Effective communication boils down to knowing the purpose of communication, understanding the receiver’s needs, and then clearly stating what you need to say. Every communication should be clear, humane, helpful, and as friendly as the topic allows. The best letters have a conversational tone and read as if you were talking to your reader. Your communication should be as follows:
1) Complete: To give all the required details.
2) Correct: To give factually and linguistically correct information to the reader.
3) Clear: To have clear information.
4) Concise: To save time and space.
5) Courteous: To be Polite.
6) Concrete: To have a definite purpose for communication.
7) Considerate: To always use the ‘you’ attitude and have a friendly tone.
Let’s talk about the Seven C’s of Communication in Detail:
Contents
1) COMPLETENESS:
The message should be complete to bring desirable results. It should include everything The Reader needs for the reaction you desire. You should know what information are reader wants or needs. You should be able to know the reader’s background viewpoint needs attitudes and emotions.
a. Provide all necessary information: Answering the five W’s help make messages clear. Who, What, When, Where, and Why are known as the Five W’s of communication.
b. Answer all questions asked: Look for questions like when a peer is buried within a paragraph. Locate them and their answer preciously.
c. Give something extra, when desirable: Use your good judgment in offering additional material if the sender’s message was incomplete.
A business letter must be complete. it should contain all the details that are to be communicated by the writer to the person receiving the letter. for the letter to be complete, the writing must be properly planned and organized. Organizing a letter consists of Sequencing all details logically and presenting them cogently. further, should not be a mere list hastily put together. there should be Cohesion in the letter. a properly plan well organized, coherent, and cohesive letter is likely to evoke a positive response from the reader.
2) CORRECTNESS:
At the core of correctness in proper grammar punctuation and spelling. However, a message may be perfect dramatically and mechanically but still insult or lose a customer. The correctness, as applied to business messages, also means the following five characteristics
- Use the correct level of language
- Include only facts words and figures
- Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
- Apply the following qualities
- There should be proper grammar punctuation spelling and paragraphing.
A Business letter should be accurate in the information that it communicates. If correct information forms the contents of the letter, it adds to the credibility of both the person who writes a letter and the organization from which the letter originates. Next, the letter should be in the correct format and have a tone and style, which are appropriate to the purposes. It is also important that the letter should not contain errors in Grammar spelling and medium as this would distract from the positive impact that the letter makes on the reader. Further, the appearance and layout should be correct and free of over typing and irregular spacing and erasures
3) CLARITY:
Clarity demands that the business should be correct and concrete. Getting the meaning from your head to the head of your read accurately is the purpose of clarity. However, it is not simple. We all carry around our own unique interpretations ideas and experiences associated with words.
- Proper punctuation makes the writing clear
- Choose precise, concrete, and familiar words
- Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
- Check the accuracy of facts and figures and words
There should be clarity in a business letter. Clarity was lost for the following reasons:
- Using words that are difficult to understand.
- Writing illogical sentence structures.
- Using words that create ambiguity
- Complicated sentences and semantic barriers
4) CONCISENESS:
Business executives are very busy. They don’t have time to go through unnecessary lengthy messages. The writer is also a loser if it writes word messages because it involves more time and money to type and read. Conciseness makes the messages more understandable and comprehensible.
- Eliminate wordy expressions.
- Avoid unnecessary Repetition.
- Include only relevant material.
People involved in the business are busy, with a number of commercial and administrative duties to attend to. Hence business letter should be concise. A short accurately worded letter saves time for the reader.
A concise letter avoids:
- Unnecessary repetition of words as in.
- Using more words than necessary.
- Eliminate Wordy expressions.
5) COURTESY:
True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others but also the feelings. Courtesy that stems from a sincere you-attitude. Courtesy is more important and advantageous in business writing than it is in the face to face communication or conversation. Courteous messages strengthen present relations and make new friends. It is a goodwill-building measure. It includes the following points:
- Answer your mail promptly.
- Be sincerely tactful thoughtful and appreciative.
- Use expressions that show respect.
- Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.
Courtesy is one of the graces of letter writing in the context of business. It is also one of the factors that increase the chances of getting a favorable response. Courtesy can be shown in a business letter by taking the other person’s point of view and feelings into consideration while writing it.
6) CONCRETENESS:
Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general. Often it means using donatives (direct, explicit, often dictionary-based) rather than connotative words (ideas or notions suggested by or associated with a word or phrase). Business writing should be specific definite unambiguous and vivid rather than vague and general.
The following guidelines should help you compose concrete, convincing messages:
- Use specific facts and figures.
- Put action in your verbs
- Choose vivid image-building words.
7) CONSIDERATION:
Consideration refers to the ‘YOU’ attitude, sympathy, the human touch, and understanding of human nature. Also, consideration means creating every message by reading the reader’s minds; 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”.
You should try to visualize your readers desires problems emotions circumstances and possible reactions to your request.
- Always Focus on the “You” description instead of “I” and “We”.
- Show the audience the benefit or interest in the receiver.
- Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
When you write a letter, you are trying to convince someone to act or react in a positive way. Your reader will respond quickly only if your meaning is crystal clear.
Put yourself in the reader’s shoes and write in a friendly and helpful tone. Don’t represent your company as one that cannot make a mistake and must always be in the right. Try not to reply in the normal bland and defensive way of organizations – write a sincere and helpful letter.
Show you are interested in the reader’s circumstances. If he or she has mentioned something personal in the letter, refer to it in your reply. This builds a bridge between you and the reader. Read the original letter carefully and see if there is something you can put in your letter to show your interest.
Key Points:
- All communication should follow certain parameters to make it clear and effective.
- The seven C’s of communication have to be kept in mind to achieve the desired purpose of the communication.
- To make the communication more acceptable to the receiver, it is necessary to design the communication in terms of language, style of writing, layout, etc. which will appeal to the recipient.
- Also, any verbal or written communication should be to the point, give complete necessary details, and have a definite purpose.
- All communication should be polite in tone and show respect and courtesy to all the parties mentioned in it.
