Search for notes by fellow students, in your own course and all over the country.
Browse our notes for titles which look like what you need, you can preview any of the notes via a sample of the contents. After you're happy these are the notes you're after simply pop them into your shopping cart.
Document Preview
Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above
Business and Technical English
LESSON 8
THE SEVEN C’S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION-I
Outline
In this lecture, you will learn the following seven C’s of effective communication:
• Completeness
Guidelines to secure Completeness in your writing:
•
•
o Provide all necessary information
...
o Give something extra, only when desired
...
These
are called the seven C’s of effective communication
...
2
...
4
...
6
...
Completeness
Conciseness
Consideration
Concreteness
Clarity
Courtesy
Correctness
The seven C’s apply to both written and oral communication
...
To
some extent, the principles overlap because they are based on a common concern for the
audience, whether the audience consists of listeners or readers
...
Completeness
Your message is complete when it contains all the facts readers or listeners need for the reaction
you desire
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 48
Business and Technical English
Benefits of Completeness
Complete messages are more likely to bring the desired results
...
Communication that seems inconsequential can become very important if information
it contains is complete and effective
...
Answer all questions asked
...
a
...
•
•
•
•
•
Who
What
When
Where
Why
Example
When requesting merchandise, make sure:
•
•
•
•
What do you want?
When do you need it?
To whom and where is it to be sent?
And how would the payment be made?
b
...
Some may appear buried within a paragraph
...
A colleague or a prospective customer’s reactions to an incomplete answer are likely to be
unfavorable
...
In general “omissions cast suspicions” whether you are answering an
inquiry about your product or recommending a former employee to a new job
...
If you have unfavorable
information in answer to certain questions, handle your reply with both tact and honesty
...
The original questions had somewhat hidden and buried five long
paragraphs so the respondent apparently overlooked them
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 49
Business and Technical English
Sometimes before you can answer a question, you need certain specific information from the
inquirer
...
In this way, both your answer and that of your respondent will be
complete
...
Give something extra when desired
Use your good judgment in offering additional material if sender’s message was incomplete
...
You must take great care not to waste the reader’s time
with superfluous information
...
Credibility
Credibility of the communicator has been systematically analyzed over the years, often as
relating to the speaker
...
•
•
•
•
•
Competence
Character
Composure
Sociability
Extroversion
Competence: Does the audience perceive the message sender as communicating honestly?
Character: Does the sender of the message know his or her message?
Composure: Does the sender give the impression of being cool, calm, and collected?
Sociability: Does the sender come across as a likable individual?
Extroversion: Does the source exhibit outgoing tendencies rather than timidity?
Example
You are the president of a community welfare center, and receive the following message
...
As I will be visiting
the center within the next month, would you please tell me where the next meeting will be held?
If you answered only this question, your letter would be incomplete
...
Your message will then have something extra that the reader really needs and
appreciates
...
In reply to the above fax you would have to “give something extra”, as to times of day, airline
flying that route, costs, and departure & arrival times
...
Conciseness
Conciseness is saying what you want to say in the fewest possible words without sacrificing the
other C qualities
...
It increases emphasis in the message
...
To achieve conciseness, observe the following suggestions:
•
•
•
Eliminate wordy expressions
...
Avoid unnecessary repetition
...
Eliminate wordy expressions
Use single-word substitutes instead of phrases whenever possible without changing
meaning
...
Concise: Your admission statement has been received
...
Concise: The list you requested is attached
...
Concise: Such refreshing comments are scarce
...
Concise: Four rules must be observed
...
Usman that we must reduce the size of our inventory
...
Usman knew that we must reduce our inventory
...
Concise: She bought executive type desks
...
Concise: The enclosed receipt documents your purchase
...
Concise: The most relevant issue is teamwork
...
Concise: The policy date is in the upper right corner
...
Concise: The balance due is on page 2 of this report
...
m
...
Concise: Please submit your reports to Ali by 5:00 p
...
b
...
Delete irrelevant words and rambling sentences
...
Avoid long introductions, unnecessary explanations, pompous words, and gushy
politeness
...
Example
Wordy: We hereby wish to let you know that our company is pleased with the confidence you
have reposed in us
...
c
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 52
Business and Technical English
• Use short names when you have mentioned the long one once
...
• Use initials instead of repeating long names
...
•
Cut out needless repetition of phrases or sentences
...
Example
Following is the body of a letter from a business executive in a Company for 5 years
...
Thank you in advance for sending these along in parcel post, and not in express, as express is too
expensive
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 53
Business and Technical English
LESSON 9
THE SEVEN C’S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION II
Outline
In this lesson, you will learn the following seven C’s of effective communication:
• Consideration
Ways to secure consideration are:
o Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’
...
o Emphasize positive, pleasant facts
...
o Put action in your verbs
...
Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message with the message receiver in mind
...
It shows that you understand your audience, which
goes a long way to get your desired result
...
Along with understanding your audience, you should also:
• Not lose your temper
• Not accuse
• Not charge them without facts
In business communication, there are three specific ways to indicate consideration:
• Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’
...
• Emphasize positive & pleasant facts
...
Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’
To create considerate, audience-oriented messages, focus on how message receivers will benefit,
what they will receive, and what they want or need to know
...
Example
We-attitude: I am delighted to announce that we have extended our office hours to make
shopping more convenient
...
The use of ‘you’ in negative situations can be avoided by employing passive voice, making the
receiver part of the group
...
Show audience benefit or interest in the receiver
Readers may react positively when benefits are shown to them
...
Benefits must
meet the recipient's needs, address their concerns, or offer them rewards
...
Emphasize positive and pleasant facts
Another way to show consideration is to emphasize pleasant and positive facts
...
Also, you must focus on words your
recipient considers favorable
...
We regret that, since you closed your account, your name is missing from our long list of
satisfied customers
...
Concreteness
Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and
general
...
The benefits to business professionals of using concrete facts and figures are:
Your receivers know exactly what is desired
...
The
following guidelines will help you compose concrete and convincing messages
...
• Put action in your verbs
...
1
...
Consider the following example:
Vague, General & Indefinite: Student GMAT scores are higher
...
2
...
To have
dynamic sentences:
•
•
Use active rather than passive verbs
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 55
Business and Technical English
a
...
Specific: "The dean decided" is more explicit than "A decision has been made
...
"
Concise: The passive voice requires more words and thus slows both writing and reading
...
"
Emphatic: Passive verbs dull action
...
"
Sometimes, however, you may prefer the passive voice instead of the active, as in the
following situations:
• When you want to avoid personal, blunt accusations or comments
Use Passive voice instead of active voice when you want to avoid personal blunt accusations:
‘The October check was not included’ is more tactful than ‘you failed to include
...
’ is less hard than ‘You must attend…’
• When you want to stress the object of the action
"You are invited
...
"
• When the doer is not important in the sentence
In "Three announcements were made before the meeting started," the emphasis is on the
announcements, not on who gave them
...
Put Action in Verbs, Not in Nouns
Seven verbs—be, give, have, hold, make, put, and take—(in any tense) might be designated as
"deadly" when the action they introduce is hidden in a "quiet noun"
...
Weak: Action hiding in a "Quiet" Noun
•
•
The function of this office is the collection of payments and the compilation of
statements
...
will give consideration to the report
...
Professor H
...
3
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 56
Business and Technical English
Comparisons
Bland Image: This is a long letter
...
Figurative Language
Literal: Her work in groups was exemplary
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 57
Business and Technical English
LESSON 10
THE SEVEN C’S OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION III
Outline
• Clarity
• Do’s and Don’ts of Clarity
• Examples
• Checklist
• Courtesy
• Do’s and Don’ts of Courtesy
• Examples
• Checklist
Clarity
Getting the meaning from your head accurately to the reader is the purpose of clarity
...
Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
...
When you
have the choice between a long word and a short word, choose the short and familiar word
...
For example
You must use pay instead of remuneration and invoice instead of statement of payment
...
Familiar
The data we studied show that your property is profitable and in high demand
...
Unfamiliar
Assessed Valuation
Familiar
Property value for tax purpose
A
...
The danger is that you
must know the meaning of e-mail acronyms which aid conciseness
...
B
...
Important characteristics to consider are:
A
...
C
...
Length
Unity
Coherence
Emphasis
A
...
When the sentence length increases, try
to chop it down into two sentences
...
B
...
In case of other ideas they must
be closely related
...
C
...
Place the correct modifier as close as possible to the word it is supposed to modify
...
Examples
Unclear
Being an excellent lawyer, I am sure that you can help us
...
Unclear
His report was about managers, broken down by age and gender
...
Unclear
After planning 10,000 berry plants, the deer came into out botanist's farm and crushed them
...
Emphasis
The quality that gives force to important parts of sentences and paragraphs is emphasis
...
Writers must decide what needs emphasis,
and then decide the correct sentence structure
...
Better emphasis
As it approached the speed of sound, the airplane became very difficult to control
...
Better emphasis
Prerequisites in candidates should include expertise in dynamic and static testing of material
...
Some of them include headings, tabulations, itemization, line charts, pie charts, italics,
indentation, colored capitals, or even wide or short margins
...
• Select words that have high sense of appropriateness for the reader
...
• Limit the average sentence from 17 to 20 words
...
• Arrange words in a way that the main idea occurs early in a sentence
...
It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertion
of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’; although, applying socially accepted manners is a form of courtesy
...
True courtesy involves
being aware not only of the perspectives of others but also their feelings
...
Be aware of your message receiver
...
Use expressions that show respect
...
a) Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful, and appreciative
Though very few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt, these negative traits are a common
cause of discourtesy
...
Examples
Tactless, blunt
Stupid letter; I did not understand any of it
...
Tactless, Blunt
Clearly, you did not read my latest fax
...
Tactless, Blunt
I rewrote that letter three times; the point was clear
...
b) Thoughtfulness and Appreciation
• The traits help build good will
...
c) Use expressions that show respect:
No reader wants to receive a message that offends
...
o If you care
o I am sure you must realize
•
Omit questionable humor
o When in doubt as to the relevance of humor, leave it out
...
o Notice the difference between the 2 notes in the next example
...
Give my regards to the little lady
...
More courteous
Warm congratulations on your wedding
...
In fact, just a few of us suspected that you were
taking off to get married
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 61
Business and Technical English
Give our warm regards to the new partner
...
Use alternative expressions that are neutral in nature
...
The trend to follow should be to avoid using ‘he’, ‘his’ or ‘him’ etc
...
Singular they is the use of they,
or its inflected or derivative forms, such as them, their, or themselves, to refer to a single person
or an antecedent that is grammatically singular
...
"
"Somebody left their umbrella in the office
...
"
"But a journalist should not be forced to reveal their sources
...
More desirable
Students who come to class late will get their grade reduced
...
More desirable
Customers will have the new changes noted on their bills
...
More Desirable
Our criteria suggest that he or she should be a good scholar and a good teacher
...
More Desirable
All men and women should be concerned about the issue
...
He will …
...
Each executive will/ They will…
Questionable
Each manager has assigned parking space
...
More Desirable
Each manager has assigned parking space
...
Use names in parallel form
...
Ali and Mudassir
More desirable
Mudassir and Sonia Ali
Ms
...
Ali
Checklist
• Ask yourself: Does the communication has a sincere you-attitude? Has someone else had a
look at your statement if you have doubts about whether it’s tactful? Another opinion may
cause you to reconsider making a statement
...
Be careful in using discriminatory language,
thus being aware of gender, race, age, color, creed or ethnic origins
...
o Check accuracy of figures, facts and words
...
Formal Writing
Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing
...
The
style is unconventional, usually impersonal, and contains long and involved sentences
...
An example is the communication via
e-mail, memos, etc
...
com/?The-Difference-Between-Formal-and-Informal-Writing&id=594208
http://classiclit
...
com/library/bl-hw/bl-informal
...
Substandar
Ain’t
Can’t hardly
Aim at proving
Stoled
More Appropriate
Isn’t
Can hardly
Aim to prove
Stolen
•
Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words
It is impossible to convey the meaning of the words precisely, through words, from the head
of the sender to the receiver, so it is highly significant to provide accurate facts and figures
and appropriate words
...
•
•
Facts and Figures
o Verify your statistical data
...
o Avoid guessing at Laws that have an impact on you
...
o Determine whether a fact has changed overtime
...
Though dictionaries cannot always keep up with
rapid change, still they are the most useful resource for finding correct words
...
Use an before vowels or silent
h sounds
...
Except is a verb that relates to omitting out or leaving out
...
Farther, Further
Farther is used to express more distance in space, further for distance in time, quality, or degree
...
• Maintain Acceptable Writing Mechanics
Be watchful that:
o All material relating to mechanics, word processing, and appearance is relevant
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 65
Business and Technical English
Revision of the Seven C’s of Effective Communication
• Completeness
• Conciseness
• Consideration
• Concreteness
• Clarity
• Courtesy
• Correctness
Completeness
Your message is complete when it contains all the facts readers or listeners need for the reaction
you desire
...
Benefits of Completeness
• Complete messages are more likely to bring the desired results
...
• Communication that seems inconsequential can become very important if information they
contain is complete and effective
...
• Answer all questions asked
...
Provide all the necessary information
Answer the five Ws that make the message clear
...
Competence
Does the audience perceive the message sender as communicating with required competencies?
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 66
Business and Technical English
Character
Does the sender of the message know the worth of his or her message?
Composure
Does the sender give the impression of being calm and collected?
Sociability
Does the sender come across as a likable individual?
Extroversion
Does the source exhibit outgoing tendencies rather than timidity?
Example
You are the president of a Community welfare center, and receive the following message:
I'm new to the city and would like to consider joining your welfare center
...
You should add information about a welcome message, information about parking space, date,
day, and time of meeting
...
Example
Fax 1, Incomplete Question: Please fax me the departures from Lahore to Karachi on 8th May
...
Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message with the message receiver in mind
...
Don’t accuse
...
You should be foremost aware of their desires, problems, circumstances, emotions, and
probable reaction/s to your thoughts
...
This
thoughtful consideration is also called the ‘you-attitude’, the human touch or
understanding human nature
...
Using ‘you’ does help project you-attitude
...
• Show the benefit or interest of the receiver
...
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
Page 67
Business and Technical English
• Focus on ‘you’ Instead of ‘I’ or ‘we’
To create considerate, audience-oriented messages, focus on how message receivers will benefit,
what they will receive, and what they want or need to know
...
Concreteness
To communicate concretely means being specific, definite and vivid rather than vague and
general
...
Often it means using denotative (direct, explicit, often dictionarybased) rather than connotative words
...
When you supply specifics for the reader/s, you
increase the likelihood that your message will be interpreted the way you intended
...
• Use vivid image building words
...
Example
Vague: Students’ GMAT scores are higher
...
Clarity
Getting the meaning from your head accurately to the reader is the purpose of clarity
...
Construct effective sentences and paragraphs
...
When you
have the choice between a long word and a short word, choose the short and familiar word
...
For example
You must use pay instead of remuneration and invoice instead of statement of payment
...
Familiar
The data we studied show that your property is profitable and in high demand
...
Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy
...
Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude
...
Rather it is politeness that grows out of
respect and concern for others
...
Sometimes they stem from a mistaken idea of conciseness, sometimes from
negative personal attitudes, etc
...
More tactful
It’s my understanding…