7Cs OF EFFECTIVE COM M UNICATION

Class: M .S.W.
Semester : IInd
Course Code : 204
Paper : Counseling and Communicat ion
Topic : 7Cs OF EFFECTIVE COM M UNICATION
Sub topic: Effect ive communicat ion, Principles of effect ive communicat ion.
Key Words : clarit y, correct ness, conciseness, courtesy, concreteness,
considerat ion and completeness.
Prepared by: Prof. Vandana Sinha
Professor
Dept . of Social Work
M . G. Kashi Vidyapit h
Varanasi
E: mail:
drvandana888@mgkvp.ac.in
 DECLARATION

“ This cont ent is exclusively meant for academic

purposes and for enhancing t eaching and
learning. Any ot her use for economic / commercial
purpose is st rict ly prohibit ed. The users of t he
cont ent shall not dist ribut e, disseminat e or share
it w it h anyone else and it s use is rest rict ed t o
advancement of individual know ledge. The
informat ion provided in t his e-cont ent is
aut hent ic and best as per my know ledge.”
 CONTENTS
1. Learning Object ives
2. Int roduct ion
3. 7 Cs of effect ive communicat ion
4. Clarit y
5. Correct ness
6. Conciseness
7. Court esy
8. Concret eness
9.Considerat ion
10. Complet eness.
11. Summary
12. Suggest ed Reading
13. Check your Progress
14. Reference
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Aft er going t hrough t his cont ent you w ill be

able t o:
• Understand t he skill of effect ive
communicat ion. barriers in an organizat ion.
• Gain know ledge about t he principles of
effect ive communicat ion w hich are also know n
as 7 Cs of effect ive communicat ion.
 INTRODUCTION
• The 7 C’s of effect ive communicat ion would help you
to attain your goal. These are certain principles of
communicat ion.

They are called 7 C’s because each of t hese principles begins

wit h t he alphabet “ C”.
Clarit y
Correct ness
Conciseness
Court esy
Concret eness
Considerat ion
Complet eness
 7Cs of Effective Communication
 The abilit y to communicate effect ively w it h ot hers is
considered a good qualit y of successful people. So in
order to compose an effect ive oral speech or w ritten
message, you just need to understand psychology of
your client s, your organizat ion, and t he communit y .
The 7 C’s of effect ive communicat ion combined w it h
principles would help you to attain your goal, follow
certain principles.
 Communicat ion skills are important t hat plays in
professional life from understanding your client to
make a perfect problem solving approach. Different
st udies showed t hat it is an important skill t hat helps
to generate more leads.
 1.Clarity
• Clarit y is t he soul of a message. It means t he accurat e t ransfer
of ideas from t he sender ’s side t o t he receiver. Every message
should be conveyed in a clear manner. Clarit y comes t hrough
clear t hinking. A good message shows t he idea direct ly and
clearly.
• A writ er should not st art t he message unless he knows how
(use of language) and what (cent ral idea) he want s t o say. A
message writ t en in t he simple and ordinary language is always
nat ural and appreciable.
• To achieve clarity, keep in mind the follow ing points:
– Use common and simple language.
– Const ruct effect ive sentences and short paragraphs.
– Use concrete words instead of abst ract words.
– Avoid unnecessary informat ion.
 2. Correctness
• Language expert s say t hat w rit ing is art but difficult .
There is no shortcut t o being a good w riter. It is learned
t hrough consistent pract ice and constant st ruggle. The
message being communicated must be correct .
Correct ness refers to correct grammar, punct uat ion,
and spelling. Though mistakes are never intent ional yet
t hey spoil t he image.
• To achieve correct ness, follow t hese guidelines:
– Check t he accuracy of fact s and figures.
– Check mist akes in punct uat ion, grammar, and capit alizat ion.
– Check misspelled words.
– Use t he right level of language.
 3.Conciseness
• The beaut y of dict ion lies in it s conciseness.
Conciseness means brief and complete. Be as brief as
possible. But it must not be so brief as to be
discourteous.
• Conciseness is a pre-requisite to effect ive messages. A
concise message saves t ime and expense for both
sender and receiver.
• To achieve conciseness, observe t he following
suggest ions:
– Remove t he wordy expressions.
– Include only relevant mat erial.
– Avoid unnecessary repet it ion.
 4.Courtesy
• Court esy is t he most import ant qualit y of t he messenger.
“ Everyone gains where court esy reigns” is an old but wise saying.
Court esy means polit eness. It is an att it ude t hat shows respect
for ot hers. It helps in building goodwill.
• It is not enough to use polit e expressions like” t hank you”,
” kindly”, “ we appreciat e”, “ please” et c but t he whole lett er must
have a court eous t one.
• To achieve court esy, keep in mind t he following point s:
– Be sincere.
– Use expressions t hat show respect .
– Be t hought ful and appreciat ive of t he receiver ’s point of view.
– Avoid humor.
– Avoid discriminatory language i.e., race, color, gender, creed etc.
 5.Concreteness
• Communicat ing concret ely means being specific,
meaningful and clear. Vague and general
messages result in no response. It helps t he
receiver t o understand t he exact idea. Concret e
use of available fact s and figures adds t o t he
aut hent icit y of t he message.
• To achieve concret eness, consider t he follow ing
ways:
– Use clear and image building words.
– Use specific fact s and figures.
– Use act ive voice t han passive voice.
 6.Consideration
• Considerat ion is to put you in t he place of t he receiver.
It means preparing every message w it h t he message
receiver in mind. This mode of considerat ion is called
“ you att it ude”.
• When you are t ruly considerate, you t ry to show
sincere regard for his interest s and benefit s. To be
considerate, t he follow ing point s should be kept in
mind:
– See your mat erial from your reader ’s point of view.
– Focus on “ you” inst ead of ” we” e.g.,
– Be sure about t he benefit s of t he receiver.
– Consider t he needs and problems of t he receiver.
– Use posit ive and opt imist ic
 7.Completeness
• A message should be complete to bring t he desired result . A
complete message contains all t he fact s required by t he
receiver. The receiver ’s react ion to an incomplete message
is often unfavorable. An incomplete message shows
negligence and carelessness of t he w riter.
• For completeness follow t hese guidelines:
– Remember t he five W’s (w hat , w hen, w here, w hy, w ho)
and how.
– Provide all t he necessary informat ion.
– Answer all t he quest ions asked.
– Include addit ional informat ion, if desired.
• It can be said that awareness of these 7 C’s of effective
communication makes you a good communicator.
7 Cs as Key to Effective Communication

It can be said that awareness of

seven C’s discussed in the
previous slides are the key to
effective communication and
make you a good communicator
 Summary
Communicat ion skills are important t hat plays in
professional life from understanding your client
t o make a perfect problem solving approach.
The seven C's of communication are a list of
principles for w ritt en and spoken
communicat ions t o ensure t hat t hey are
effect ive. The seven C's are: clarity, correctness,
conciseness, courtesy, concreteness,
consideration and completeness.
 SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Sengupta Sailesh;(2011 ), Business and

M anagerial Communicat ion, PHI Learning Pvt .
Ltd., Delhi.
2.Ganguli Siddhart h;(2014), Business
Communicat ion, Plat inum Publishers, Kolkata.
3.Kumar S. and Lata P.; ( 2015 ) Communicat ion
Skills. Oxford Univ. Press, N.Delhi.
 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. What is meant by t he effect ive communicat ion ?

2. Writ e dow n t he 7 Cs of effect ive communicat ion
in an organizat ion .
3. Describe t he principle of clarit y for effect ive
communicat ion.
4.Writ e dow n short not es on follow ing:
(i)Principle of correct ness
(ii) Principle of considerat ion
 References
• 1. Sengupta Sailesh;(2011 ), Business and M anagerial
Communicat ion, PHI Learning Pvt . Ltd., Delhi.
• 2.Ganguli Siddhart h;(2014), Business Communicat ion,
Plat inum Publishers, Kolkata.
• 3.Kumar S. and Lata P.; ( 2015 ) Communicat ion Skills.
Oxford Univ. Press, N.Delhi.
• 4. course.lumenlearning.com/ principles
management / chapter/ 12-3 communicat ion barrier.
• 5.w w w.yourart iclelibrary.com>business-
communicat ion>barriers
• 6.w w w.management st udyguide.com/ communicat ion_barri
ers.ht ml
• 7. st udy.com/ academy/ lesson/ barriers to effect ive
communicat ion-definit ion-examples.ht ml.