FACULTY OF BUSINESS

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THEVA A/L LETCHUMANAN 201711040016

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Assignment Title BBCM1033 Business Communication Assignment 1
Lecturer DR NOORZAREITH SOFEIA BTE NOORDIN

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BBCM1033 – Business Communication Assignment 1 [30%]
Answer ALL Questions
1. How do you define communication?
2. Discuss the different situations when the communication exists.
3. “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions and emotions by two or more
persons.” Explain the statement and discuss the role of feedback in communication.
4. “Communication is the two-way process.” Explain.
5. Discuss the elements of communication process.
6. Give three examples of brain drain in communication process
7. Define formal communication. Discuss its merits and demerits also.
8. Write notes on:
a. Downward communication
b. Upward communication
c. Horizontal communication
d. Consensus
e. Grapevine
9. Discuss the importance of informal communication in business organization.
10. Distinguish between the upward and downward communication with examples.
11. Discuss the semantic barriers to effective communication and how it will be overcome.
12. Explain how the wrong choice of a medium acts as a barrier to effective
communication.
13. Write brief notes on:
a. Status consciousness
b. Attitude and opinions
c. Emotions
d. Close mind
e. Poor retention
f. Faulty transmission
g. Source of information
14. Explain the general principles of effective communication.
15. Explain the seven Cs of written communication.
How do you define communication?

The word ‘communication’ is derived from the latin word ‘communicare’

which means to make common, to share, to transmit or to impart.Thus
communication can be considered as process that involves the transfer of
information, ideas, emotions, feelings etc.between people.Communication is
a two way process in which there is an exchange of ideas towards a mutually
acceptable goal.
Business communication differs from other types of communication, not by
its means of communicating but by its objectives.
Business Communication is the transmission of information within the
business environment. The information may be transmitted – sent and
received – between or among individuals.
Discuss the different situations when the communication exists.

The different kind of communication skill is required as per the situation and
the functions of the organizations.Communication takes on different
characteristics as the situation changes.
Face to face communication
A great deal of practice is needed to be able to deal with encounters with
different kinds of persons. It occurs both in external conveyed by the words
we and internal communication.
Telephone communication
Plan all comments and questions with paper and pen on hand, return the
greetings, concentrate, use simple language, take notes, ask questions,
visualize the speaker, use conversation cues, listen carefully, summarize the
main points and thank.Presentation It is formal, prepared to talk on a specific
topic, delivered to a knowledgeable and interested audience and It is made to
has a face-to-face internal and as setting. Visual aids are well as external used
to enhance the audience presentations.
Public Speaking
It is a face-to-face setting, but the distance between the speaker and the
audience is great. Its purpose may be to entertain, to encourage, to inspire.
Feedback is very little and much depends on the speaker’s skill in using
gestures and using the microphone.
Interview
It is structured and characterized by questions and answer type of
communication.An interview is a meeting at which one person or a panel of
persons discuss a matter with another person or ask questions of another
person, who is the interviewee. In this situation each assesses the other in
order to judge whether it would be worthwhile to enter into a business
relationship with the other.
Meeting
In meeting each one requires a special skill It involves many persons with a
chairman or leader, a fixed agenda, backed by note- making during the
meeting and writing of minutes, for record, after the meeting. It requires venue
and environment.
Written Communication
Many types of documents are required for official work which are constantly
prepared and exchanged in and between organizations.
Letter
It is the most widely used form of written communication having a complex
layout.
Memo Memorandum
Is the common form of communication within the organization usually called
a memo used in many situations both for one-to-one communications as well
as for giving information to a group of persons.
“Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions and
emotions by two or more persons.” Explain the statement and
discuss the role of feedback in communication.

Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one
person to another. It involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or
feeling to a receiver. Effective communication occurs only if the receiver
understands the exact information or idea that the sender intended to transmit.
The communication has a vicious cycle which continues even after sending
message to the respondents. The audience or the respondents may or get the
same intended message as the speaker intends to send. This cycle ends only
when they share their understandings and comments to the speaker about what
they have understood. This process is called feedback.
Feedback is audience‘s response, which enables you to evaluate the
effectiveness of your message. One is constantly communicating back to other
thus, The return process is called feedback. And it plays a very important role
in family communication network. Feedback is the final step in the
communication process.
If a communication source decodes the message that the encodes, if the
message is put back to his system, we have feedback” When an individual
communicates with himself , the message he encodes is fed back into his
system by his decoding system.
According to Hattie (2009) feedback is information provided by a teacher,
peer, parent, book, one’s own experience, etc about aspects of one’s
performance or understanding. Feedback is a consequence of performance.
Feedback plays an important part in communication because it tells both the
source and the receiver, how their message are being interpreted. Feedback
is essential in communication so as to know whether the recipient has
understood the message in the same terms as intended by the sender and
whether he agrees to that message or not.
Feedback also enables us to evaluate the effectiveness of our message.It
makes communication meaningful.It is the end-result of an idea and makes
communication a continuous process.If our audience doesn’t understand what
we mean, we can tell by the response and then refine the message accordingly.
Giving our audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial for maintaining
an open communication climate.The speaker must create an environment that
encourages feedback. For example after explaining the job to the subordinated
he must ask them whether they have understood it or not. He should ask
questions like “Do you understand?”, “Do you have any doubts?” etc. At the
same time he must allow his subordinated to express their views also.
Sometimes a feedback could be a non-verbal, smiles, sighs and other times, it
is oral. It can also be written like replying to an e-mail, etc.
The concept of feedback is usually used to reflect a resource orientation,
rather than a receiver orientation or a process orientation when we talk about
the receiver’s response as feedback for the source, we are observing a
communication situation from the point of view of the source.‘Free flow
pattern of feedback’ has been found to be most effective in communicating
messages to audience as compared with other levels of feedback on the basis
of a knowledge and confidence score.
A limited answer pattern of feedback has been proved to be the second best
way of disseminating information.Thus it can be concluded that gain in
knowledge is directly proportional to the amount of feedback. In other
words, gain in knowledge is the function of feedback in the process of
communication.
“Communication is the two-way process.” Explain.

Two-way communication occurs when the receiver sends response or

feedback to sender’s message. In two-way communication process, the sender
first transmits the message to the receiver. After receiving a message, the
receiver decodes it and then sends back his or her reaction to the sender.
In two-way communication, information flows in two-ways: information
form sender to receiver and response from receiver to sender. So it is regarded
as the complete communication process.
Two-way communication may occur horizontally or vertically in the
organization. When information is exchanged between superior and
subordinate, it is known as vertical two-way communication. On the other
hand, when communication takes place between persons holding the same
rank or position, it is called horizontal two-way communication.
By nature, face-to-face and telephonic conversations are the examples of
two-way communication. In the case of written communication, two-way
flow of information will occur when receiver sends feedback.
In fine, it can be said that the communication process having provision for
feedback in termed as two-way communication.
Discuss the elements of communication process.
Seven major elements of communication process are: (1) sender (2) ideas (3)
encoding (4) communication channel (5) receiver (6) decoding and (7)
feedback.
(1) Sender:
The person who intends to convey the message with the intention of passing
information and ideas to others is known as sender or communicator.
(2) Ideas:
This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be an opinion,
attitude, feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.
(3) Encoding:
Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and intangible, its
further passing requires use of certain symbols such as words, actions or
pictures etc. Conversion of subject matter into these symbols is the process of
encoding.
(4) Communication Channel:
The person who is interested in communicating has to choose the channel for
sending the required information, ideas etc. This information is transmitted to
the receiver through certain channels which may be either formal or informal.
(5) Receiver:
Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom the message is
meant for. It is the receiver who tries to understand the message in the best
possible manner in achieving the desired objectives.
(6) Decoding:
The person who receives the message or symbol from the communicator tries
to convert the same in such a way so that he may extract its meaning to his
complete understanding.
(7) Feedback:
Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has received the message
and understood in the same sense as sender meant it.

Give three examples of brain drain in communication process.

Brain drain refers to the emigration (out-migration) of knowledgeable,
well-educated, and skilled professionals from their home country to another
country. This can take place because of several factors. The most obvious is
the availability of better job opportunities in the new country. Other factors
that can cause brain drain include: war or conflict, health risks, and political
instability.
Brain drain occurs most commonly when individuals leave less developed
countries(LDCs) with fewer opportunities for career advancement, research,
and academic employment and migrate to more developed countries (MDCs)
with more opportunities. However, it also occurs in the movement of
individuals from one more developed country to another more developed
country.
Examples of Brain Drain in Russia
In Russia, brain drain has been an issue since Soviet times. During the
Soviet-era and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, brain
drain occurred when top professionals moved to the West or to socialist states
to work in economics or science. The Russian government is still working to
counter this with the allocation of funds to new programs that encourage the
return of scientists that left Russia and encourages future professionals to
remain in Russia to work.

Examples of Brain Drain in India

The education system in India is one of the top in the world, boasting very few
drop-outs, but historically, once Indians graduate, they tend to leave India to
move to countries, such as the United States, with better job opportunities.
However, in the last few years, this trend has started to reverse itself.
Increasingly, Indians in America feel that they are missing the cultural
experiences of India and that there are currently better economic opportunities
in India.

Examples of Brain Drain in Africa

There is no reliable data on the extent of South African skilled emigration and
return migration. Statistics South Africa stopped collecting emigration data
more than a decade ago. This paper provides data from the turn of the century
collected in the countries to which South Africans emigrate. It first provides
detailed data on emigration to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada and the United States – the main destinations for emigrants from
South Africa. It then provides estimates for the United Arab Emirates. Finally,
it presents data for twenty-five other OECD countries. By contrast with
widespread claims that there has been a very large brain gain as South
Africans have returned following the global financial crisis, it shows that there
was still a net brain drain, albeit at a slower pace. The most recent data suggest
that the rate of emigration may be accelerating again.
Define formal communication. Discuss its merits and demerits
also.
The communication which follows established systems, rules, regulation,
procedures or any other prescribed ways and means are known as formal
communication. Such communication is also known as officials
communication because it follows the official rules, regulation, procedures
and systems established for communication.
Merits or advantages or important of formal communication:
The main advantages of formal communication are given below
• Increase overall efficiency: This type of communication is used by following
the predetermined rules so it increases the overall efficiency of the
organization.
• Easy communication system: The top level management communicates with
their employees by using formal downward communication system. Again the
employees communicate with their higher authority to use this system. It is
very much easy to communicate with each other.
• Permanent record: The copy of formal communication is always preserved
in the file and it is used as reference. As a result, it is easy to seek the copy of
it if necessary.
• Quick accomplishment of work: Sometimes the rapid communication is to
be needed with the employees. To use the formal downward communication
system it is possible to communicate with the employees quickly. So the work
may be done timely.
• Maintenance of discipline: Under the formal communication system the
workers are bound to be careful to their own duty. So ultimately it makes
discipline in the organization.
• Ease of cooperation and coordination: Cooperation and coordination is very
much essential to carry out the business activity smoothly. Formal
communication is a part of coordination. So, coordinated activities can be
done properly and easily through formal communication.
• Use as reference: Documents of the formal communication is recorded by
the organization. So, these recorded documents are use as a source of the
employees.
• Ease of delegation of authority: Authority is delegated by the superiors to the
subordinates through the help of this communication.
• Free from mistakes: Since formal communication has a well defined rules
and regulations. So, there is a little chance of mistakes in exchanging
information within the employees.
• Others: Increasing attention, reliability, accuracy, smooth communication
system, free form distortion, easy to understand, increasing company
goodwill etc.

These disadvantages of formal communication are given below

• Wastage of time: Top level management communicates with their
employees by maintaining the board of succession, not by-passing any
executive or any level. That is why it takes a lot of time and it wastages much
time of the concerned person.
• Inflexibility: Ordinarily the formal communication is inflexible. If
somebody out of the channel intends to change his views it is not possible.
Even when it is needed to change, it is very much difficult.
• Lack of initiative: Under this communication system everybody does their
duty by following specific predetermined system. So it makes the obstacle to
develop the creativeness of the employee.
• Authoritarian attitude: In this system the sender is higher authority and the
receiver is lower staffs. Generally the superior’s order cannot be disobeyed. It
creates an authoritarian culture in the organization.
• Lack of cordiality: In the formal communication system the subordinate
staffs strictly follow the order of superior authority. So the implementer of the
order does not obey their duty properly.
• Costly: In this system the organization policy and rules are obeyed properly.
Sometimes it creates crucial situation and it is a time being factor. For these,
the cost of formal communication system is higher than those of others.
Others: Lack of personal relation, delay in decision making, not suitable for
motivation, creates misunderstanding, create mental distance.
A) Downward communication
Downward communication is that communication in which information flows
form superior to subordinates. Through downward communication, managers
communicate organizational goals, policies, procedures, orders, instructions,
decisions etc. to their subordinates.
In the process of downward communication, messages of the top executive
reach to the lower levels moving through the chain of hierarchy. Downward
communication can be of written or oral. Written forms of downward
communication are manuals, handbook, notices, electronic news displays etc.
whereas, face-to-face conversation, telephonic conversations, speeches,
meetings etc. are the oral media of downward communication.
B)Upward communication
Upward communication is the flow of information from front line employees
to managers, supervisors, and directors.Upward communication keeps
managers aware of how employees feel about their jobs, policies and
procedures, and the business in general.
C)Horizontal communication
Horizontal communication is an important means of organizational
communication.Horizontal communication is the transmission of information
between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of
organizational hierarchy. You can distinguish it from vertical communication,
which is the transmission of information between different levels of the
organizational hierarchy. Horizontal communication is often referred to as
'lateral communication.
D) Consensus
Consensus means as common agreement of opinion, which is arrived at, after
Mutual Consultation. 'A Dictionary of Management' defines consensus as
“General agreement by a number of people, especially on fundamental
principles by people who had been differing views on related
matters.”Consensus communication is based on mutual consideration and
respect on the part of the members of a group. It involves consultation.
Consensus is arrived at after the discussion of a problem and after careful
consideration of possible solution to the problem. Once a final decision is
taken, and all the parties agree to stand by it, consensus is said to have been
reached.Consensus communication is very necessary within the organization
to present an image of unity and solidarity to the public outside the
organization.
E)Grapevine
Though grapevine provides innumerable utilities to the organization, still it is
not free from defects.Therefore, managers should try to use grapevine in a
way so that the organization can take the highest benefits from it.A grapevine
is a form of informal communication. It arises due to the co-existence of
people.Therefore, it is found in all organizations. It does not follow any
prescribed or predetermined rule and spreads any information
quickly.Through the grapevine, information flows in different directions
linking almost everyone of an organization.It is governed by social and
personal relationships rather than officially recognized rules and
formalities.Grapevine operates both in internal and external informal
channels. It passes opinions, suspicions, and rumors that generally do not
move through formal channels.By nature, the grapevine is a channel of
horizontal communication.However, in fact, it does not follow any set pattern.
It effectively operates horizontally, vertically and even diagonally.Grapevine
is a natural outgrowth person-to-person informal communication channel
through which information flows horizontally, vertically or diagonally
without following any set rule or regulation among the people within or
outside the organization.
Importance of informal communication in business
organization.

In modern communication system, informal communication is

found to be used in a mutual supplementary way with the formal
communication system. For the following reasons, informal
communication system is given most importance now a days:

1. Completeness of Formal Communication: In modern age, an

organization can not fully depend on one type of communication
system. In order to complete any formal communication, informal
communication and grapevine communicationprovides a huge
boost to organizational employees.

2. Organizational Solidarity: The existence of informal

communication proves that the workers are interested in their
association. The important fact is that they talk among themselves
and help to promote organizational solidarity. If properly used, it
may raise the morale of the workers.

3. Supplement to other channels: All information can not be

transmitted to the employees through the official channels. If there
is some useful information unsuitable for being transmitted through
official channels, it can be transmitted through the informal channel.

4. Quick Transmission: The speed at which informal

communication is transmitted is just remarkable. Just select a leader
and give him some information, cleverly describing it as 'Top
Secret', and within minutes, it will spread like wild fire to all.

5. Feedback: Informal communication provides feedback to the

management. It enables management to know what the subordinates
think about the organization and its various activities.

6. Increased Efficiency: Such communication helps to solve various

complex issues existing in any organization. It opens the door for
mutual communication between superiors and subordinates.
Therefore, subordinates feel free to interact frankly which can
influence their efficiency.

7. Prompt Solution: Employees can put forward their various

complaints and superiors can give prompt solution accordingly.
This helps a lot for creating a congenial working
and communication environment.

8. Better Working Environment: Informal communication is free

from any pressure and hazard. This helps the sender and receiver to
resolve their respective problem mutually.

9. Spontaneous Attitude: People involved with informal

communication do not hesitate to exchange views and ideas as there
is no pressure to all. They have open mind to share information with
positive attitude.

10. Development of Personal Relation: Informal communication is

very much helpful to create intimacy. Communicator and
communicate come closer to each other to express their views. This
helps to develop personal relation.
Distinguish between the upward and downward communication
with examples.
The semantic barriers to effective communication and how it
will be overcome.

Types of Semantic Barriers in Communication

Denotative Barriers
Direct meaning of any word which must be shared by two people to
understand each other is the denotative meaning. The barriers that arise due to
the definition or meaning of a word used differently by sender and receiver is
denotative barriers of communication.

Connotative Barriers
Connotative Barriers The implied meaning of a word is known as Connotative
meaning. Connotative barrier in communication refers to the difference of
meaning according to different abstract situations, contexts, actions and
feelings. Both the communicators know both meanings of the word, but use
only one meaning according to the context, which might be being used
differently in the context. For example, the word god, which is used
differently by people following different religions.
Causes of Semantic Barriers in Communication
Homophones, homonyms and homographs Homophones Homophones are the
words with same pronunciation but different meaning which might have
different spelling too. For example: Words buy, by and bye. They have same
pronunciation, but different meanings and spellings. Homonyms Homonyms
are the words which have the same pronunciation and their spellings are
mostly same, but the intended meaning is different. For example, the noun
"bear" and the verb "bear" has different meanings but same pronunciation and
spelling. Homographs Homographs are the words that have the same spelling
but the pronunciation and meaning are different. For example, "The research
lead to the discovery of lead". In this sentence, both the words have the same
spelling, but different pronunciation and different meanings. These words can
be interpreted wrongly when used unknowingly causing the semantic barrier
in a communication process. This, in turn, makes the communication
ineffective.
Body language and gestures
When, what you speak and your body language (kinesics) is different, the
listener can get offended. Inconsistent body language creates conflict. Action
and language must always go together to make people trust you. Differences
in dialects A person, who speak more than one language can not speak a
particular language they use less in the same way he/she speaks their native
language or mother tongue. People from different parts of the world use
different dialects for the same language and pronounce a word differently. It
causes semantic barrier as meaning of words are different.
Solutions to overcome semantic barriers
We should prefer words which are familiar to the receiver in the interpretation
we wish to give them. If we want the receiver to give an unfamiliar meaning to
a familiar word within the context of our message, we should make it amply
clear the first time we use it. If we feel that a word being used by us is likely to
be unfamiliar to the receiver, we should make its meaning clear the first time
we use it. Whenever possible, we should choose words with positive rather
than negative connotations. When semantic barriers are less in any
communication, the communication is effective and desired results can be
obtained.
Explain how the wrong choice of a medium acts as a barrier to
effective communication.

Environmental Barriers: Distracting sounds, an overcrowded room, poor

facilities and acoustics, all of which may hinder the ability to listen to and
understand the message.
Individual Barriers: A major barrier to interpersonal communication is a
tendency to judge, evaluate, approve or disapprove of the views of another
person. This happens particularly in situations where we have strong feelings
about something. In such cases, we tend to block out the communication and
form our own viewpoints.
Organizational Barriers: In organizations there are many hierarchies. Message
have to pass through many levels before they finally reach the receiver. Each
level may add to, modify or completely change the message, so much so that it
may be distorted by the time it reaches the intended receiver. In other words,
there is likely to be loss of meaning and message may not reach the receiver in
the same way as it was intended by the sender.
Status consciousness
Status consciousness is widely known to be a serious communication barrier
in organizations. It leads to psychological distancing which further leads to
breakdown of communication or miscommunication.In the same way one's
family background formulates one's attitude and communication skills.
Attitude and opinions
Attitude and perception can affect business communication in both positive
and negative ways. Pleasant, respectful, upbeat attitudes throughout an office
improve upward and downward communication, which increases morale,
productivity and sales. Poor communication behavior on the other hand, must
be dealt with before it impacts the company culture or collapses the company
itself. Colleagues with extreme points of view may find it hard to see one
another’s perspective because each has the attitude that the other must be
wrong without taking time to analyze the situation. Likewise, employees with
similar attitudes may inadvertently overlook instances of miscommunication
because they believe they are always in agreement with one another. Turn
poor communication habits around, first by recognizing them, and then by
setting productive examples.
Emotions
Emotional awareness, or the ability to understand feelings, will help you
succeed when communicating with other people You will notice
the emotions of other people, and how the way they are feeling influences
the way they communicate. You will also better understand what others
are communicating to you and why.
Close Mind
A cold tendency to accept new ideas is what characterizes
a closed-minded person. These people have overly deep rooted beliefs, and it
doesn't really matter to them if what they hold is right or wrong.
A closed-minded person often is someone who is very stubborn to modify
his views or behavior.
Poor retention
Emotional state causes some physiological changes in our body that may
affect the Page 2 pronunciation, pressure of the speech, and tone of the voice
of the sender as well as the perception, thinking process, and information
interpretation of the receiver during verbal communication.
Faulty transmission
Hence when we are either excited or agitated, we tend to block
the transmission of a message and cause breach of communication.Faulty
transmission: Sometimes a message is lost when it is not properly
transmitted either due to a defective channel or due to the unpreparedness of
the receiver.
Source of information
Communication source. A source or sender is one of the basic concepts of
communication and information processing. Sources are objects which
encode message data and transmit the information, via a channel, to one or
more observers (or receivers).
Explain the general principles of effective communication.
1. Have A Goal
First, you need to determine what you want your audience to do or get out of
your communication. Are you positioning yourself as a thought leader or are
you persuading them to take action? Figuring out your ideal outcome at the
start and intentionally crafting your communication to reach for that goal
will make it much more effective. Decide which KPIs can best demonstrate
that your goals have been met, whether it’s clicks, social shares, sign ups or
purchases.
2. Listen
Good communication is never one way. It’s why no one likes being stuck
with uncle Preston at the family BBQ because he’ll breathlessly tell you,
again, in excruciating detail, how he fixed his lawnmower that one time.
Without giving you a chance to say a word, that will launch him into another
story about the types of birds he’s seen in his yard this summer. And it goes
on and on.Likewise, if you never listen to what your audience is saying or
give them a chance to engage, you’ll struggle to effectively connect with
them. So, do your research, read what they’re writing, ask for their feedback
and incorporate what they’re looking for into what you’re trying to
communicate.
3. Adjust To Your Medium
Context about where and how your communication is being consumed is a
vital factor to consider. For example, you wouldn’t say certain things
through written communication because the tone and inflection of the
spoken word isn’t there. In the same vein, you would communicate
differently on the phone than face-to-face because the other person can’t see
your face, hand gestures or body language.Therefore, once you decide the
most appealing format to reach your audience, make sure your content
and messaging is tailored for that medium. If it’s for Twitter, you’ll want
something that’s short, visually appealing and will maybe start a
conversation. But if it’s a blog post, you’ll want to go into more detail on a
mobile-optimized, easy-to-read page.
4. Stay Organized
When starting out, create a cohesive, high-level outline that includes your
goal, your main point(s) to get across and the main ways you’re going to
illustrate them for your audience. Stay focused on this plan, be methodic in
your research and avoid scope creep.
5. Be Persuasive
This is the whole reason you’re communicating, so do it well! Different
people are persuaded differently. So, if appropriate, appeal to their rational
side with relevant facts to back up your main argument. But, perhaps more
importantly in many instances, you should also appeal to your
audience’s emotional side. Studies have shown that our emotional brain
processes information five times faster than the logical side of our brain. So,
use images and stories that elicit happiness, hope, humor or surprise to get
you closer to your communication goal.
6. Be Clear
Begone jargon! Farewell wordiness! Adios spelling mistakes! Keep your
writing clear and concise. Moreover, explicitly state what you’re arguing,
keep it as short as possible, avoiding long words when a short one will do
and generally keep your sentences below 30 words. Usually, this just
requires going through a few rounds of editing to take out all that’s
unnecessary.
7. Visuals Are Important
When communicating with an audience, variety can go a long way. Humans
comprehend new information in a number of ways but many are primarily
visual people. In fact, you can comprehend visual data in as little as 13
milliseconds! Accordingly, you can more effectively connect with your
audience by using compelling visuals to draw in your audience and explain
your point in addition to just text. Visuals can also help you appeal to your
audience’s emotional side.
8. Use Stories
Another way to connect with your audience and communicate your ideas is
with relevant illustrative stories. People are natural story tellers and listeners.
This inborn trait stretches across cultures and, for me, is especially evident
with how kids are so quickly drawn to story books.Stories are great ways to
make ideas more tangible to people and can also humanize what you’re
communicating. Appealing to your audience’s more emotional side, stories
are also more likely to be remembered than the other elements of what you
communicate. So, if you really want people to understand and remember
your point, add in a story that illustrates it.
9. Less Is More
Your audience is likely busy. So don’t waste your (or their) time with
irrelevant tidbits, repeated information or details that may be related but
don’t help you with your main communication goal. It will lead to
disengagement, less information being retained and take away from the
effectiveness of your efforts. When in doubt, err on the side of clarity.
10. Be Curious
Finally, resolve to always be learning. While some things remain the same,
the how and what we communicate is constantly evolving. Read lots, talk to
mentors and never assume you know everything when it comes to good
communication. For your individual efforts, test different formats and styles
to see what works best when connecting with your unique audience and
always be open to feedback.
Explain the seven Cs of written communication.

There are 7 C’s of effective communication which are applicable to both

written as well as oral communication. These are as follows:
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 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.
2.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.
3.Consideration - Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”.
Effective communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the
audience’s viewpoints, 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.
4.Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a
time, rather than trying to achieve too much at once. Clarity in
communication has following features:It makes understanding
easier.Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances the meaning of
message.Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate and concrete words.
5.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
6.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
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.
7.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.