GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Since communication is a two-way process, it is important that you know the principles to
be observed to make it effective. For both oral and written communication, you should be
able to apply the following principles:

1.) Know your purpose in communicating. Are you communicating basically to inform, to
entertain, or to persuade? While you may have more than one purpose, you there is still a
more dominant objective or reason why you communicate.

2.) Know your audience. In both speaking and writing,you should know your audience as it
will dictate the speaking and writing style you are going to employ. Consider the age,
educational background, profession, culture and other salient features of your listeners or
readers.

3.) Know your topic. You communicate essentially because you want to share something. In
speaking situations, speakers are invited because they have something to share. This is also
applies to writing. You write because you wish that other people learn something from you.

4.) Adjust your speech or writing to the context of the situation. The environment in which
your speech or writing is to be delivered determines the kind of language you will use.

5.) Work on the feedback given you. Once you received comments from the listeners/
readers, work on them. Take kindly to criticisms. In the long run, constructive criticisms will
prove beneficial to you as you learn to address them.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE ORAL COMMUNICATION

1.) Be clear with your purpose. You should know by heart your objective in communicating.

2.) Be complete with your message you deliver. Make sure that your claims are supported by
facts and essential information.

3.) Be concise. You do not need to be verbose or wordy with your statements. Brevity in
speech is a must.
4.) Be natural with your delivery. Punctuate important words with the appropriate gestures
and movements. Exude a certain degree of confidence even if you do not feel confident
enough.

5.) Be specific and timely with your feedback . Inputs are most helpful when provided on
time.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION : THE 7Cs

1.) Be clear. Be clear with your message. Always be guided by your purpose in
communicating.

2.) Be concise. Always stick to the point and do not beat or run around the bush. Be brief by
focusing on your main point.

3.) Be concrete. Support your claims with enough facts. Your reader will easily know if your
are bluffing or deceiving them because there is nothing to substantiate your claims.

4.) Be correct. It is important that you observe grammatical correctness in your writing.
Always have time to revise and edit your work.

5.) Be coherent. Your writing becomes coherent only when you convey a logical message. The
ideas should be connected to each other and related to the topic. Use transitional or cohesive
so that the ideas cohere with one another.

6.) Be complete. Include all necessary and relevant information so that the audience will not
be left wanting of any information. Always place yourself in the shoes of the audience, who is
always interested to receive new information.

7.) Be courteous. The tone of your writing should be friendly. Avoid any overtone/ undertone
or insinuation to eliminate confusion and misinterpretation.

ETHICS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication ethics emphasizes that morals influence the behavior of an individual,

group, or organization thereby affecting their communication. For instance, given the
unethical communication practice of a certain company concealing the non remittance of
deducted premiums from employees' salaries to the SSS or GSIS, the company's
accountability to its employees is undoubtedly affected. Compare this situation with that of
an organization that observes ethical practice and remits the employees' monthly
contributions to the SSS or GSIS regularly by honesty, decency, truthfulness, sincerity, and
moral uprightness.

Be guided by the following to achieve ethical communication:

1.) Establish an effective value system that will pave the way for the development of your
integrity as a person. One's behavior and decision- making style affect, in turn, the operations
of an organization.

2.) Provide complete and accurate information. Whether it is needed or not, the data you
provide should always be contextualized and correct.

3.) Disclose vital information adequately and appropriately. Never conceal or hide
information that are necessary for purposes of transparency.

Observing a code of ethics is essential as it determines the kind of behavior that is

proper and desirable over one that is displeasing and offensive. A code of ethics sets the
standards to be observed by a person or a company that will create a good reputation or a
positive image not only for an individual but also for the organization.It will therefore, pave
the way for the attainment of the desired results leading to the success of an individual or the
entire company. Success in decision- making will likewise impact the company's reputation.

Reference :

Madrunio, M.R., Martin, I.P., Purposive Communication Using English in Multilingual

Contexts.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.) How do the principles of effective oral communication differ from those of effecetive
written communication? Do they have similarities at all?

2.) How can one observe ethics in communication?

3.) Why is it important to have a code of conduct or a code of ethics?