Seven Cs of Effective Communication

Seven Cs of Effective Communication
Rabia
Ashraf
1. Introduction
2. Completeness
3. Conciseness
4. Consideration
OUTLINE 5.
6.
Clarity
Cohesion and
Coherence
7. Concreteness
8. Correctness
9. Courtesy
Introduction
Think of how often you communicate with people during your

day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in
conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate
with your colleagues... the list goes on. We can spend almost our
entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a huge boost
to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in
the clearest, most effective way possible. This is why the 7 Cs of
Communication are helpful. 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. These seven C's of effective
communication are applicable to both written as well as oral
communication.
1. 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 always gives
additional information wherever required. It leaves no questions
in the mind of receiver. It persuades the audience. In a complete
message, the audience has everything they need to be informed
and, if applicable, take action.
Does your message include a "call to action," so that your

audience clearly knows what you want them to do? Have you
included all relevant information - contact names, dates, times,
locations, and so on?
Bad Example
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the

meeting we're having tomorrow!
See you then,
Chris
This message is not complete, for obvious reasons.

What meeting? When is it? Where? Chris has left his
team without the necessary information.
Good Example
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow's meeting

on the new telecommuting policies The meeting will be
at 10:00 am. in the second-level conference room.
Please let me know if you can't attend.
See you then,
Chris
2. Conciseness
When you're concise in your communication, you stick

to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn't
want to read six sentences when you could
communicate your message in three.
Are there any adjectives or "filler words" that you can
delete? You can often eliminate words like "for
instance," "you see," "definitely." "Kind of," "literally,"
"basically," or "I mean."
Are there any unnecessary sentences? Have you
repeated the point several times, in different ways?
2. Conciseness (Cont.)
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 non-repetitive in nature.
3. Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message with

the message receiver in mind. Try to put yourself in
their place. It implies "stepping into the shoes of
others". You are considerate.
You don't lose your temper, you don't accuse and
you don't charge them without facts. This kind of
thoughtful consideration is also called 'you-attitude'
or empathy. So, effective communication must take
the audience into consideration, i.e. the audience's
view points, background, mind-set, education level,
etc.
3. Consideration (Cont.)
Features of considerate communication are as follows:
• "You" approach.
• It focuses on 'you' instead of 'I' or 'we'.
• It uses passive-voice and depersonalizes the controversial
situations and issues.
For example: Instead of saying 'You failed enclose your
check in the envelope', we should say, "The check was not
enclosed'.
• Lay stress on positive words such as 'committed', 'thanks',
'warm', 'healthy', 'help', etc.
4. Clarity
Getting the meaning from your head into the head of your reader
accurately is the purpose of clarity. When writing or speaking to
someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose
in communicating with this person? To be clear, try to minimize the
number of ideas in each sentence.
For the sake of clarity, generally, short sentences are preferred. Try
for an average length of between and 20 words. Your sentence
should not exceed words. In addition, communication should have
unity, cohesion and coherence.
4. Clarity (Cont.)
Clarity in communication has following features:
• It makes understanding easier by opting for precise, concrete and

familiar words.
• It brings main idea early in a sentence.
• Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of
message.
• Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete
words.
Cohesion and Coherence
Cohesion describes the way in which a text is tied together by

linguistic devices such as 'and', 'so', 'additionally' and the like.
Cohesion is relationship or unity of a text based on sentences.
Coherence is semantic or thematic unity of a text or

communication. When your communication is coherent, it's
logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main
topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.
Bad Example
Traci,
I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished
last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she wanted to make
sure you knew about the department meeting we're having this
Friday. We'll be creating an outline for the new employee handbook
Thanks,
Michelle
As you can see, this email doesn't communicate its point very well.
Where is Michelle's feedback on Traci's report? She started to
mention it, but then she changed the topic to Friday's meeting.
Good Example
Hi Traci,
I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last
week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she let me know that there
are a few changes that you'll need to make. She'll email you her
detailed comments later this afternoon.
Thanks,
Michelle
Notice that in the good example, Michelle does not mention Friday's meeting. This
is because the meeting reminder should be an entirely separate email. This way,
Traci can delete the report feedback email after she makes her changes, but save
the email about the meeting as her reminder to attend. Each email has only one
main topic.
5. Concreteness
Communicating concretely means being specific, definite and vivid

rather than vague and general. Concrete communication implies
being particular and clear rather than fuzzy or unclear 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.
5. Concreteness (Cont.)
When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear

picture of what you're telling them. There are details, vivid facts, and
there's laser-like focus. Your message is solid. Concrete language
often evokes sensory response in people. For instance, the second
sense below is more concrete than the first sentence:
1. It was hot in the factory.

2. Sweat trickled down the arms of the line workers.
6. Correctness
When your communication is correct, it fits your audience. And
correct communication is also error-free communication. At the core
of correctness is proper:
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• Spelling
This term 'correctness' also means the following characteristics:

• Use the right level of language
• Check accuracy of figures, facts and words Maintain acceptable
writing mechanics
6. Correctness (Cont.)
In correctness you should consider:
• Do the technical terms you use fit your audience's level of

education or knowledge?
• Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors?
Remember, spell checkers won't catch everything.
• Are all names and titles spelled correctly?
• Use the right level of language
Levels of Language
1. Formal Writing
Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing.

Examples: Doctoral dissertations, scholarly articles, top-level
government agreements etc.
2. Informal Writing
This style of writing is more characteristic in business writing.

An example is the communications via E-mail, memos etc.
Facts and Figures
• Verify your statistical data.

• Double check your totals.
• Avoid guessing at Laws that have an impact on you.
• Have someone else read your message if the topic
involves data.
• Determine whether a fact has changed overtime.
Bad Example
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 two. 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.
7. Courtesy
Courteous communication
is friendly, open, and
honest. There are no hidden
insults or passive aggressive
tones. You keep your
reader's viewpoint in mind,
and you're empathetic to
their needs.
Bad Example
Jeff,
I wanted to let you know that I don't appreciate how your team
always monopolizes the discussion at our weekly meetings. I have a
lot of projects, and I really need time to get my team's progress
discussed as well. So far, thanks to your department, I haven't been
able to do that. Can you make sure they make time for me and my
team next week?
Thanks,
Phil
Well, that's hardly courteous! Messages like this can potentially start
office-wide fights. And this email does nothing but create bad
feelings, and lower productivity and morale.
Good Example
Hi Jeff
I wanted to write you a quick note to ask a favor. During our weekly
meetings, your team does an excellent job of highlighting their progress.
But this uses some of the time available for my team to highlight theirs. I'd
really appreciate it if you could give my team a little extra time each week
to fully cover their progress reports.
Thanks so much, and please let me know if there's anything I can do for
you!
Best,
Phil
What a difference! This email is courteous and friendly, and it has little
chance of spreading bad feelings around the office. The sender of the
message should be sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic.

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Seven Cs of Effective Communication

Think of how often you communicate with people during your

The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts

Does your message include a "call to action," so that your

I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the

This message is not complete, for obvious reasons.

I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow's meeting

When you're concise in your communication, you stick

Concise communication has following features:

• It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.

Consideration means preparing every message with

Features of considerate communication are as follows:

Clarity in communication has following features:

• It makes understanding easier by opting for precise, concrete and

Cohesion describes the way in which a text is tied together by

Coherence is semantic or thematic unity of a text or

Communicating concretely means being specific, definite and vivid

Concrete message has following features:

• It is supported with specific facts and figures.

When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear

1. It was hot in the factory.

This term 'correctness' also means the following characteristics:

In correctness you should consider:

• Do the technical terms you use fit your audience's level of

Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing.

This style of writing is more characteristic in business writing.

• Verify your statistical data.

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