ Avoid unnecessary repetition.
Eliminate Wordy Expressions
⚫ Use single words in place of phrases. Even Winston
Churchill made extensive use of simple, one syllable
words.

Example
Wordy: At this time
Concise: Now
Wordy: In due course
Concise: Soon
Wordy: Due to the fact that
Concise: Because
 Exercise
■ Find single word substitutes for the
phrases
■ Along the same lines Similarly
■ In due course Soon
■ Consensus of opinion Consensus
■ Date of policy Due date
■ Have need for Need
■ During the time of the day During the day
■ During the year of During xxxx
■ Few and far between Almost
■ For a price of For $
 Include Only Relevant Material
Stick to the purpose of the message, avoid long
introduction, unnecessary explanations, excessive
adjectives and prepositions, and go to the important
point tactfully and concisely.

Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our

company is pleased with the confidence you have
respond in us.

Concise: We appreciate your confidence.

Exercise
⚫ At this time I am writing to you to enclose an
interview card, which has been post-paid, for the
purpose of arranging a convenient time when we
might get together for a personal interview.

Please return the enclosed interview card to set up a

convenient time for an interview.
Avoid Unnecessary Repetition
⚫ Use a shorter name after you have mentioned the long
one once. Instead of the “North Central Company,” use
“North Central”

⚫ Use Pronouns or Initials rather than repeat long

names.
⚫ Instead of the American Association of Technical
Analysis, use “it” or “they” or AATA
⚫ Cut out all needless repetition of phrases and
sentences.
Exercise
Will you ship us sometime, anytime during the month of
October would b fine, or even November if you are rushed
(November would suit us just as well, in fact a little bit
better) 300 of the regular 3 by 15 inch blue felt armbands
with while sewn letters in the center. Thank you in
advance for sending these along to us by parcel post, and
not express, as express is too expensive.

Please ship parcel post, before the end of November,

300 regular 3 by 15 inch blue felt armbands with while
sewn letter in the center.
Exercise
Make the following sentences concise:

• Due to the fact that the seat belt broke, the passenger sustained
a high degree of injury.
• The broken seat belt caused severe injury of a passenger.
• In accordance with the will of the clients, we undertook the
steps mentioned in the report.
• Steps from the aforementioned report are taken according the
clients’ will.
• During the month of April, we will begin to package our
product in boxes rectangular in shape and yellow in color.
⚫ In April, we will begin to package our product in yellow
rectangular boxes.
 3-CONSIDERATION
Consideration means preparing every message with the
message receivers in mind; try to put yourself in their
place. You are considerate, you do not lose your
temper, you do not accuse and you do not charge
them without facts. The thoughtful consideration is
also called “you-attitude”.

⚫ Focus on “You” instead of “I” and “We”.

⚫ Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver.
⚫ Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
 Focus on “You” Instead
of “I” or “We”
⚫ Using “you” does help project a you-attitude. But overuse can lead to a
negative reaction.
Example
We-Attitude: I Am delighted to announce that
we will be extending our hours to make
shopping more convenient.

You-Attitude: You will be able to shop evenings

with the extended hours.
Show Audience Benefit or Interest
in the Receiver
⚫ Reader may react positively when benefits are shown them. Benefits
must meet recipients needs, address their concerns, or offer them
rewards. Most important they must be perceived as benefits by the
receivers.
Exercise
Write with a ‘you ‘ attitude , it shows consideration

⚫ I want to send my congratulations for ---

⚫ Congratulations to you on winning ---

⚫ We will ship soon the goods by May 4 order—

⚫ Your order will be shipped by May 4---

⚫ We pay eight percent interest on ----

⚫ You earn eight percent interest on----
 Emphasize positive,
pleasant facts.
Negative- Unpleasant Positive - Pleasant

It is impossible to open an account As soon as your signature card

for you today. reaches us, we will gladly open an
account

We do not refund if the returned item We refund when the returned item is
is soiled and unsalable. clean and resalable.

When you travel on company When you travel on company

expense, you will not receive approval expense, your approved fare is for
for first class fare. tourist class.
 4-CONCRETENESS
Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather
than vague and general. Often it means using denotatives (direct,
explicit, often dictionary based) rather than connotative words (ideas or
notions suggested by or associated with a word or phrase).
Example:
General: He is very intelligent student of class and stood
first in the class.
Concrete: Ali’s GPA in BSCS was 3.9/4.0; he stood first in his class.
 CONCRETENESS
The following guidelines should help you compose concrete,
convincing message;

⚫ Use specific facts and figures.

⚫ Put action in your verbs.
⚫ Choose vivid, image building words.
Use Specific Facts and Figures
⚫ It is desirable to be precise and concrete in both written and oral
business communication.

Vague, General, Concrete, Precise

Indefinite In 1996, the GMAT
Student GMAT scores averaged
scores are higher. 600; by 1997 they
had risen to 610.
Exercise
⚫ Rewrite the following in concrete form as the sentences are too general
and vague.

⚫ This computer reproduces letters fast

⚫ New generation computer types 400 letters in one minute

⚫ Our product has won several prizes.

⚫ Our product ‘xyz’ has won five prices for performance and durability.

⚫ These brakes stop a car within a short distance.

⚫ These brakes stop a car within five meters.
Put Action in Your Verbs
⚫ Verbs can activate other words and help make your sentences alive, more
vigorous.
Use active rather than passive verbs.
⚫ Example: The tests were administered by the professors.
⚫ Concrete: The professors administered the tests.
Put action in your verbs rather than nouns and infinites.
⚫ Example: Professor H. will give consideration to the report.
⚫ Concrete: Professor H. will consider the report
Use active rather than passive voice
Use active rather than passive voice because it shows life in a sentence
when a subject acts.
1. Active verbs are; More specific as “ A dean decided” than “ a
decision has been made by”
2. Personal as “You will note” rather than “it will be noted”
3. Concise as “Figures show” rather than “it is shown by figures”
4. Emphatic as “Students held a contest” rather than “ A contest was
held by the students”.
USE PASSIVE VOICE WHEN..
⚫ USE PASSIVE VOICE WHEN:
1. When you want to avoid personal comments as in “ The October cheque was
not included” is better than “ you failed to include the October cheque”
⚫ OR “Attendance at the meeting is required” is less harsh than “you must attend
the meeting”.
2. When you want to stress the object of action.
⚫ As “You are invited” is more suitable than , “ we invite you”
3. When the doer is not important.
⚫ As “ Three announcements were made before the meeting started” the
announcer is not important.
Put action in verbs, not in nouns
Example: The function of this office is the collection of payments and
compilation of statements.
Concrete: This office collects payments and compiles statements.

Put action in Verbs, not in infinitives

Example: The duty of a secretary is to check all incoming mails and to record it.
Concrete: A secretary checks and record all the incoming mails.
 Exercise-2
Put action into the words by using active instead of passive voice.
⚫ Tests were made by us
⚫ A full report will be sent to you by the
supervisor.
 5- CLARITY
Getting the meaning from your head to the head of your reader
(accurately) is the purpose of clarity. Of course you know it is not
simple. We all carry around our own unique interpretations, ideas,
experiences associated with words.

⚫ Choose precise, concrete and familiar words.

⚫ Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
Choose Precise, Concrete, and
Familiar Words
⚫ Clarity is achieved in part through a balance between
precise language and familiar language. Precise
words need not be pretentious.
Familiar Pretentious
About Circa (L)
After Subsequent
Home Domicile
For example e.g. (L)
Pay Remuneration
Invoice Statement for
Payment
Unfamiliar

After our perusal of pertinent data, the conclusion is that a lucrative market
exists for the subject properly.

Familiar

The data we studied show that your property is profitable and in high demand.
Plumber’s Story

A plumber wrote to the Bureau of Standards saying that he had

found hydrochloric acid is good for cleaning out clogged drains.

In reply to the plumber’s message, a technical specialist of the bureau wrote:

The efficacy of hydrochloric acid is indisputable, but chlorine

residue is incompatible with metallic permanence.
The plumber replied that he was glad the bureau agreed.
We cannot assume responsibility for the production of toxic and
noxious residues with hydrochloric acid, and suggest that you use an
alternate procedure.

The plumber again said that he was glad the bureau agreed with him.

Don’t use hydrochloric acid; it eats the hell out of the pipes.
Construct Effective Sentences and
Paragraphs
⚫ At the core of clarity is the sentences. This grammatical
statement, when clearly expressed, moves thoughts
within a paragraph. Important characteristics to consider
are length, unity, coherence, and emphasis.

⚫ Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure you

can help us.
⚫ Clear: Being an excellent lawyer, you can surely
help us.
 6- COURTESY
True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others,
but also their feelings. Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude.

The following are suggestions for generating a courteous tone;

⚫ Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative.
⚫ Use expressions that show respect.
⚫ Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.
Be Sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful, and
Appreciative
⚫ Though few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt, these negative
traits are a common cause of discourtesy.

Tactless, Blunt More Tactful

Stupid letter; I can’t It’s my understanding…
understand any of it. Sometimes my wording
Clearly, you did not read is not precise; let me try
my latest fax. again
Use Expressions that Show
Respect
⚫ No reader wants to receive message that offend.
Omit Irritating Expressions

You are delinquent

You failed to
Contrary to your
inference
Inexcusable
Simply nonsense
Choose Nondiscriminatory
Expressions
⚫ Another requirement for courtesy is the use of nondiscriminatory
language that reflects equal treatment of people regardless of gender,
race, ethnic origin, and physical features.

Questionable More Desirable

Freshman Entering students; first
year student.
Workers; employees;
Manpower
work force personnel
Exercise
Use gender friendly substitutes

⚫ Mankind
⚫ The best man for the job
⚫ Manmade
⚫ Manpower
⚫ Businessman
⚫ Sales man
⚫ Chairman
Exercise
⚫ You guys should all be concerned about the issue.

⚫ Each manger has an assigned place – he should park his

car….

⚫ Each customer will have change noted on his bill

 7- CORRECTNESS
Note: Read handout for the correctness.
At the core of correctness is proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
However a message may be perfect grammatically and mechanically but
still insult or lose a customer. The correctness, as applied to business
messages, also means the following three characteristics:
⚫ Use the right level of language.
⚫ Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words.
⚫ Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.
⚫ Use the Right Level of Language
⚫ Informal writing is more characteristics of business
writing—even more so if that writing occurs in an E-mail
message.

More Formal Less Formal

Join
Participate
Get
Procure
Try
Endeavor
⚫ Check Accuracy of Figures, Facts, and Words

A good check of data is to have another person read and comment on the
validity of the material.