Seven c’s of effective communication by Allah Dad Khan

2. Seven C’s of Effective
Communication
By
Allah dad Khan

3. There are 7 C’s of effective communication which are
applicable to both written as well as oral
communication

6. 1.Completeness
• - The communication must be complete. It should convey all facts
required by the audience. The sender of the message must take
into consideration the receiver’s mind set and convey the message
accordingly. A complete communication has following features:
1. Complete communication develops and enhances reputation of
an organization.
2. Moreover, they are cost saving as no crucial information is missing
and no additional cost is incurred in conveying extra message if
the communication is complete.
3. A complete communication always gives additional information
wherever required. It leaves no questions in the mind of receiver.
4. Complete communication helps in better decision-making by the
audience/readers/receivers of message as they get all desired and
crucial information

7. Bad Example
• Hi everyone,
• I just wanted to send you all a reminder about
the meeting we're having tomorrow!
• See you then,
• Faizan

8. Good Example
• Hi everyone,
• I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow's
meeting on the new telecommuting policies.
The meeting will be at 10:00 a.m. in the
second-level conference room. Please let me
know if you can't attend.
• See you then,
• Faizan

9. Concise

10. 2.Conciseness
Conciseness means wordiness, i.e, communicating
what you want to convey in least possible words
without forgoing the other C’s of communication.
Conciseness is a necessity for effective communication.
Concise communication has following features:
– It is both time-saving as well as cost-saving.
– It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids
using excessive and needless words.
– Concise communication provides short and essential
message in limited words to the audience.
– Concise message is more appealing and comprehensible to
the audience.
– Concise message is non-repetitive in nature.

11. Bad Example
• Hi Ali ,
• I wanted to touch base with you about the email marketing
campaign we kind of sketched out last Thursday. I really think that
our target market is definitely going to want to see the company's
philanthropic efforts. I think that could make a big impact, and it
would stay in their minds longer than a sales pitch.
• For instance, if we talk about the company's efforts to become
sustainable, as well as the charity work we're doing in local schools,
then the people that we want to attract are going to remember our
message longer. The impact will just be greater.
• What do you think?
• Fiaz Alam
• This email is too long! There's repetition, and there's plenty of
"filler" taking up space.

12. Good Example
• Watch what happens when we're concise and take out
the filler words:
• Hi Ali,
• I wanted to quickly discuss the email marketing
campaign that we analyzed last Thursday. Our target
market will want to know about the company's
philanthropic efforts, especially our goals to become
sustainable and help local schools.
• This would make a far greater impact, and it would stay
in their minds longer than a traditional sales pitch.
• What do you think?
• Fiaz Alam

14. 3.Consideration
Consideration implies “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective
communication must take the audience into consideration, i.e, the
audience’s view points, background, mind-set, education level, etc.
Make an attempt to envisage your audience, their requirements,
emotions as well as problems. Ensure that the self-respect of the
audience is maintained and their emotions are not at harm. Modify
your words in message to suit the audience’s needs while making
your message complete. Features of considerate communication
are as follows:
– Emphasize on “you” approach.
– Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience. This
will stimulate a positive reaction from the audience.
– Show optimism towards your audience. Emphasize on “what is
possible” rather than “what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive
words such as jovial, committed, thanks, warm, healthy, help, etc.

15. • Example:
• We regret that, since you closed your account,
your name is missing from our long list of
satisfied customers. We sincerely hope that
inspire the best efforts of our fine staff, there
were no occasions on which you felt we failed
to serve you properly.

16. • Example:
• We-attitude :
• I am delighted to announce that we have
extended our office hours to make shopping
more convenient.
• You-attitude :
• You will be able to shop evenings with the
extended office hours.

18. 4. Clarity
Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific
message or goal at a time, rather than trying
to achieve too much at once. Clarity in
communication has following features:
– It makes understanding easier.
– Complete clarity of thoughts and ideas enhances
the meaning of message.
– Clear message makes use of exact, appropriate
and concrete words.

19. Bad Example
for Clarity
• Hi Juneed
• I wanted to write you a quick note about Hameish , who's working in your
department. He's a great asset, and I'd like to talk to you more about him
when you have time.
• Best,
• Skip
• What is this email about? Well, we're not sure. First, if there are multiple
Daniels in John's department, John won't know who Skip is talking about.
• Next, what is Hamish doing, specifically, that's so great? We don't know
that either. It's so vague that John will definitely have to write back for
more information.
• Last, what is the purpose of this email? Does Skip simply want to have an
idle chat about Hamish , or is there some more specific goal here? There's
no sense of purpose to this message, so it's a bit confusing.

20. Good Example
Clarity
• Hi Juneed ,
• I wanted to write you a quick note about Hamish Aslam , who's
working in your department. In recent weeks, he's helped the IT
department through several pressing deadlines on his own time.
• We've got a tough upgrade project due to run over the next three
months, and his knowledge and skills would prove invaluable. Could
we please have his help with this work?
• I'd appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call
you to discuss this further?
• Best wishes,
• Skip
• This second message is much clearer, because the reader has the
information he needs to take action.

21. Concreteness

22. 5. Concreteness
Concrete communication implies being
particular and clear rather than fuzzy and
general. Concreteness strengthens the
confidence. Concrete message has following
features:
– It is supported with specific facts and figures.
– It makes use of words that are clear and that build
the reputation.
– Concrete messages are not misinterpreted.

23. Bad Example
• Consider this advertising copy:
• The Lunchbox Wizard will save you time every
day.
• A statement like this probably won't sell many
of these products. There's no passion, no vivid
detail, nothing that creates emotion, and
nothing that tells people in the audience why
they should care. This message isn't concrete
enough to make a difference.

24. Good Example
• How much time do you spend every day
packing your kids' lunches? No more! Just take
a complete Lunchbox Wizard from your
refrigerator each day to give your kids a
healthy lunch and have more time to play or
read with them!

26. 6. Courtesy
Courtesy in message implies the message should show
the sender’s expression as well as should respect the
receiver. The sender of the message should be
sincerely polite, judicious, reflective and enthusiastic.
Courteous message has following features:
– Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints
as well as feelings of the receiver of the message.
– Courteous message is positive and focused at the
audience.
– It makes use of terms showing respect for the receiver of
message.
– It is not at all biased.

27. Bad Example
• Rasheed
• I wanted to let you know that I don't appreciate
how your team always monopolizes the
discussion at our weekly meetings. I have a lot of
projects, and I really need time to get my team's
progress discussed as well. So far, thanks to your
department, I haven't been able to do that. Can
you make sure they make time for me and my
team next week?
• Thanks,
• Hassan

28. Good Example
• Hi Rasheed ,
• I wanted to write you a quick note to ask a favor.
During our weekly meetings, your team does an
excellent job of highlighting their progress. But this
uses some of the time available for my team to
highlight theirs. I'd really appreciate it if you could give
my team a little extra time each week to fully cover
their progress reports.
• Thanks so much, and please let me know if there's
anything I can do for you!
• Best,
• Faizan

29. Correctness

30. 7. Correctness
Correctness in communication implies that there are no
grammatical errors in communication. Correct
communication has following features:
– The message is exact, correct and well-timed.
– If the communication is correct, it boosts up the
confidence level.
– Correct message has greater impact on the
audience/readers.
– It checks for the precision and accurateness of facts and
figures used in the message.
– It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the
message.