7 Cs of Business CommunicationWhy 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 effective 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. Communicators-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, communication senders need to assess their messages through the eyes of receivers to be sure they have included all relevant information. Provide all necessary information • Who, what, where, when, why, how? Answer all questions asked Give something extra, when desirable Completeness - examples Q: How come my request for an interview did not receive a response? • A: When was the letter sent? To whom? Who sent it? Q: I’m new to the city, and would like to join your club. When is the next open day? • A: Where are we? How to get here? Conciseness Conciseness is saying what you have to say in the fewest possible words without sacrificing the other C qualities. Eliminate wordy expressions Include only relevant material • Stick to the purpose of the message Avoid unnecessary repetition • Leads to dullness Conciseness Eliminate Wordy Expressions: At this time Now Due to the fact that Because Have need for Need In due course Soon Conciseness Omit unnecessary expressions • Allow me to say how helpful your last response was • Your last response was helpful Replace wordy conventional statements • Please find attached the list you requested • The list you requested is attached Avoid overusing empty phrases • There are four rules that should be observed • Four rules should be observed Conciseness 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 tp 5:00 at which time they will be received by Mr. Jones • Please submit your reports to Mr. Jones by 5:00 Consideration Consideration means preparing every message with the message receiver in your mind. You are considerate when you do not lose your temper, you do not accuse, you do not charge them without facts. Focus on you instead of I and we • You are foremost aware of their desires, problems, circumstances, emotions, and probable reactions to your request. • This thoughtful consideration is also called “you attitude,” empathy, the human touch, and understanding. Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver • Readers react positively when benefits are shown to them Emphasise positive, pleasant facts • Readers will react positively or negatively to certain words Consideration Examples: I am delighted to announce that we will be extending our hours to make shopping more convenient You will be able to shop evenings with the extended hours…(Focus on “You” Instead of “I”) It is impossible to open an account for you today. (Negative, Unpleasant) When we receive proof of ID we will gladly open an account for you (Emphasis on Positive, Pleasant Facts) Concreteness 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 a part of a job description, yet widely different connotations may occur when using terms as wife, mother, spinster, widow, maiden, matron, or dowager. Concreteness Guide Lines for creating concrete messages: Use specific facts and figures • It is desirable in both oral & written communication Example: She’s a brain (Vague, General, Indefinite) Her grade-point average in 2006 was 3.9 on a four-point scale. (Concrete, Precise) Concreteness Guide Lines for creating concrete messages: Put action in your verbs • 1. 2. 3. 4. Verbs propel thought: Verbs can activate other words and help make your sentences alive, more vigorous. That is to have dynamic sentences in your communication. Active verbs help your sentence more: Specific: “The dream decided” is more explicit than “A decision has been made” Personal: “You will note” is both personal and specific; “It will be noted” is impersonal.” Concise: The passive requires more words and thus shows both writing and reading. Compare “Figures show” with “It is shown in the figure.” Emphatic: Passive verbs dull action. Compare “The students held a contest” with “A contest was held by the students.” Clarity 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 About After Home For example Pay Invoice Pretentious circa (L) subsequent domicile e.g. (L) remuneration statement for payment Clarity 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. Clarity 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” • Above sentence is obviously is not a unified sentence. • Coherence: In a coherent sentence the words are correctly arranged so that the ideas clearly express the intended meaning. Clarity 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 Courtesy The courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feelings. Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative Use expressions that show respect Choose non-discriminatory expressions, for example in order to avoid gender discrimination you can use: Entering student instead of freshman Workers, employees instead of manpower The best candidate for the position instead of the best man for the position. Courtesy Clearly, you did not read my latest fax Sometimes my wording is not precise; let me try again (Tactfulness) Manpower vs. Employees (More Desirable as its non-sexist term) Man-made vs. manufactured The best man for the job vs. The Best Candidate Anyone who comes to the class late will get his grade reduced Students who come late to class will have their grades reduced (Avoid using he/him) 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 customer The term “Correctness,” as applied to business messages, also means the following three characteristics: Use the right level of language Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words Maintain acceptable witing mechanics. Correctness 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 Correctness Check accuracy of figures & facts Verify your statistical data. Double-check your totals Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on your, the sender and your message receiver Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data Determine whether a “fact” has changed overtime. Correctness 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 Correctness 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”