7 c’s of Business

Communication
Emy Abayan-Perez, DEM
What is Effective
Communication?
Effective communication takes place only when the
listener clearly understands the message that the
speaker intends to send.

-A speaker’s message must be delivered clearly.

-A listener must be an active one.
-This is applicable to both written and verbal
communication.
What are the
benefits of
Quicker problem solving

Better decision making

Steady work flow

Strong business relations

Better professional image

Why do we write a
business letter?
When we write a business letter, we
are trying to convince someone to
act or react in a positive way.

Our reader will respond quickly only

if our meaning is crystal clear.
The 7 C’s of Business Communication

1. Completeness
2. Conciseness
3. Consideration
4. Concreteness
5. Clarity
6. Courtesy
7. Correctness
 Completeness
• Your business message is complete when it contains all the facts,
the reader or listener needs for the reaction you desire.
• Sender and receivers differ in their mental filters; they are
influenced by their backgrounds, viewpoints, needs, experiences,
attitudes, status, and emotions.
• Because of these differences, senders need to assess their
messages through the eyes of receivers to be sure they have
included all relevant information.
 •The communication must be
complete
•It should convey all facts required by
the audience.
•The sender must take into
consideration the receiver’s mind set

Features:
-No crucial information is missing
-Gives additional information
-Leaves no questions unanswered
 Five W’s
• One way to make your message complete is to answer the
five W’s and H.
• WHO?
• WHAT?
• WHEN?
• WHERE?
• WHY?
• HOW?
• The five question method is useful when you write requests, announcements,
or other informative messages.
• For instance, to order (request) merchandise, make it clear WHAT you want,
WHEN you need it, WHERE to send it.
At the end we can say that, you must provide
the client the ff:

•All necessary information as requested

•Answers to all questions
•Provide some more information, which may
not be required, just to maintain good public
relations.
 Conciseness

Conciseness is saying what you have

to say in the fewest possible words
without sacrificing the other C’s.
In business communication, one
should be brief & be able to say
whatever one has to say in fewest
possible words.

A concise message saves time &

expense for both sender & receiver.
 “Conciseness is the prerequisite to
effective business communication.”

Most businessmen/clients have a

very short time .
 Hence, a concise message saves time
and expenses for both the parties.
 How do we achieve conciseness ?

Consider the following:

1.Avoid wordy expressions
2. Include only the relevant information
3. Avoid unnecessary repetition/s
 Avoid Wordy Expressions
E.g. Wordy:- at this time you can just use
a concise word: NOW
Always try to use “ To the Point Approach”
in business scenario perspective.
 Cut it Short!
Due to the fact that  Because
 Employed the use of  Used
Basic fundamentals  Fundamentals
Alternative choices  Alternatives
Actual experience  Experience
 Connected together  Connected
Final result  Result
Prove conclusively  Prove
 In as few words as possible  Concisely
 Include only the relevant
information
Lets say one of your customers requested for clients of the company

 In reply you should provide simply a list of clients at the panel of your
company.
 No need to provide detailed business information about client at all.

Observe the following suggestions to“ Include only relevant information.”

– Stick to the purpose of message
– Delete irrelevant words
– Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation etc.
– Get to the important point concisely.
Avoid unnecessary repetition/s
•Sometimes it is necessary for emphasis
•Use acronyms/abbreviations

•Use pronouns or initials rather than repeating long

names
•Cut all needless repetitions of phrases and sentences
•Use bullets instead of long sentences
 Exercise

Find single word substitutes

for the phrases
 • Along the same lines
• At this time
• Consensus of opinion
• Date of policy
• Due to the fact that
• During the time of the day
• During the year of
• Few and far between
• For a price of
 • For the reason of that
• From the point of view of
• Have need of
• In accordance with your request
• In due course
• Allow me to say
• In reply , I wish to say
• Please be advised
• Please find attached
 Additional tips…
 Omit “which” and “that” clause whenever possible.
• She bought desks that are of the executive type.
• She bough executive-type desks

 Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases.

• The issue of most relevance is teamwork.
• The most relevant issue is teamwork.

 Limit use of passive voice

• The reports are to be submitted by employee prior to 5:00PM at which
time they will be received by Mr. Jones
• Please submit your reports to Mr. Jones by 5:00PM
 Consideration

-Consideration means preparing every message

with the receiver in your mind.
-You are considerate when you do not lose your
temper, you do not accuse, you do not charge the
receiver without facts.
 -Implies “stepping into the shoes of
others”.
-Take note of audience’s view points, background,
mind set, educational level, and so on…
-Envisage your audience, their requirements,
emotions, and problems.
-Be careful not to hurt the emotion of clients.
-Modify your words to suit the needs of clients.
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
 Consideration is more than the “You" attitude…

Use of You can lead to insensitive feelings in a negative

situation
You failed to enclose your cheque in the envelope.
The envelope received did not have a cheque in it.
You are completely ignoring the facts of the case.
The case includes four facts that need 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, and than put yourself in the place of the receiver
◦ Receivers will react favorably & do what you suggest if you show
that benefits are worth the effort & cost
 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
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 for 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
 Concreteness
 Be particular and clear rather
than fuzzy and general.
 Concrete messages are not
misinterpreted.

Features:
It is supported with specific
facts and figures.
Make use of words that are
clear and build reputation.
 Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and
vivid rather than vague and general.

 Often it means using denotative (direct, explicit, often

dictionary based) rather than connotative words (ideas or
notions suggested by or associated with a word or phrase)

 Thus, the term female may appear in a personal folder as part

of a job description, yet widely different connotations may
occur when using terms as wife, mother, spinster, widow,
maiden, and matron.
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 – makes message concrete
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
For example:
Passive: The proposal was approved.
Active: The general manager approved
the proposal.
 Choose Vivid, Image-building Words:
◦ Use sensory appeal, comparisons, figurative
language, concrete nouns
◦ Sensory appeal: to one or more of 5 senses
◦ Comparisons: figurative (only when necessary)
and literal
 CLARITY

• The message must be put in simple terms to ensure clarity.

• Words must mean the same thing to the receiver as they do to the sender.
• The language should consist of simple words & short sentences.
• Thoughts should be clear & well organized; sentences &
paragraphs should be constructed well.
Getting the meaning from your head into the head of your reader –
accurately
Guideline No.1 for Communicating with Clarity
• Your audience will understand better if you Choose precise, concrete and
familiar words

Familiar Pretentious
About circa (L)
After subsequent
Home domicile
For example e.g. (L)
Pay remuneration
Invoice statement for
payment
Example of Unfamiliar/Familiar sentences:
Unfamiliar:
After our perusal of pertinent data, the conclusion is that
lucrative market exists for the subject property.
Familiar
The date we studied show that your property is profitable
and in high demand.
Guideline No. 2 for Communicating with Clarity
• Your audience will understand better if you construct effective
sentences and paragraphs. This includes:
• Length of sentence: Try for 17-20 words per sentence
• Unity: In a sentence keep one idea at a time. If you want to
add another idea, it should be closely related to the first one.
• Example: “I like Jim, and Eiffel Tower is in Paris”
The sentence is obviously not a unified sentence.
• Coherence: In a coherent sentence the words are correctly
arranged so that the ideas clearly express the intended meaning.
Example of Coherent and non-coherent sentences:
 Unclear: Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure you can help us.

 Clear: Being an excellent lawyer, you can surely help us.


Unclear: Our report is about testing, broken down in unit and functional
methods.
 Clear: Our report on testing focused on unit and functional methods.

 Unclear: After planting 10, 000 berry plants, the deer came into our botanist’s arm
and crushed them.
 Clear: After our botanist had planted 10,000 berry plants, the deer came into his farm
and crushed them.
 Other Features of Clarity:

-It makes understanding

easier.
-Clarity of thoughts and ideas
enhance the meaning of a message.
Eg : Use simple words

• Subsequent later
• Accede agree
• Endeavour try
• Supersede replace
• Disclose show
 Courtesy
Shows sender’s expression and
respect to the receiver.
The sender of the message should
be sincerely polite, judicious,
reflective and enthusiastic.
Features:
Taking into consideration both
viewpoints and feelings of the
receiver.
A courteous message is positive and
focused at the audience.
Courtesy stems from a sincere ‘YOU’ attitude.

It is merely politeness with mechanical insertions of “PLEASE” & “THANK

YOU”, rather it is politeness that grows out of respect & concern for others.

In business discussions things are said with force & assertiveness

without being rude.

Politeness begets politeness & encourage participative

communication.
 The following are suggestions for producing a
courteous tone.
 Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, andappreciative
 Use expressions that show respect
 Choose nondiscriminatory (Unbiased and
Unprejudiced) expressions
 :
Be sincerely tactful and appreciative:

Sometimes you have to deal with unpleasant massages. Always

remember that by using tact and being thoughtful you can
convey anything , however unpleasant it may be to your
reader.
Use expressions that show respect:

Expressions like, irresponsible ‘ or ‘ I don’t agree with’ etc, are

annoying.
Use expressions that show respect such as you are right but…
Choose nondiscriminatory expressions:

Courtesy also requires use of nondiscriminatory

expressions that refer to any particular ,
gender , race , ethnic, origin, etc.
 :
Instead of these Choose these words
 Businessman Businessperson
 Chairman Chairperson
 Manpower Worker
 Newsman
Newscaster, Journalist
 Salesman
Salesperson, Agent
 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
 Correctness
At the core of Correctness is proper grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
However, a message may be perfect grammatically and
mechanically but still insult or lose a client
The term “Correctness,” as applied to business
messages, also means the following three
characteristics:
1. Use the right level of language
2. Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words
3. Maintain acceptable witing mechanics.
Use the right level of Language: There are three levels of language: formal, informal, and
substandard.
Formal writing this often associated with scholarly writing: doctoral dissertations, scholarly articles, legal
documents, top level government agreements, and other material where formality is demanded.
Informal writing is more characteristic of business writing. Here you use words that are short, well known,
and conversational as follows:

• Formal vs. informal

• Participate/join
• Procure/get
• Endeavour/try
• Ascertain/find out
• Deem/think
 Check accuracy of figures & facts

Verify your statistical data.

Double-check your totals
Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on your
sender and your message receiver
Have someone else read your message if the topic
involves data
Determine whether a “fact” has changed overtime.
Avoid using substandard language:
Substandard vs. more appropriate
• Ain’t vs. isn’t
• Aim at proving vs. aim to prove
• Irregardless vs. regardless
• Should of vs. should have
Accept vs. except
• Accept is a verb and means to receive; Except is a verb or a
preposition and relates to omitting or leaving out.
Between vs. among
• Between involves two people, among three or more
Effect vs. affect
• Effect is a noun, affect is a verb
Farther vs. further
• Farther used for distance in space, further for distance in time, quality
or degree
Imply, infer
• Imply means “suggest”; infer means “to conclude”