By A. M.

Rizvi
 Completeness

Correctness Conciseness

7 C’s
Courtesy Consideration

Clarity Concreteness
 Message should contain all facts
 Remember the communication model, the
mental status of receiver, other influences on
receiver, barriers
 For completeness in your message, always
remember:
◦ Provide all necessary information
◦ Answer all question as asked
◦ When desirable, give something extra
 Provide all necessary information:
◦ Make sure to provide all info the receiver needs for
thorough, accurate understanding

◦ Who, What, When, Where, Why, How

 Answer all questions:
◦ Incomplete reply will lead to unfavorable response
◦ Shows carelessness, concealing facts or weak spot
◦ Omissions casts suspicions
◦ If you lack information for a certain question, clearly state
◦ For an unfavorable information as an answer to a question,
handle with tact and honesty
◦ If you need some more information before replying, ask
and then reply
 When desirable, give something extra
◦ Go an extra mile

◦ Sometime you are needed to do more than the

specific questions

◦ This will help you to achieve your personal and

business goals easily

 Checklist of Completeness:

◦ Remember the Ws: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How

◦ Answer all questions: either stated or implied

◦ Give extra information where desirable

 Credibility of the communicator: Five decisions are
made about the communication source:
◦ Competence: Does the sender know his / her message?
◦ Character: Does the receiver perceive the sender as an
honest person?
◦ Composure: Does the sender give the impression of being
calm and collected, particularly in stressful conditions?
◦ Sociability: Does the sender come across as a likeable
individual?
◦ Extroversion: Does the source exhibit outgoing tendencies
rather than timidity?
 Saying what you want to say in the fewest possible
words, without compromising on other 6 C’s
 A concise message is complete without being wordy
 A prerequisite to effective communication
 Concise message saves time and money of sender and
receiver
 It contributes to emphasis by eliminating unnecessary
words
 “You-View,” messages are more attractive to receivers
 Shows respect for receivers by reducing unnecessary
information
 For Conciseness, always do:
◦ Eliminate wordy expressions
◦ Include only relevant material
◦ Avoid unnecessary repetition
 Eliminating wordy expressions:
◦ Use single words substitute instead of phrases
 At this time
 Now
 In due course
 Soon
◦ Remove unnecessary expressions
 Allow me to say how helpful your response was
 Your response was helpful
◦ Replace wordy conventional statements with concise versions
 Please find attached the list you have requested
 The list you requested is attached
 Eliminating wordy expressions:
◦ Avoid over using empty phrases
 There are four rules that should be observed at cash
counter
 Four rules should be observed at cash counter
◦ Remove Which and That whenever possible
 The receipt that is enclosed with, documents your
purchase
 Enclosed receipt documents your purchase
 Eliminating wordy expressions:
◦ Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases
 The issue of the most relevance is the team work
 The most relevant issue is team work
◦ Limit use of Passive voice
 The assignments are to be submitted by all students prior to
5:30 pm, at which time they will be received by Dr. Xar
 Please submit your assignments to Dr. Xar by 5:30 pm
 Include only relevant material:
◦ Avoid irrelevant statements
◦ Stick to the purpose of the message
◦ Delete irrelevant words and rambling sentences
◦ Remove information obvious to receiver, do not repeat what has
been discussed / told to you. If you feel some information is to
be repeated and reminded, do it tactfully
◦ Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanations, excessive
adjectives & prepositions, pompous words, gushy politeness
◦ Get to the point
 Avoid unnecessary repetition:
◦ Sometimes it is necessary for emphasis
◦ Use shorter words / names, for e.g. Iqra University to IU
◦ Use pronouns or initials rather than repeat long names, for
e.g. Member of National Assembly to MNA
◦ Cut all needless repetitions of phrases and sentences
◦ Use bullets instead of long sentences
 Checklist of Conciseness:
◦ Use one word in place of phrases, one sentence
in place of two
◦ Remove outdated expressions
◦ Ask yourself: What material is really relevant?
◦ Look for unnecessary repetition
 Preparing every message with the message Receiver in
the mind
 Put yourself in place of receiver
 Also called
◦ You Attitude
◦ Empathy
◦ Human Touch
◦ Understanding Human Nature
 Consideration lies under the other 6 C’s
 Adapt your language and message content to the
receiver’s needs, to make your message complete
 Ways to indicate consideration:
◦ Focus on “you” instead of “I” and “We”
◦ Show audience benefit or Interest in the receiver
◦ Emphasize positive, pleasant facts
 Focus on “you” instead of “I” and “We”
◦ Create considerate, audience oriented message
◦ Focus on how receiver will benefit
◦ Downplay your feelings
◦ Emphasize on discussion point
 I am delighted to announce that we will be extending the
banking hours to make banking more convenient
 You will be able to avail bank services with extended hours
 Focus on “you” instead of “I” and “We”
◦ Consideration is more than You attitude
◦ Use of You can lead to insensitive feelings in a
negative situation
 You failed to enclose your cheque in the envelop
 The envelop received did not have a cheque in it
 You are completely ignoring the facts of the case
 The case includes four facts that needs attention
◦ Avoid sarcastic, insulting, tactless, untrue
accusations, threatening words
 Show audience benefit or Interest in the
receiver
◦ Receiver should benefit from the message /
announcement
◦ Benefits must meet recipients’ needs, address their
concerns, offer them rewards
◦ You must identify the legitimate benefits of your
position, policy or product, and than put yourself in
place of receiver
◦ Receivers will react favorably & do what you suggest if
you show that benefits are worth the effort & cost
 Show audience benefit or Interest in the
receiver
◦ In situations where actual direct benefit is impossible
or irrelevant to the subject matter, the message
should at least show interest in and concern for the
recipients needs or view points
◦ Merely inserting the word You, does not ensure You
attitude
◦ This helps collect payments, bills, soften the blow in a
turndown, and sell products
 Emphasize positive, pleasant facts
◦ Stress on what can be done, instead of what cannot be done
◦ Focus on words which are considered favorable by the
receivers
 It is impossible to open an account for you today
 As soon as the details reaches us we will gladly open your
account
 When traveling for an official visit, you will not receive
approval for the Business class fare
 For official tours, the approved fare is of Economy class
 Emphasize positive, pleasant facts
◦ Favorable words: benefits, cordial, happy, help, generous,
loyal, pleasure, thanks, thoughtful

◦ Unfavorable words: blame, complaint, failed, fault,

negligence, regret, reject, trouble, unfair

 True consideration is a result of integrity and ethics in

communication
 Checklist of Consideration:
◦ See your material from your receivers’ point of view
◦ “YOU” is more desirable than “I” or “we” in most
instances
◦ Receivers like to see benefits, be sure benefits are a
prominent part of your message
◦ Consciously use positive words, readers will react
more favorably
 Be specific, definite and vivid
 No to vogue and generalized words
 Use denotations, avoid connotations
 Guidelines to compose concrete & convincing
messages:
◦ Use specific facts and figures
◦ Put action in your verbs
◦ Choose vivid, image building words
 Use Specific Facts & Figures:
◦ Use exact, precise statement or figure instead of a
generalized word
 He is strict
 He takes attendance at 5:30 pm
◦ Avoid words of uncertainty: slightly, small, soon,
early, high, about, most, a few, slow, very, almost,
several
 Put Action In Your Verbs:
◦ Use active verbs
◦ Avoid passive verbs
◦ Active verbs make your sentences more:
 Specific, Personal, Concise, & Emphatic
◦ Passive voice is used:
 To avoid personal, blunt accusations, or comments
 Choose Vivid, Image-building Words:
◦ Use sensory appeal, comparisons, figurative
language, concrete nouns
◦ Sensory appeal: to one or more of 5 senses
◦ Comparisons: figurative and literal
 Checklist of Concreteness:
◦ Be precise in using facts and figures wherever
possible
◦ Use active rather than passive voice
◦ Action in verbs
◦ Occasionally use vivid, image building words. In
business writing use them sparingly
 Getting the message from your head to the
receivers’ head accurately
 Choose Precise, Concrete and Familiar Words
◦ Use short words instead of long words
◦ Avoid foreign languages (e.g. Latin words)
◦ Use foreign language terminology only in professional
writing (Rx, BID, HS, Dr. Cr.)
 Construct Effective Sentences and Paragraphs
◦ Length
◦ Unity
◦ Coherence
◦ Emphasis
 Checklist of Clarity:
◦ Choose a precise / concrete word
◦ Select words with high sense of appropriateness for
the reader
◦ Opt for familiar words
◦ Average sentence length of 17 to 20 words
◦ One main idea in a sentence
◦ Main idea in early part of sentence
 Courtesy involves being aware not only of others
perspective but also about their feelings
 The serious ‘You’ attitude
 It is not Politeness, Please or Thank You
 For a courteous language and tone in writing and
speaking, do:
◦ Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative
◦ Use expressions that show respect
◦ Choose non discriminatory expressions
 Be sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful, & Appreciative
 Tact:
◦ Some persons are intentionally abrupt or blunt – negative
traits causing discourtesy
◦ Negative personal attitude, mistaken idea of conciseness,
not knowing the culture of organization / country / group
of people
◦ Writing to external customers require additional niceties
compared to internal customers. Even a longer version of
written documents is required
 Thoughtful & Appreciative:
◦ Communicators who send cordial and courteous
messages of deserved congratulations and appreciations
to both external and internal customers help build
goodwill
◦ Goodwill built in this way helps in achieving personal and
organizational level goals
◦ Goodwill can not be quantified in Rupees / money, but it
is worth millions of rupees
◦ Be specially thoughtful and courteous with Asians, who
like soft language and polite approach (both written and
oral communication)
 Use expressions that show respect:
◦ Would you like to receive messages that offend?
◦ Remove irritating Expressions from your communication,
especially when used with You / Your. Examples:
 I do not agree with you, If you care, I am sure you must realize
now, Irresponsible, Obnoxious, Obviously overlooked, Owing to
your questionable credit we are unable to, simply nonsense,
surely you do not except, we are amazed you can not, We find it
difficult to believe that, Why have you ignored, You are
probably ignorant of the fact that, Your forgot to, You failed to .
..
 Use expressions that show respect:
 Remove Questionable Humor
◦ Your laugh can become disgusting for other person
◦ Individuals’ Sense of humor differs
◦ When in doubt - use formal communication
◦ Example:
 Oh boy, where is the attachment

 Kindly resend the e mail with the attachment

 Choose non discriminatory expressions to reflect equal
treatment of persons, regardless of gender, race, ethnic
origin, and physical features
 Avoid Gender specific words:
◦ For a long time, MAN was denoted for humanity, now it is
connected to male humans. Therefore, neutral words should be
used
◦ Examples:
 Freshman / First year students
 Manpower / workers, employees, work force
 Man made / built, manufactured, constructed
 Best man for this position / the best person, suitable person,
best candidate for this position
 Singular Pronouns:
◦ English language lacks a neuter singular pronoun
signifying ‘He’ or ‘She’
◦ Masculine pronouns are widely accepted
◦ Avoid using Masculine pronouns
◦ Examples
 Any one who comes late in class will get himself marked
absent / Students who come late in class will be marked
absent
 Each faculty member has an assigned parking place. He
should park his car … / Every faculty member has been
assigned a parking place. Each car should be parked in . . .
 When using names, treat each gender with respect
 Check list of Courtesy:
◦ Ask yourself: Does the communication have a sincere ‘You’
attitude
◦ Have someone else look at your statement if you have
doubts about whether it is tactful. Another opinion may
cause you to reconsider making a statement
◦ Be cautious in using humor in communication. Here too it
pays to have someone else review your words
◦ Be careful in using discriminatory language, this means
being aware of gender, race, age, color, creed, sexual
preferences, or ethnic origin
 Correct grammar, punctuation, and spellings

 A communication message may be perfect

grammatically but it can still insult some one due to
incorrect language and facts

 For correctness:

◦ Use the right level of language

◦ Check accuracy of figures

◦ Acceptable writing mechanics

 Use the right level of language
◦ Formal
◦ Informal
◦ Sub-standard

 Formal Language:
◦ Scholarly writing, doctoral dissertations, scholarly articles,
legal documents, top-level government agreements
◦ Style is unconventional, usually impersonal, often contains
long and involved sentences
 Informal Language: aka business writing. Usage of
words that are short, well-known and
conversational
◦ More Formal Words: participate, procure, endeavor,
ascertain, deem, utilize, interrogate

◦ Less Formal Words: Join, get, try, find out, think, use ,
question
 Sub-standard Language: Avoid it. Using incorrect
words, incorrect grammar, faulty pronunciation all
suggest inability to use good language
◦ Sub-standard: can’t, can’t hardly, aim at proving, desirous
to, ir-regardless

◦ More acceptable: aren’t, can hardly, aim to prove, desirous

of, regardless, brought, should have
 Check accuracy of Figures, Facts and Words
◦ It is impossible to convey meaning precisely through words
from sender to receiver’s mind
◦ The goal is to be as precise as possible
◦ Ensure by checking and double checking the correctness of
figures, facts and words
 Figures and Facts:
◦ Verify statistical date
◦ Double check totals
◦ Avoid guessing at Laws that can impact on sender and
receiver
◦ Cross check with someone else to verify
◦ Are facts updated or redundant due to time
 Words that Confuse:
◦ Languages are alive – changing daily. E.g.
 A, An
 Accept. Except
 Anxious, Eager
 Between. Among
 Effect, Affect
 Farther, Further
 Eminent. Imminent
 Continual, Continuous
 Counsel, Council
 Principal, Principle
 Which, That, Who (Things, Persons / things, People)
 Maintain Acceptable Writing Mechanics
◦ Grammar Checks
◦ Spell Checks
◦ Other software based tools
◦ In totality these software help us but needs to be verified
by the sender
 Checklist of Correctness:
◦ Select the right level of language for communication, either
formal or informal. Avoid sub-standard language
◦ Informal language is used in business communication
◦ Check – often by letting another person reading your
material – for correct figures, facts and words
◦ Apply the principles of accepted mechanics to writing