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The 7 C’s of Effective Communication – Explained with Examples

An effective communication takes place when the message sent across by the conveyer is clear and easily comprehended by the receiver and relevant response is fed back to the one who conveyed the message and the flow continues similarly.

Source: Kurhan/Adobe Stock

Although communication takes place at all times, if it is done effectively is a matter of dispute. For the most part, people don’t communicate efficiently, and this has been one of the predominant contributors to interpersonal conflicts.

Lack of proper listening, psychological conditions, poor comprehension skills, absence of mind, ambiguity in the message conveyed, and improper usage of words are some of the most frequently occurring mistakes during conversations.

So what makes communication effective? What are some of the tips and strategies that can be applied when communicating in general?

We are constantly in touch with people, texting, sending emails, creating reports, attending conferences and whatnot. So how can we scale up our communication game? What would make us stand out and seem distinctive in this world swarming with competitors?

The 7 C’s of Effective Communication

The 7 C’s of communication is an excellent strategy formulated by Scott Cutlip and Allen Center in the year 1952 in his book “Effective public relations”. This came to be utilized by people across the globe and is one of the most operative strategies used to date.

It involves the following C’s:

Completeness
Correctness
Conciseness
Consideration
Concreteness

7 c's of communication with examples assignment

These strategies apply to both written and oral communication . The one who is aware of and makes use of these 7C’s in a sensible manner can become a good and effective communicator.

1. Completeness

This is one of the most significant aspects of effective communication . Completeness refers to giving full information about something rather than just saying it in bits and pieces. It’s the right of the recipient to receive access to the whole chunk of information to be able to follow the sender’s line of reasoning in regards to the matter being discussed.

For example, when Peter told “write a short passage on data science and send me”, Shawn couldn’t understand the context whatsoever. He had too many questions in his head about the topic, its length and the style of writing, where this piece of writing go etc.

Instead, Peter could frame his instructions as “Shawn I want you to write a 100-200 word short essay on the recent trends in data science. Submit it to me by the end of this day. I need it for our blog.”

Completeness holds much higher salience during the delegation of tasks when the subordinates need detailed instructions to pursue a task at hand.

2. Correctness

The genuineness and the value of your speech lie in its correctness and authenticity. It’s better to keep quiet rather than talk about something that you aren’t so sure of. The correctness of the speech would reflect directly on your personality and so it should be given utmost prominence.

The legitimacy of the factual information, the language used and grammar are some of the aspects of correctness amongst others.

If your audience spots any errors or blunders in your speech, it is no longer valued and they are likely to be distracted. The credibility of the speaker would also receive a massive hit and therefore the effectiveness of the communication will be compromised.

Related: Language Barriers

3. Conciseness

Conciseness is to keep the speech short and crisp. Nobody likes listening to someone who delivers long and draggy speeches because people lose interest and attention very easily. When interacting or delivering the speech, the ultimate objective is to make sure that the message is received in its intended form. Lack of conciseness will lead to the loss of essence in the content. Make sure to keep your speech brief and precise.

For example,

Intended message: “could you please receive Amanda from the airport?”

Delivered method: “Yesterday was a tiring day. Last night I couldn’t sleep properly. My wife has severe migraine and she’s down. I couldn’t have breakfast in the morning and I am tired. Amanda has taken her flight from Indonesia last night. She would reach here in some time. It would be nice if someone could pick her up from the airport.”

In this example, the message was simple. Yet, the sender makes it seem complicated and leaves the recipient feeling puzzled, irritated or exhausted. Also, he may deny the request. Such delivery of a message makes the message lose its value.

Related: Semantic Barriers

4. Courtesy

Courtesy refers to communicating with politeness, genuineness and respect for the person on the other side of the conversation. It will naturally scale up the value of communication. Courtesy is a tendency which stems out of empathy for people.

To be courteous doesn’t mean just use polite, magical phrases like “thank you”, “sorry”, “please” and “excuse me”. It also means to be honest, respectful and empathetic of people and not make sarcastic or any other form of passive-aggressive remarks.

One classic example would be from the infamous movie “Mean Girls” where Regina would tell a fellow classmate about how she loves the skirt she was wearing. As the girl leaves, Regina would tell her friend Cady how that was the ugliest skirt she has ever seen. This is an example of how you should not communicate.

In many instances, people use the power of their intellect and status to belittle the plight of others. This is so especially among those who bully the perceivably weaker ones for their timidity, racial backgrounds, gender, and color among many other aspects.

The global star Priyanka Chopra narrates in an interview about her high school days when she was severely bullied by her schoolmates. She was called names like “brownie” for her skin color and her ethnicity so much so that she was forced to have lunch inside a toilet cubicle.

Related: Assertive Communication

Clarity is to transfer accurate and easily comprehendible messages to the receiver. Before choosing to talk, be clear about your goals for the conversation. Let the other person know what your objective is for the interaction. To make your speech clear, always use simple language rather than using intricate phrases that would make comprehension difficult.

The recipient shouldn’t be made to “read between the lines”. Even if the content is complicated in nature, try to divide your ideas, distill it and make it as simple and clear as possible as that would make it easy for the receiver to grasp the information well.

6. Consideration

Consideration is quite similar to that of courtesy. It means to consider the other person and to address them putting you in their place. In other words, you talk to someone in a way you would want someone to talk to you.

For example, if you prefer someone to talk to you with respect and politeness, you would exhibit the same behaviors towards others. Just as that of courtesy, one should be inherently empathetic to be able to show consideration for the other person. When you are considerate, you sincerely regard people’s interests and benefits.

To be considerate also means to acknowledge the situational factors of the audience that you address. If you are going to give a talk on astrophysics amongst a bunch of seven-year-olds, the only response you would receive would be the sound of yawning and snoring; maybe even a giggle here and there if you’re lucky.

So when you talk to someone, remember to acknowledge their background such as their age, language proficiency, culture, literacy level, mental state, character, interests etc. so that you may be relatable to your audience and your intended message reaches them successfully.

7. Concreteness

Concrete communication denotes your message being specific, meaningful and focused. You don’t beat around the bush to get to a point. Rather it is solid and concise. You avoid vague and ambiguous messages and only strive toward making your information well received by the recipient. Your speech is crisp yet brimming with beneficial information. You incorporate factual evidence and figures to enhance the authenticity of your speech.

For example, when you say “Depression is a global issue”, you don’t just bluntly make that claim but also pitch in the statistical values and empirical evidence to support your statement.

And now, for your upcoming presentations make sure to follow these strategies and show up your confidence. These effective strategies may take you to the place of success at your workplace.

Best of luck!

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7Cs of Communication With Examples PDF

Published by team sy on may 5, 2024 may 5, 2024.

The 7 Cs of communication – clear, concise, concrete, correct, courteous, complete and constructive – provide a useful checklist for sending effective messages in both professional and personal settings. Clarity, brevity and tact are key elements of communication that resonates with audiences. Mastery of the 7 C’s can help you craft emails, reports, presentations and discussions that accomplish desired outcomes.

From customer service messages to employee communications, applying the 7Cs of effective communication will enhance your ability to connect and engage with others.
Whether addressing supervisors, subordinates or service users, proper usage of these communication principles helps ensure messages are well-received and achieve intended purposes.
Each of the 7 C’s reinforces good practices that optimize comprehension, trust and cooperation between communicators.

With relevant examples, learn how sharpening your use of clear, concise, concrete and other “C” words can make a real difference in the impact of your communications.

Download 7Cs of Communication With Examples PDF

Table of Contents

Explain 7 Cs of Communication With Examples

The 7 C’s of communication – clear, concise, concrete, correct, courteous, complete and constructive – provide a useful framework for ensuring that written and verbal messages are well-received by the intended audience. These principles emphasize the importance of precision, brevity and politeness in business and personal communications. Applying the 7Cs of effective communication helps optimize mutual understanding, trust and cooperation between communicators. With relevant examples, each of the 7 C’s can be explained and applied in practice to strengthen the clarity, impact and persuasiveness of your communications. When incorporated into your emails, reports, presentations and discussions on a consistent basis, the habits cultivated from utilizing the 7 C’s of communication can transform your ability to engage and connect with others.

Check 7Cs of effective communication with examples below.

Good examples of each C in action:

“Please proofread this report for spelling and grammar mistakes.” (Clear + Courteous)

“Sales increased 12% last month. Let me know if you have any questions.” (Concise + Concrete + Complete + Courteous)

“Going forward, I suggest we provide a budget figure in each proposal to give clients a better cost estimate.” (Constructive)

7 Cs of effective Communication checklist

With consistent practice and feedback, the 7 C’s can become habitual approaches that improve all your communications! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Below we have explained the 7Cs of business communication

Clear – Communication should be simple, straightforward and unambiguous to avoid confusion. Use plain language and define any jargon or technical terms.
Concise – Get to the point quickly and communicate the key messages in the fewest words possible. Avoid unnecessary details.
Concrete – Use specific examples, numbers, and facts to illustrate your points. Avoid vague language.
Correct – Check your communications for accuracy, consistency and correct spelling and grammar. Facts should be verifiable.
Courteous – Be polite, respectful and professional in your tone. Avoid sarcasm, arguments and threats.
Complete – Provide all relevant information and context needed for the recipient to understand the communication. Leave no open gaps.
Constructive – Offer suggestions or solutions where appropriate. Focus on moving forward in a positive manner rather than dwelling on problems. Provide positive and negative feedback strategically.

The 7 C’s represent helpful guidelines for effective workplace communication. They emphasize qualities like clarity, brevity, accuracy and tact, which help ensure communications are well-received and accomplish desired outcomes. Consistently applying these principles can improve communication in areas like emails, reports, presentations, discussions and more.

Idioms on Science and Technology – You Must Know!

Importance of 7Cs of Communication

The 7 C’s of communication are an important framework for crafting effective messages that resonate with audiences. Here are some reasons why mastering the 7 C’s is important:

They optimize comprehension and minimize misunderstandings. Using clear, concise, and concrete language makes it easier for others to understand your intended meaning. This reduces the chances of miscommunication and confusion.
They build trust and credibility. Communicating information that is correct, complete, and evidence-based helps establish you as a reliable source. This builds trust in your communications over time.
They foster positive relationships. Being courteous and respectful in your communications helps create goodwill. Constructive feedback can strengthen relationships by focusing on improvement rather than criticism.
They improve information retention. Clear, concise messages that get straight to the point are more likely to be remembered and acted upon by the recipient. Reducing “noise” maximizes retention of key information.
They demonstrate professionalism. Mastering the habits of the 7 C’s signals a greater level of polish, preparation and attention to detail – hallmarks of a professional communicator.
They increase influence. Communications that are easy to understand, credible and courteous are more likely to persuade and motivate others to take desired actions.
They enhance performance. Improved communication minimizes delays, rework and errors caused by misunderstandings. It allows teams to operate more efficiently.

How can I improve my communication skills using the 7 C’s?

Here are some ways you can improve your communication skills by applying the 7 C’s:

Practice clarity. Avoid jargon, ambiguity and vagueness. Define technical terms. Use simple, direct language.
Be concise. Get straight to the point. Cut unnecessary words. Practice editing your communications down to the essentials.
Provide concrete details. Use specific examples, numbers, facts and evidence to illustrate and support your key messages.
Check for accuracy. Proofread carefully for spelling and grammatical errors. Verify facts and figures before communicating them.
Adopt a courteous tone. Be polite, respectful and avoid harsh language. Use “please” and “thank you.” Watch your volume and pace of speech.
Provide all relevant context. Explain acronyms. Summarize important background information. Offer to provide more details for those who need it.
Focus on solutions. Offer helpful suggestions, recommendations or next steps wherever possible. Shift the focus from problems to progress.
Practice active listening. Ask clarifying questions and summarize to check your understanding.
Solicit feedback. Ask colleagues to point out areas for improvement based on the 7 C’s.
Record yourself. Review video or audio of your speaking to identify areas for clearer, more concise communication.
Write it down. Drafting emails, reports or presentations using the 7 C’s can develop better habits for verbal communication too.

The key is consistent practice and seeking feedback over time. Breaking larger communications into shorter chunks can also help make them more “C-focused.” As you improve one or two C’s at first, your skills across all seven will gradually strengthen.

With patience and perseverance, applying the 7 C’s framework can noticeably improve the effectiveness and impact of your communication, both written and spoken! Let me know if you have any other questions.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when applying the 7 C’s?

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when applying the 7 C’s of communication:

Being vague instead of clear. Using ambiguous words and phrases instead of precise language that leaves no room for misinterpretation.
Being wordy instead of concise. Rambling or including extraneous details that do not directly support your key message.
Lacking concrete details. Failing to provide specific examples, numbers, evidence to illustrate your point. Relying too much on vague generalities.
Inaccuracies in content. Providing incorrect information due to not thoroughly fact checking or proofreading your communications.
An impolite or rude tone of voice. Speaking in a harsh, angry or impatient manner. Failing to use courtesy words like “please” and “thank you.”
Leaving out relevant context. Failing to fully explain necessary background or definitions for an external audience. Forgetting to provide attachments for those who need more information.
Focusing on problems, not solutions. Dwelling on negative issues rather than putting forth helpful suggestions for resolution or improvement.

Other common mistakes:

Interrupting and failing to listen actively. Not pausing to ask clarifying questions or summarize key points.
Declining feedback. Refusing opportunities to improve based on the 7 C’s when others offer constructive input.
Not proofreading and editing written communications. Missing small errors in spelling, grammar or consistency that undermine your credibility.

Avoiding these common traps will improve your ability to apply the 7 C’s of communication effectively. The key is to develop good communication habits that optimize clarity, brevity, tact, courtesy and reliability – the hallmarks of truly resonating with one’s intended audience.

FAQs on the 7 C’s of Communication

The 7 C’s of communication are: clear, concise, concrete, correct, courteous, complete and constructive. They provide guidelines for crafting messages that communicate effectively.

The 7 C’s improve comprehension, build credibility and foster better relationships. They ensure messages are well-received and achieve desired outcomes. Mastering the 7 C’s enhances professionalism and influence.

The 7 C’s were originally developed by management consultants and business communication experts. There is no single person credited with discovering them.

While the 7 C’s framework is well-known, the key principles of clarity, conciseness and courtesy likely encompass most of what is required for effective communication. Mastery of even a few of the 7 C’s can significantly improve how you connect and engage with others. The ultimate goal is creating communications that resonate with the intended audience.

At Studiously Yours Blog you can get 7Cs of communication PDF.

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Article • 17 min read

The 7 Cs of Communication

A checklist for clear communication.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key Takeaways

The 7 Cs of Communication help you to communicate more effectively.
The 7 Cs stand for: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous. Though there are a few variations.
You can use the 7 Cs as a checklist in your written and spoken messages. Follow our examples to learn how!

Think of how often you communicate with people during the day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with your colleagues… the list goes on.

We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, it stands to reason that communicating clearly and effectively can boost productivity.

This is why the 7 Cs of Communication are helpful. The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that your meetings , emails , conference calls, reports , and presentations are well constructed and clear – so your audience gets your message.

In this article and in the video, below, we'll look at each of the 7 Cs of Communication, and illustrate each element with both good and bad examples.

What Are the 7 Cs of Effective Communication?

According to the 7 Cs, communication needs to be:

From Cutlip, Scott M., Center, Allen H., Broom, Glen M., Effective Public Relations, 11th, 2013 . Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, New York [1]

When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you're not sure, then your audience won't be either.

To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it's easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn't have to "read between the lines" and make assumptions on their own to understand what you're trying to say.

Bad Example

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel, 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.

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 Daniel 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 Daniel or is there some more specific goal here? There's no sense of purpose to this message, so it's a bit confusing.

Good Example

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel Kedar, 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,

This second message is much clearer because the reader has the information he needs to take action.

When you're concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn't want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three. Ask yourself:

Are there any adjectives or "filler words" that you can delete? You can often eliminate words like "for instance," "you see," "definitely," "kind of," "literally," "basically," or "I mean."
Are there any unnecessary sentences?
Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways?

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?

This email is too long! There's repetition, and there's plenty of "filler" taking up space.

Watch what happens when we're concise and take out the filler words:

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.

3. Concrete

When your message is concrete, your audience has a clear picture of what you're telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there's laser-like focus. Your message is solid.

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.

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!

This copy is better because there are vivid images. The audience can picture spending quality time with their kids – and what parent could argue with that? And mentioning that the product is stored in the refrigerator explains how the product is also practical. The message has come alive through these details.

When your communication is correct, your audience will be able to understand it. And correct communication is also error-free communication. Make sure your message is correct by asking yourself the following questions:

Do the technical terms you use fit your audience's level of education or knowledge?
Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? (Remember, spell checkers won't catch everything).
Are all names and titles spelled correctly?

Thanks so much for meeting me at lunch today! I enjoyed our conservation, and I'm looking forward to moving ahead on our project. I'm sure that the two-weak deadline won't be an issue.

Thanks again, and I'll speak to you soon!

Jack Miller

If you read that example fast, then you might not have caught any errors. But on closer inspection, you'll find two. Can you see them?

The first error is that the writer accidentally typed conservation instead of conversation. This common error can happen when you're typing too fast. The other error is using weak instead of week.

Again, spell checkers won't catch word errors like this, which is why it's so important to proofread everything!

5. Coherent

When your communication is coherent, it's logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she wanted to make sure you knew about the department meeting we're having this Friday. We'll be creating an outline for the new employee handbook.

As you can see, this email doesn't communicate its point very well. Where is Michelle's feedback on Traci's report? She started to mention it, but then she changed the topic to Friday's meeting.

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she let me know that there are a few changes that you'll need to make. She'll email you her detailed comments later this afternoon.

Notice that in the good example, Michelle does not mention Friday's meeting. This is because the meeting reminder should be an entirely separate email. This way, Traci can delete the report feedback email after she makes her changes, but save the email about the meeting as her reminder to attend. Each email has only one main topic.

6. Complete

In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable, take action.

Does your message include a "call to action," so that your audience clearly knows what you want them to do?
Have you included all relevant information – contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on?

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the meeting we're having tomorrow!

See you then,

This message is not complete, for obvious reasons. What meeting? When is it? Where? Chris has left his team without the necessary information.

I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow's meeting on the new telecommuting policies. The meeting will be at 10 a.m. in the second-level conference room. Please let me know if you can't attend.

7. Courteous

Courteous communication is friendly, open and honest. There are no hidden insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader's viewpoint in mind, and you're empathetic to their needs.

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?

Well, that's hardly courteous! Messages like this can potentially start office-wide fights. And this email does nothing but create bad feelings, which can lower productivity and morale. A little bit of courtesy, even in difficult situations, can go a long way.

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!

What a difference! This email is courteous and friendly, and it has little chance of spreading bad feelings around the office.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who created the 7 cs.

Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center are credited as the minds behind the 7 Cs of Communication. They first introduced the checklist in their book, "Effective Public Relations." [2]

Why are the 7 Cs important?

Clear and effective communication is a vital skill in life, and at work. It helps you not only to get what you want, but also to build relationships and maintain a great reputation. While there are lots of different communication tools and techniques that help you to improve, the 7 Cs offer an easy way to ensure that your communication is always as effective as possible.

How to remember the 7 Cs

If you struggle to remember each of the seven Cs, try a memory aid tool , such as associating imagery with each word, or storytelling.

There are a few variations of the 7 Cs of Communication:

Credible – Does your message improve or highlight your credibility? This is especially important when communicating with an audience that doesn't know much about you.
Creative – Does your message communicate your main points creatively? Creative communication can help to keep your audience engaged.

The better we communicate, the more credibility we'll have with our clients, our boss and our co-workers.

Use the 7 Cs of Communication as a checklist for all of your communication. By doing this, you'll stay clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous.

[1][2] Cutlip, S.M., Center, A.H., and Broom, G.M. (2013). ' Effective Public Relations' 11th edn. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

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A Complete Guide To The 7 Cs of Effective Communication (With Examples)

In a world filled with tweets, statuses, likes, and shares, it’s easy to assume that we’re masters of conveying our thoughts and ideas.

But there’s a vast difference between speaking and actually communicating.

In this ever-evolving landscape of emojis and digital noise, effective communication has become an indispensable skill.

According to a survey finding , a 100,000-employee company can incur an annual cost of $62.4 million due to poor communication.

On the contrary, companies with effective communicators can have 47% higher total returns.

Learning how to communicate effectively is an essential skill in navigating this highly competitive business world.

In this blog, we will delve into the 7 Cs of effective communication to unravel their significance. From clarity and courtesy, we will equip you with the essentials of effective communication to leave an impact in business communications like meetings, presentations, and also in your personal life.

So, are you ready to unlock the secrets of effective communication?

Let’s dive in:

What is Effective Communication?

Benefits of effective communication, what are the 7 cs of effective communication, final thoughts.

Effective communication refers to the process of conveying information, ideas, thoughts, and feelings from one person to another in a clear, concise, and understandable manner.

Communicating effectively ensures your message is accurately understood by the recipient, leading to successful interaction between individuals or groups.

Effective communication is like the secret sauce that makes all your interactions and relationships juicier and more flavorful.

It’s the art of expressing yourself clearly and authentically while also being able to listen attentively and empathetically.

Effective communication can take various forms depending on the context and the medium used.

Here are some common forms of effective communication:

Verbal Communication
Written Communication
Non-Verbal Communication
Visual Communication
Active Listening
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Effective communication is a vital skill in various aspects of life, including personal relationships, professional settings, and social interactions.

You may want to check out our short video on Non-verbal communication:

Whether you’re conveying information, expressing ideas, or building relationships, following the principles of effective communication helps you communicate more effectively:

Here are a few benefits that show the importance of 7cs of communication:

Understanding: Effective communication helps others understand your ideas, thoughts, and feelings more clearly. It reduces misinterpretations and promotes shared understanding between individuals.
Stronger Relationships: When you communicate effectively, you build stronger and more meaningful relationships and cause healthier personal and professional interactions.
Conflict Resolution: Effective communication allows you to express your concerns, listen to other perspectives, and find common ground. Persuasive speaking helps you find mutually beneficial solutions and promotes harmony.
Increased Productivity: Clear and efficient communication enhances productivity in various settings. By conveying instructions, expectations, and feedback effectively , you minimize errors and improve workflow efficiency.

Improved Decision-Making: When communication is clear and open, decision-making becomes more informed and effective. Access to relevant information, diverse viewpoints, and constructive discussions enable better decision-making processes.
Professional Success: Soft skills are one of the essentials of business communication and are highly valued in the professional world. Effective communication helps you articulate your ideas, present yourself confidently , and build rapport with colleagues, clients, and superiors. It positively impacts your career advancement.

Influence and Persuasion: By expressing ****your thoughts convincingly, providing supporting evidence, and appealing to emotions, you can inspire action and influence positive change. It is a valuable skill in leadership, negotiation, and public speaking.
Personal Growth: Effective communication contributes to self-awareness. It encourages reflection, active listening, and empathy, allowing individuals to better understand themselves and others. Clear thinking promotes personal development and emotional intelligence.

Effective Communication For the Future of Work. According to a survey of recruiters , 94% agreed that employees who possess strong soft skills are more likely to be promoted. The LinkedIn APAC Future of Skills 2019 Report supports this finding and indicates that with the increasing influence of AI and automation, the value of soft skills is on the rise.

By honing your communication skills, you can navigate life’s challenges more effectively and cultivate meaningful connections with others.

Let’s now look at the 7 Cs of communication one by one.

Clarity is the most important characteristic of communication.

Clear communication means expressing your message in a way that is easily understood by the recipient. It involves using simple language, avoiding jargon or technical terms, and organizing your thoughts logically.

Clarity leaves no room for any confusion or misinterpretation of your message.

Your message should be straightforward and easily comprehensible.

Unclear communication:

Just a quick reminder about the meeting tomorrow. It’s important, so please make sure you’re prepared. Also, don’t forget to bring any relevant documents. See you there!

The email doesn’t mention the specific time, date. And it leaves confusion with the word “relevant documents”.

Clear communication:

I wanted to remind you about the quarterly sales meeting scheduled for tomorrow, May 20th, at 10 AM in Conference Room B.

The purpose of this meeting is to review our sales performance for the past quarter and discuss strategies for improvement.

In preparation for the meeting, please make sure to:

Familiarize yourself with the sales data and reports for the past three months.
Identify key trends and insights from the data.
Prepare any relevant recommendations or suggestions for improving our sales performance.

Additionally, please bring a printed copy of your sales figures and any supporting documents that you believe would contribute to our discussion.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Best regards,Kumar

This clear and detailed communication helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and well-prepared for the meeting.

To ensure clarity in communication:

Avoid complex or technical terms and choose simple words
Organize your information in neat and clean manner.
Illustrate your points with examples, analogies, or visual aids.
Pay attention to the tone of your message

Check out our video on why Clarity is important in communication.

Being concise means getting your message across in a clear and straightforward manner without using unnecessary words or information. It’s about distilling your thoughts and ideas into their most essential form.

Conciseness of the message refers to carefully selecting your words and arranging them in a way that is simple, to the point, and easy to understand.

Conciseness in communication ensures that your message is comprehended quickly.

When you ramble on, use filler words , or include too much unnecessary information, you risk losing your audience’s attention and diluting the impact of your message.

Remember, being concise doesn’t mean sacrificing important details; rather, it means prioritizing and presenting information in a streamlined manner.

Non-concise Communication: “Hey Neha, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming project deadline. So, you know, we’ve been working on it for quite some time, and we’ve encountered a few challenges along the way. I think it’s important for us to take into account all the feedback we’ve received from the team, especially the issues they’ve raised about the budget allocation. Additionally, I believe we should also consider the potential impact of the recent market trends on our project’s success. So, what do you think?”

Concise Communication: “Neha, let’s discuss the project deadline. We need to address the team’s feedback on budget allocation and consider the impact of recent market trends. What are your thoughts?”

So, next time you communicate, think about

how you can trim the fat from your message,
get to the point,
make it easier for others to understand and engage with what you’re saying.

Being correct means conveying accurate and reliable information without errors or misleading statements. Correctness in communication ensures the facts, figures, grammar, spelling, and other details are correct.

It is important to verify facts, use credible sources, and double-check information before sharing it. This applies to both verbal and written communication.

Humans are easily fooled by false information, and it spreads quickly.

According to a study from the MIT Media Lab , false information is 70% more likely to be shared on social media compared to true information. Misinformation travels farther and faster than the truth across all types of information.

Being correct doesn’t mean you have to be an expert on everything or know every single detail. It means that you take responsibility for the information you share and make an effort to provide accurate and reliable data or statements.

If you’re uncertain about something, it’s perfectly fine to admit it and offer to find the correct information later. It shows honesty and integrity, which are valuable traits in effective communication.

Imagine a colleague presenting a sales report in a meeting. They mention that the company achieved a 10% increase in sales last quarter. However, upon further investigation, it was discovered that there was a mistake in the calculations, and the actual increase was only 5%.

In this scenario, the colleague’s wrong information could lead to poor decision-making and misunderstandings within the company.

To ensure correctness in communication:

Double-check any facts, figures, or details before communicating them.
Review your communication for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
Avoid slang, jargon, or technical terms that might not be familiar to everyone.
Stay informed about changes, updates, or developments related to your topic.

By prioritizing correctness in communication, we establish trust, credibility, and reliability in our interactions.

4. Complete

Being complete means providing all the necessary information and ensuring that your message is comprehensive and thorough. It’s about leaving no room for confusion or ambiguity.

To ensure completeness in communication, it’s important to provide all the relevant facts, details, and context that the recipient needs to fully grasp the message.

You also need to answer any anticipated questions or concerns that the listener may have.

Incomplete Communication: “We need to improve sales.”

This message is vague and lacks specificity. It does not provide any details or guidance on how to improve sales

Complete Communication:

“To improve sales, we should focus on increasing our online advertising budget by 20% for the next quarter. Additionally, let’s launch a targeted email campaign to our existing customer base offering a 10% discount on their next purchase. We should also provide additional sales training to our team members to enhance their product knowledge and customer engagement skills. Lastly, let’s explore strategic partnerships with complementary businesses to expand our customer reach and tap into new markets.”

To ensure completeness in communication:

Determine what information needs to be conveyed or what action needs to be taken.
Collect all the the key details, facts, data, and any supporting materials
Organize the message in a logical and coherent manner.
Review and revise for completeness before sending.

5. Consideration

Consideration in communication is about taking into account the needs, perspectives, and feelings of your listeners. It requires empathy and understanding, taking into account the specific circumstances, preferences, and concerns of your audience.

Doing an in-depth audience analysis is crucial for considerate communication.

You also have to be mindful of the timing and context of your communication. You consider whether it is an appropriate moment to bring up certain topics or if the person is in the right frame of mind to receive the message.

Consideration is not limited to face-to-face interactions—it applies to all forms of communication, including written messages, emails, and even social media posts.

Inconsiderate communication: “I need you to complete this report by the end of the day. It’s urgent and I don’t have time to wait.”

The message is abrupt, demanding, and fails to acknowledge the recipient’s workload or time constraints.

Considerate Communication:

“Hello, I hope you’re doing well. Could you please complete the report by the end of the day if possible? I understand you may have other tasks on your plate, but it would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any assistance or if we can discuss the timeline further. Thank you!”

Here the message acknowledges the recipient’s workload and recognizes the need for flexibility by using phrases such as “if possible” and “I understand.” The sender offers assistance and opens the door for further discussion, emphasizing a collaborative approach.

To ensure consideration in your communication:

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and see how they might perceive your message.
Use language that is respectful, courteous, and appropriate.
Adapt your tone and approach to match their communication style.

6. Concrete

Being concrete means expressing your thoughts and ideas in a specific and tangible way.

Concrete communication is about avoiding vague or ambiguous statements and providing clear details. Concrete language makes your communication more relatable and engaging, enabling your audience to grasp your point quickly and accurately.

Concreteness forms a vivid mental image of your message. It fosters a stronger connection between you and your audience, as they can visualize your ideas more.

Remember, being concrete doesn’t mean you have to provide excessive detail in every situation.

You must find the right balance and provide enough specific information to make your message clear and relatable.

Vague statement: “Our customer satisfaction levels are not where we want them to be. We should work on improving them.”

Concrete Communication:

“Our customer satisfaction survey results for the past quarter indicate an overall satisfaction score of 6.2 out of 10. One area of concern highlighted by customers is the response time for resolving their issues, with an average resolution time of 48 hours. To address this, we will implement a new ticketing system that automates escalations and streamlines the support process. This will reduce response times to within 24 hours, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and higher retention rates.”

Whether you’re sharing a personal story, presenting data, or explaining instructions, using concrete language will enhance your communication skills and make your message resonate with others.

To ensure concreteness in communication:

Include measurable data such as numbers, percentages, or statistics to make your communication more tangible.
Focus on action-oriented language to emphasize actionable steps and outcomes.
Use real-life examples, case studies, or anecdotes to illustrate your points.

7. Courteous

Courteous communication refers to the use of polite and respectful language and behavior. It involves maintaining a professional and friendly tone, adhering to social norms, and showing respect for others’ opinions, time, and boundaries.

Courtesy in communication creates a positive and supportive atmosphere, fostering better understanding and stronger relationships.

You must choose your words and tone carefully to ensure that your message is received in a positive and respectful manner.

You should avoid using offensive or disrespectful language and strive to maintain a professional and friendly tone.

Uncourteous communication: Hey, Rita, your presentation yesterday was terrible. You need to improve your skills. It was a waste of everyone’s time.

Courteous Communication: Hey, Rita, do you have a moment? I wanted to talk about the presentation you gave yesterday. I appreciate your effort, and I believe there are areas where we can make it even stronger.

By incorporating courtesy into your communication, you can sound more professional.

It helps you enhance the effectiveness and impact of your message while nurturing healthy connections with those around you.

Difference between consideration and courtesy in communication:

consideration focuses on understanding and addressing the specific needs, interests, and perspectives of the audience,
while courtesy centers on using polite and respectful language and behavior, and showing respect for others’ opinions, time, and boundaries.

You may want to check out our video on how to speak like a professional.

No communication is complete without feedback.

Yes, feedback is essential for effective communication.

Feedback allows for confirmation, clarification, and adjustment of the message.

Feedback can be given through verbal or non-verbal responses, questions, or written comments. It helps to ensure that the intended message is accurately received and interpreted.

Without feedback, communication becomes one-sided, leading to misunderstandings and assumptions. Feedback closes the loop and helps ensure that both parties understand each other.

By actively seeking and encouraging feedback, you create an environment where your listeners and team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns.

Taking feedback requires humility and an open mind. Embracing feedback empowers us to refine our communication style. On the flip side, giving feedback requires finesse and tact.

Check out the perfect way to give feedback:

Improving your communication skills can have a profound impact on your life. By implementing the 7 Cs of Effective Communication, you can become a more skilled and effective communicator in any situation.

It’s not about being a master or impressing others with your words but rather about connecting with people and making your message truly understood.

Improving your communication skills takes practice and effort, but the rewards are immeasurable.

Whether it’s in your personal relationships, professional endeavors, or everyday interactions, effective communication is the key to understanding and being understood.

So, why not start today?

If you are looking for a comprehensive platform to enhance your communication skills, I encourage you to check out BBR English.

Our 1:1 live sessions with a personal mentor are designed to help you improve your verbal and nonverbal communication skills in a supportive, personalized environment. You’ll discover proven techniques to gain your confidence to communicate effectively in any situation.

Don’t wait any longer!

Many individuals took their first step with us and transformed their communication skills with BBR English.

Check out how BBR English helped a law student upgrade her Communication Skills.

Book your counseling session now and take the first step towards becoming an effective communicator.

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What Are the 7 Cs of Communication? Dos & Don’ts

Table of contents

Communication is the way to share ideas and feelings. It plays a vital role in individual interaction as well as business interaction. It is the key to transmitting information, whether in organizational structure or outside. The process includes exchanging information through verbal, non-verbal, or written forms. Ensuring that communication is effective regardless of the chosen form is crucial.

Good communication makes your message more effective, whereas a poor communication method negatively impacts your message, which could lead to several issues. The 7 cs of communication are the seven spoken and written communication principles to ensure effectiveness. Practicing these principles during business communication helps your messages become more influential.

Importance of 7cs of Communication

The 7cs of communication are essential in achieving effective and meaningful communication. It guides you on how you can interact with people impactfully. Implementing these communication rules helps you build good connections and maintain your reputation.

The 7 Cs communication skills are helpful for any kind of communication. It can help you with your verbal as well as writing method of communication while maintaining the tone of your message. This approach is beneficial for both interpersonal communication and business communication. It makes communication easier to understand and increases the influence.

What Are the 7 Cs of Communication?

The 7 Cs of communication are the principles for making your ideas more impactful and practical. It leads to understandable and effective communication. It can be complicated to improve your communication skills without exercising the principles of 7cs. You will see the differences and recognize their importance once you practice them. The 7cs of effective communication are Concise, Complete, Coherent, Clear, Courteous, Concrete and Correct.

The longer your message is, the harder it can be for the audience to remember. It’s easy for people to lose attention when your message is long and includes a draggy explanation. Considering this fact, your message must be brief and to the point. Getting to the end of your message quickly and efficiently is essential. Being concise is one of the most important 7cs of communication. Avoid repetitions of the information. It saves your time while keeping your audiences engaged.

Don’t: Drag on and use unnecessary words.

Bad Example : “In order to possibly determine the outcome of the situation that we’re currently looking at, we might need more data.”

Do: Get straight to the point.

Good Example : “We need more data to determine the outcome.”

2. Complete

Providing answers to your listeners with logic, fact, and relevancy is crucial in any form of communication. You must provide complete information in your message without missing the major points. Do not hesitate to provide additional explanations for the complex messages. It makes your content more understandable as you provide details on what you’re saying. Moreover, it ensures that you do not leave any questions in the receiver’s mind or leave them wondering.

Don’t: Leave out crucial details or information.

Bad Example : “Send me the files.”

Do: Provide all necessary details.

Good Example : “Please send me the sales report files for March by the end of the day.”

3. Coherent

Keeping your message related to the audience can aid influential communication. Structuring your message to suit your audience is a great way to keep your audience engaged throughout the conversation. You must acknowledge the background of your audience to structure your message coherently. Additionally, explaining your message in an organized order is important for properly understanding the intended message. Make sure the points of your message are logical and connected.

Don’t: Jump from topic to topic without a clear connection.

Bad Example : “Our sales increased last month. Did you see the new coffee machine in the pantry? We should target the Asian market next.”

Do: Ensure your message flows logically.

Good Example : “Our sales increased last month, especially in the Asian region. We should continue targeting the Asian market.”

Clarity is one of the most essential 7 Cs of communication. Your message should be easily understandable and not confuse your audience. Make your perception of communication clear, as you can’t make your audience understand unless you are clear on the message. Only you can carry clear ideas with relevant meanings in messages. While carrying your ideas forward, put them straight, using simple language to bring clarity to your speech or message.

Don’t: Use jargon or complicated words without explaining them.

Bad Example : “The ROI of our latest PPC campaign has surpassed our KPIs.”

Do: Make sure your message is easily understood.

Good Example : “The return on investment (ROI) of our latest pay-per-click (PPC) campaign has exceeded our key performance indicators (KPIs).”

5. Courteous

Being courteous is another fundamental principle of the 7 C’s of communication. Be open and honest to the audience while communicating. You must be polite and respectful to your listeners. It doesn’t mean using just formal language and polite words. The use of informal language is okay, especially during casual communication. However, there must be a presence of respectful attitude in communication. Even if it’s not good news, it’s important to communicate positively and transparently. There should be no hidden insults in your message.

Don’t: Be blunt or insensitive.

Bad Example : “Your report was wrong.”

Do: Use polite and respectful language.

Good Example : “I think there might be some inaccuracies in the report. Let's review it together.”

6. Concrete

Concrete means being confident and very focused on your information. You must ensure that your message is trustworthy. Keep your message straight and meaningful by supporting it with factual data and figures. Concreteness can be significant for businesses and is considered one of the most essential seven c’s of communication. You must include concrete details in your message in business communication. However, it is also important not to include too many of them to avoid confusion. The details must be specific to your message.

Don’t: Be vague or ambiguous.

Bad Example : “We had good sales last year.”

Do: Use specific details and facts.

Good Example : “Our sales increased by 20% last year, resulting in an additional $50,000 in revenue.”

Correctness plays a crucial role in ensuring effective communication. Your audience can not understand your intended message if you do not ensure correctness. Your message must be correct both grammatically and technically. It means your ideas and information must be error-free and based on facts and reality. It must not contain any inaccurate or false information. The errors, misstatements, and lies lead to ineffective communication, resulting in loss of confidence and trust issues.

Don’t: Use incorrect grammar or misinformation.

Bad Example : “There sales last month was good.”

Do: Ensure your message is grammatically and factually accurate.

Good Example : “Their sales last month were impressive.”

Communication is vital for everyone, whether for an individual or an organization. The 7 Cs of communication play a significant role in improving your communication to achieve effectiveness. It allows you to influence your audience with your words. Such perk applies to various sectors such as organization, business, and education. It helps improve your work efficiency and improve your business communication.

Conversing on improving business communication, you can take it to another level with Calilio. Our cloud-based business phone system ensures clarity with HD voice quality, coherence with integrated tools, and conciseness through streamlined features. Moreover, our cloud phone system provides a complete communication suite that adds courtesy to interactions through VoIP features like voicemail, call waiting, and personalized greetings. Sign up today to elevate effective and efficient communication for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 7 cs of effective communication.

The 7 Cs of communication refer to seven essential principles that enhance the clarity and impact of communication. They are: Concise, Complete, Coherent, Clear, Courteous, Concrete, and Correct.

Why are the 7 C’s Important in Communication?

The 7 C’s are pivotal for clarity and understanding in communication. They ensure messages are concise, accurate, and well-structured, improving audience engagement, fostering trust, and preventing misunderstandings.

How much of communication is non-verbal?

A significant portion of communication is non-verbal. Studies suggest that up to 93% of communication can be non-verbal, though this varies depending on the context and type of interaction. Non-verbal cues include body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions, which are crucial in conveying emotions and intentions.

Who Created the 7 C’s of Communication?

Professor Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center published the book “Effective Public Relations“ in 1952. It was the first textbook about public relations that later introduced the 7cs of communication.

How can one achieve conciseness in communication?

You can achieve conciseness in communication by keeping your message brief and accurate based on facts. You must avoid using filler words and unnecessary phrases in your message.

How do the 7cs of communication improve business communication?

You can apply the 7cs of communication to various forms of business communication . You can practice it in speech, text messages, meetings, emails, or seminars. It helps businesses to ensure a proper and accurate exchange of information.

Can the 7 Cs of communication be applied to both written and verbal communication?

The 7 Cs of communication can be applied in both verbal and written communication. It helps deliver clear and effective messages in interpersonal and business communication.

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Effective Communication: 7 C’s of Mastering Interaction Skills

A checklist for clear communication.

We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, it stands to reason that communicating clearly and effectively can boost productivity.

This is why the 7 C’s of Communication are helpful. The 7 C’s provide a checklist for making sure that your meetings , emails , conference calls , reports , and presentations are well constructed and clear – so your audience gets your message.

In this article and in the video, below, we’ll look at each of the 7 C’s of Communication and illustrate each element with both good and bad examples.

According to the 7 C’s, communication needs to be:

When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you’re not sure, then your audience won’t be either.

To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it’s easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn’t have to “read between the lines” and make assumptions on their own to understand what you’re trying to say.

Bad Example

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel, 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.

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 Daniel 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 Daniel or is there some more specific goal here? There’s no sense of purpose to this message, so it’s a bit confusing.

Good Example

I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel Kedar, 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,

This second message is much clearer because the reader has the information he needs to take action.

When you’re concise in your communication, you stick to the point and keep it brief. Your audience doesn’t want to read six sentences when you could communicate your message in three. Ask yourself:

Are there any adjectives or “filler words” that you can delete? You can often eliminate words like “for instance,” “you see,” “definitely,” “kind of,” “literally,” “basically,” or “I mean.”
Are there any unnecessary sentences?
Have you repeated the point several times, in different ways?

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?

This email is too long! There’s repetition, and there’s plenty of “filler” taking up space.

Watch what happens when we’re concise and take out the filler words:

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.

3. Concrete

When your message is concrete, your audience has a clear picture of what you’re telling them. There are details (but not too many!) and vivid facts, and there’s a laser-like focus. Your message is solid.

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.

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!

Do the technical terms you use fit your audience’s level of education or knowledge?
Have you checked your writing for grammatical errors? (Remember, spell checkers won’t catch everything).
Are all names and titles spelled correctly?

Thanks so much for meeting me at lunch today! I enjoyed our conservation, and I’m looking forward to moving ahead on our project. I’m sure that the two-weak deadline won’t be an issue.

Thanks again, and I’ll speak to you soon!

Jack Miller

If you read that example fast, then you might not have caught any errors. But on closer inspection, you’ll find two. Can you see them?

The first error is that the writer accidentally typed conservation instead of conversation. This common error can happen when you’re typing too fast. The other error is using weak instead of a week.

Again, spell checkers won’t catch word errors like this, which is why it’s so important to proofread everything!

5. Coherent

When your communication is coherent, it’s logical. All points are connected and relevant to the main topic, and the tone and flow of the text is consistent.

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she wanted to make sure you knew about the department meeting we’re having this Friday. We’ll be creating an outline for the new employee handbook.

As you can see, this email doesn’t communicate its point very well. Where is Michelle’s feedback on Traci’s report? She started to mention it, but then she changed the topic to Friday’s meeting.

I wanted to write you a quick note about the report you finished last week. I gave it to Michelle to proof, and she let me know that there are a few changes that you’ll need to make. She’ll email you her detailed comments later this afternoon.

Notice that in the good example, Michelle does not mention Friday’s meeting. This is because the meeting reminder should be an entirely separate email. This way, Traci can delete the report feedback email after she makes her changes, but save the email about the meeting as her reminder to attend. Each email has only one main topic.

6. Complete

In a complete message, the audience has everything they need to be informed and, if applicable, take action.

Does your message include a “call to action,” so that your audience clearly knows what you want them to do?
Have you included all relevant information – contact names, dates, times, locations, and so on?

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the meeting we’re having tomorrow!

See you then,

This message is not complete, for obvious reasons. What meeting? When is it? Where? Chris has left his team without the necessary information.

I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow’s meeting on the new telecommuting policies. The meeting will be at 10 a.m. in the second-level conference room. Please let me know if you can’t attend.

7. Courteous

Courteous communication is friendly, open and honest. There are no hidden insults or passive-aggressive tones. You keep your reader’s viewpoint in mind, and you’re empathetic to their needs.

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?

Well, that’s hardly courteous! Messages like this can potentially start office-wide fights. And this email does nothing but create bad feelings, which can lower productivity and morale. A little bit of courtesy, even in difficult situations, can go a long way.

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!

What a difference! This email is courteous and friendly, and it has little chance of spreading bad feelings around the office.

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Dr. Sydney Ceruto

A Pioneer in Neuroscience-Based Coaching

As the founder of MindLAB Neuroscience, Dr. Sydney Ceruto has been a leading force in integrating neuroscience into coaching and counseling for over two decades. With three master's degrees in psychology and two PhDs in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, she is widely considered a top expert in her field.

Harnessing the power of neuroscience-based coaching , Dr. Ceruto's innovative approach focuses on neuroscience, neuroplasticity, and neural pathway rewiring to foster lasting positive change in mental health.

Dr. Ceruto holds esteemed memberships in the Forbes Executive Council, Positive Performance Alliance, Wharton Executive Education Program, the International Society of Female Professionals, and executive writing positions for Alternatives Watch, Brainz Magazine, and TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.

Dr. Ceruto's accomplishments include:

The 2022 CREA Award.
A lead research position at NYU Steinhardt.
Volunteer work with Covenant House and the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI).

Her science-backed method of Neural Rewiring has successfully guided thousands of clients toward happier, more productive, and more resilient lives.

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The seven cs of effective communication.

Helping teachers talk to parents about A2 Key for Schools, B1 Preliminary for Schools and B2 First for Schools

When we think of the people involved in teaching and learning, we tend to think of the teachers and the learners. Yet, in the context of young learner and teenage education this leaves out a very important stakeholder – the parents or carers!

Parents have a very keen interest in what happens with the learning of the children in their care. As a teacher, having open and constructive channels of communication with parents is essential. Having an effective strategy to bring them into the classroom and the learning process is very often the key to success.

Follow our seven-point checklist when you plan, write and revise your communications. It will help you explain to parents exactly what you need them to know so they become your partners in their child’s learning journey.

It is important to be clear about our aim and message when we are communicating with someone. Clear communication explains complicated ideas in ways that you can understand using simple and familiar language. It leaves no doubts or ambiguity about the purpose of the communication.

Tip: Start with a list of the things that you need parents to know, agree to or understand. Then eliminate anything on the list that you think they will not be familiar with. Do they know what ‘communicative competence’ or ‘B1 on the CEFR’ mean? Probably not … so don’t include it!

2. Concrete

Once you have removed jargon, how do you fill in the gaps? Good communication is essential: your challenge is to find a new way to say these things that gives a clear and specific picture. An explanation can help, but an image or a comparison is even better!

Tip: Imagine that learners are football players – we want them to know the rules of the game, but we are not interested in how well they can recite them. Instead, we want to see how they use them in a real match, and how they can use them to solve the problems they face on the pitch. That is what we call competence.

Stick to the point. Be brief. This shows respect for our audience (you appreciate that their time is valuable), but it also helps to keep us clear and precise.

A good example of concise information is the Can Do statements that we use to describe learner competence. When we say that a B1 Preliminary candidate ‘CAN understand routine information and articles’ and ‘CAN understand straightforward instructions or public announcements’ we create a simple image.

Tip: The descriptors in our handbooks for teachers will give you plenty of examples ready for when you talk to parents about what their child CAN do at each level. Search to find all our resources for teachers .

4. Considerate

Tone and register are important. Too formal and you will come across as distant and unapproachable; too casual and you will not sound professional. Consider the age, style and expectations of the parents – look at yourself through their eyes and meet their expectations.

Tip: Imagine what the parents will ask you about their child’s progress and prepare what you are going to say. You could use the results of homework or practice tests to show parents how their child is progressing and that they are ready to take an exam.

5. Coherent

Coherent communication is about being logical and effective. A good argument must feel like the shortest, easiest line from idea A to idea B – no detours and no gaps. If you are talking about why taking an exam at the end of a course is important, be sure that all your points are connected and relevant to your main argument.

Tip: For example, you could structure your points as follows: ‘The national curriculum says that by the end of secondary school learners should reach a B2 level of English. It is very important for the school and the families to feel confident that our students are on track to meet that very important goal. Taking a Cambridge English Qualification is an excellent way to increase their confidence. We recommend that your child takes A2 Key for Schools and B1 Preliminary for Schools at the end of years 2 and 4.’

Correct communication is appropriate and error free – especially in writing. This includes proofreading, but also making sure that any details (such as names of exams, dates and addresses) are correct and consistent throughout your message.

Tip: It helps to have a second, fresh pair of eyes. Ask a colleague who does not know what you are trying to communicate to read the message, highlight any issues and then explain it back to you. If they can do it, then the parents can too!

7. Complete

Good communication will tell parents everything that they need to know, and also what they are expected to do next. Have you ticked all the items on the list in the tip in the first point? If you need parents to do something, did you mention exactly what it is?

Tip: Remember the Rule of Three. No message is complete unless you have mentioned the main ideas three times: once at the introduction (‘I am going to tell you about B1 Preliminary’), then in the development (‘This is what you need to know about B1 Preliminary’) and once more at the end (‘Now that you know this about B1 Preliminary, remember to …’).

Learn more about how you can talk to parents about their child’s progress in our recent webinar for teachers by Pablo Toledo.

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Find lots more support and resources about talking to parents about Cambridge English Qualifications .

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The 7 C’s of Communication

The seven C’s of communication is a list of principles for written and spoken communications to ensure that they are effective. The seven C’s are: clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered and courteous. Summary by The World of Work Project

You can learn more broadly about communication in our podcast on the subject.

The seven C’s of communication is a list of principles that you should ensure all of your communications adhere to. Their purpose is to help ensure that the person you’re communicating with hears what you’re trying to say. The seven C’s are: clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered and courteous.

The 7'c of Communication are all helpful

There are several stages to clarity.

Firstly, it’s important to be clear about the purpose of the message you’re delivering. The recipient should be made aware of why they are receiving the message and what you’re trying to achieve by delivering it. If there are multiple goals, each should be laid out separately.

Secondly, it’s essential that the content of the communication is itself clear. You should avoid jargon, use simple language, use simple structures and focus on the core points of your message.

It’s essential that both the factual information and the language and grammar you use are correct. If your audience spots errors in either, they will be distracted and your credibility will be greatly reduced. This will reduce the effectiveness of your communication.

The 7 Cs of communication include clarity and conscision

Completeness is often one of the most important of the 7 Cs of communication.

When creating a message, it’s important to give the recipient all of the information they need to follow your line of reasoning and to reach the same conclusions you have. This level of detail will be different in different situations, and you should adjust your communications accordingly.

In addition, you should make things as easy as possible for the recipient. For example, if you are issuing a “call to action”, provide explicit guidance on that action. Increasingly it’s common to include things like hyperlinks in written communications or to attach FAQs, both of which help audiences access a complete set of information while also ensuring that core communications focus on core messages.

When shaping your communication you must ensure that you are specific and that the logic and messages that you’re using fit together, build on each other and support each other. Your arguments should be based on solid facts and opinions from credible sources and you should share irrefutable data to support your argument.

It may be important to help bring the solid nature of what you’ve created to life for your audience through examples that show the relevance of your messages for them as individuals.

When communicating messages of this nature it’s important to stick to the point and keep your messages short and simple. Don’t use 10 words if you can use five. Don’t repeat your messages.

The more you say, the more risk there is of confusion. Avoid that risk by focusing solely on the key points you need to deliver.

Not everyone knows how to use the 7 Cs of communication

You can increase the effectiveness of your communications by being polite and showing your audience that you respect them. Your messages should be friendly, professional, considerate, respectful, open and honest.

To help ensure you are courteous, you should always use some empathy and consider your messages from the point of view of the audience.

Considered & Coherent

The last of the 7 Cs of communication is considered or coherent. If your communications are not coherent they will not be effective. To help make sure your communications are considered and coherent you should have a logical flow and your style, tone and language should be consistent throughout.

In addition to making sure that each communication you issue is coherent within itself, you should also ensure consistency of message when delivering multiple communications.

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Learning More

To learn more broadly about communication, consider reading our 10 Tips for Effective Presentations . You might also enjoy our posts on Becoming a Better Listener , the Rhetorical Triangle , Feedback and tone of voice and body language .

Communication has an important role to play in motivation , which is a key skill for leaders and managers. You might enjoy learning more about motivation in our podcast introducing the topic:

The World of Work Project View

The seven C’s of communication form a useful checklist for when you want to convey a message or a set of information to an audience.

They are, however, less useful for more emotive, persuasive and rhetorically anchored communications. Their focus on detail, concision and clarity help ensure that your audience understands the key points of what you want to say, but provides little guidance on how to emotionally engage with your audience.

We think the 7 C’s are a useful tool for written and spoken communication in many instances. We think they’re particularly suited to email communications whose purpose is to keep people informed, or to one on one communications which are fairly transactional in nature.

If, though, you’re looking to persuade an audience, lead people through change or win hearts and minds, we recommend you use a different approach to communication such as focusing on the 5 Canons of Rhetoric , Story Telling or Monroe’s Motivated Sequence .

When we work with clients or deliver seminars that cover communication, we often focus on the power of connecting with and understanding other people, and being understood. This side of communication is important for high performing teams.

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The World of Work Project: The 7 C’s of Communication

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The 7 Cs of Communication

Video transcript.

Learn how to use the 7 Cs to communicate more effectively.

Welcome to Mind Tools' video learning series.

Whether it's writing an email, sending a report, chairing a meeting, or giving a presentation , most of your working day will likely be spent communicating.

So, one of the best ways to boost your productivity is to communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible.

A great tool for this is the 7 Cs of Communication – a seven-point checklist for delivering engaging and effective messages.

The first of the seven Cs is to be clear .

Ask yourself, "What's the purpose of your message?" If you're not sure, the person you're communicating with won't be either.

Make your key messages stand out. Do this by minimizing the number of ideas you talk about in each sentence. One is ideal. You don't want people to have to "read between the lines," as this could lead to misunderstandings .

Second, be concise . Keep it brief, avoid repetition, and delete unnecessary adjectives and "filler words," like "kind of" or "basically."

Third, when your message is concrete , your audience will have a clear picture of what you're telling them.

Detail is important, but not too much. Try to include some "standout" facts, and make sure you have a laser-sharp focus on your key message.

Next, be correct . Double-check for mistakes. When your communications are error-free, they'll look professional and polished.

When something's coherent , it's logical. It means that you've connected all of your points and made them relevant to the key topic. This will also help to keep the tone and flow of your message consistent.

The sixth point on the checklist is complete .

Supply your audience with all the information that it will need to make an informed decision or take action.

If, for instance, you're sending a reminder about a meeting, be specific. Include details of the location, time and purpose. And, ask people to respond!

Lastly, be courteous . This means having a friendly, open, and honest tone, and avoiding hidden insults or a passive-aggressive tone.

Always keep your audience's viewpoint in mind, and show that you empathize and understand its needs.

For further examples of how you can apply the 7 Cs to your communications, read the article that accompanies this video.

Terms from Cutlip, Scott M., Center, Allen H., Broom, Glen M., Effective Public Relations, 8th, 2000. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, New York. [1]

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7 Cs of Effective Communication with Example

7 Rules of Effective Communication with Examples

A study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute and International Data Corporation reveals that employees spend close to 30% of their time on emails. Beyond that, meetings, conference calls, presentations, report writing, and other work activities involve communicating with peers, superiors, and other colleagues.

To ensure that you communicate most efficiently and engagingly as possible and thereby enhance your productivity at work, you need to follow the 7 Cs of effective communication: Clear, Correct, Complete, Concise, Concrete, Coherent, and Courteous.

7 Cs of Effective Communication

Any message needs to come out clearly from your communication rather than the recipient having to assume things and come back to you for more information. This will only lead to more time being wasted on emails.

Do not try to communicate too many things in one message. This will dilute the attention of the reader. For an example of poor communication skills, look at this email below.

Bad Example:

Dear James,

I would like to talk to you about the new client’s project, which the engineering team discussed yesterday. I might need the help of John from your team.

Regards, Kevin

Innumerable things are wrong in this email. James might not even know who the new client is or what the project is about. He probably was not part of the meeting with the engineering team.

Furthermore, there might be more than one John in James’ big team. Kevin also mentions that he wants to talk. However, he hasn’t mentioned what time he would like to talk, nor has he asked James if he would be free at any available time slots.

Here’s how this email could be made clearer.

Good Example:

As you may know, we have signed up XYZ as our new client. I had a meeting with the engineering team yesterday and discussed the campaign requirements for this project.

John Redden from your team did a pretty good job last time doing the social media campaign for ABC, and so I would like him to work on the XYZ campaign too. Would you be available sometime tomorrow to discuss this further?

Regards Kevin

This email has all the information James needs to know. He can be well prepared for the meeting and also check on John’s availability and have an answer for Kevin when they meet the next day – in whichever time slot both the men are free.

When too many emails are being written in a day, people tend to type fast and, therefore, might make spelling mistakes. Spell check will not be able to catch it if the wrongly spelled word is in fact another word in the English language.

You also must ensure that you address people correctly and spell their names correctly. Additionally, you must ensure that the reader has sufficient knowledge and education to understand the technical terms you use in your communication.

Dear David,

Further to our conservation today, I am attaching the plan for the first stage of the project. Hope the one weak deadline is okay with you and your team.

Regards Sally

There were two glaring spelling errors in this e-mail. ‘ Conversation ’ was spelled ‘ conservation,’ and ‘ week ’ was spelled ‘ weak .’ Though these are minor errors, they could gravely impact the credibility of your professionalism and the brand image of the organization you represent.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to check all your spellings and prefixes before you send an email, especially if you are sending it to a client or a vendor outside of your company.

3. Complete

A complete message will have all the information the reader needs to know to be able to respond or take action. If you require the reader to take some action, ensure that you have a ‘ call-to-action ’ in your email and also communicate the urgency of the task in question.

Incomplete messages lead to iterations, a lot of back-and-forths, and a waste of time and effort on both ends.

Here is an example of an incomplete message.

Let us meet tomorrow to discuss the product launch event. Please be there on time.

Thanks Chris

There is no mention of the time of the meeting scheduled or the location, and neither is there any set agenda. The recipients of the email would have to write back or call back to Chris to clarify.

The best way to have written this email is:

Let us meet tomorrow at 11 am in Conference room 3 to discuss the product launch event. We will have to decide on the keynote speakers and complete the event invite draft tomorrow. Please be there on time.

More often than not, people tend to write four sentences in a place where they could have finished the message in 2 sentences. This wastes the time of the sender and the receiver and, in turn, limits their productivity too.

Furthermore, try not to add fillers such as ‘I mean,’ ‘ sort of ,’ ‘ for instance ,’ ‘ basically ,’ etc. Your message needs to be accurate, to the point, and crisp.

Here is an example of a bad email.

Hi Suzanne,

I think we need to talk about the CSR campaign; I mean the one which we need to do as a quarterly exercise. I think it is a great way of enhancing our brand image. Basically, it would just be a visit to an orphanage, but we can sort of do other things too.

For instance, we could take the kids out for a short trip to a nearby park or zoo. Let us sit and talk tomorrow.

Regards Jennifer

The mail is full of fillers and extended phrases wherein she could have finished the email in just two sentences, such as the one below.

I need to discuss the quarterly CSR campaign with you. Let us take the kids to a nearby park or zoo instead of just visiting them. This will help enhance our brand image. We’ll talk in detail tomorrow.

5. Concrete

You need to believe in you what you want to convey to the audience. Concreteness is a quality that needs to come to the fore, especially during the marketing or advertising campaigns. There need to be details that capture the audience’s attention, not bore them.

“Hilltop Resort is the best resort. Do come to us on your next holiday.”

This is a vague ad message. It is made to sound like just another resort advertisement among a hundred others. The audience will never remember this ad message. There are no concrete details to take away from this message.

“Hilltop Resort is the jewel of the western hills. Take a break from your work. Escape from life’s chaos and stress. Relax and rejuvenate yourself at Hilltop. Go back fresh and energized!”

This message gives you visualization details. The reader can actually imagine being in a beautiful resort breathing fresh air and swimming in a pool instead of slogging away at his or her office. That is a concrete message conveyed to the audience.

6. Coherent

Your message needs to have a logical flow. All sentences in your email or report should be connected to the previous one and stick to the main topic. Without coherence, the reader will easily lose track of what you have conveyed.

Thanks for submitting the industry report. Finn will give you some feedback on it. Finn also wanted to find out if you will be available for the client meeting tomorrow. We will be discussing the budget for the next phase of the project.

Regards Shirley

The email was supposed to be about the industry report which was submitted and the feedback for it. The question about the meeting had come out of nowhere and will now distract Nam and her priorities.

Thanks for submitting the industry report. Finn will give you some feedback on it. You will be receiving an email from him with detailed comments.

This email talks only about the report. Therefore, Nam knows that her report has been viewed and needs to wait for feedback. There are no other distractions. The query about the meeting must have been an entirely different email.

7. Courteous

Being courteous is of profound importance in a corporate setting. Individuals who work together are not necessarily friends; therefore, to maintain a healthy working relationship, being courteous is necessary.

Hidden insults and aggressive tones will only cause trouble among individuals and result in reduced morale and productivity.

I really do not appreciate how your IT team ignores the requests of my team alone. My team is also an important function in this organization, and we have our own IT requirements. Can you ensure that your team responds promptly to my team’s requests hereon?

Regards Stanley

This email is condescending, judgmental, and disrespectful. Drew might now order his team not entirely to respond to your team’s requirements. Try this instead:

I understand that the IT team is swamped with work and gets requests from every department in the organization. My team, however, is working on a high-priority project, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could ask your team members to respond to my team’s queries promptly and help us complete this project on time.

Please do let me know if you need anything from me.

As a result of the polite request, Drew will likely feel appreciated and important, and he will definitely ask his team to help your team out. Work gets done, and everybody is happy too.

To sum up, working with other individuals, be it within your team or other teams in the organization is the norm in today’s corporate setting. Therefore, communication becomes a critical skill. When you communicate well, you become more efficient, tend to command respect among your peers, and maintain a healthy relationships with your colleagues. Keep in mind the 7 Cs of communication and accelerate your career growth.

While you are, do check out these popular courses by Invensis Learning that will help you advance in your professional career.

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The 7 C’s Of Communication

Do you remember the last time your manager didn’t approve your leave or your client did not come on board…

Do you remember the last time your manager didn’t approve your leave or your client did not come on board the project you were presenting? Have you ever thought about why that happened?

One major reason why we may not be able to persuade someone to see our point of view is our lack of proper communication skills. This is where the seven C’s of communication come into play. They will help you persuade and make people see your point or agree with you on a certain subject.

What Are The 7 C’s Of Effective Communication?

The 7 c’s of communication with examples.

Following the 7 C’s of communication is a way to ensure effective business communication . Harappa Education’s Speaking Effectively course can make your communication effective, clear, and concise so you can succeed at work. You can use the Pyramid Principle to structure your ideas for more effective communication. The Pyramid Principle says that you should state the most important thing first and then back it with supporting arguments.

Speech, both in personal and professional life, holds immense power. It can persuade, convert, and compel. Here, we explain the 7 C’s of communication with examples for you.

Completeness

Sometimes we may start talking in English even with a person who may not be well-versed with the language. This scenario is quite common in day-to-day life. Also, as a conversation flows, we tend to jump from one topic to another, leaving each message incomplete.

When you are communicating with someone, your message should be complete and supported with facts and explanations.

Concreteness

Remember the Knock app that came a few years ago? The company said it all with the tagline, ‘Unlock your Mac by knocking your iPhone’.

Precise and concrete messages mean more effective interaction with your audience. Avoid ambiguity in your messages to help your audience understand your point easily.

While you are crafting your message, make sure you consider the feelings and points of view of the receiver. After all, the success of your speech will be judged on how much your listener has understood.

Do you often get lost in the flow of conversation and stretch it longer than necessary?

Keep the message, impactful, short, and simple for the receiver to understand it clearly. It is important that the message be concise yet complete.

Consideration

Have you ever attended an event or a business meeting where you feel bored or left out? The strength of a powerful speaker or communicator is that she relates to his audience and makes them feel involved.

Professional knowledge, the level of education, and interests play an important role in helping you relate to your audience and convey the proper message.

Correctness

You should always run a fact check on your presentation. If the points you present are game-changing but are based on incorrect facts, they won’t have the required impact.

For instance, fake messages going viral on social media platforms have, at times, led to panic in society.

No matter what subject, language, or medium you choose, it’s essential that the message you convey is correct. Along with the correct facts, you must also ensure correct spelling and grammar.

Even if you follow all the C’s of communication mentioned above, your message will not make a strong impact if it’s unclear.

Make sure you keep your message short and clear so that it has a lasting impact on the listeners.

Mark the seven C’s of Communication in your skill-learning to-do list as they will take you a long way. Head straight to Harappa Education’s Speaking Effectively and Writing Proficiently courses to improve your oral and written communication skills.

Explore blogs on topics such as the process of communication , the elements of communication , what is grapevine communication , the channels of communication , and the levels of communication in our Harappa Diaries section and learn how to deliver information effectively.

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By Denis G.

7 Cs of Communication

In this article:

The 7 Cs of communication is a checklist we can use to ensure that we are communicating effectively.

Communication is something we do almost from the moment we are born. As a baby, we communicate effectively by crying when we are unhappy about something. As a young child, we are already communicating with those around us before we even begin school.

Communication is a core part of the experience of being human. But because we learn to communicate in childhood many of us never revisit the topic and learn the communication skills needed for really effective communication.

Why is this important?

Think about all the misunderstandings that you have witnessed in your professional life. The misunderstandings you’ve witnessed probably number in the thousands.

A classic and all too common misunderstanding in an organizational context is illustrated by the following example.

Micha askes Mike to produce a report showing the sales figures for the year. Mike then produces the report showing the figures from January 1st to the current date. However, this isn’t quite what Micha wanted. What Micha actually wanted was the sales figures for the past 12 months.

This misunderstanding between Micha and Mike means Micha now has to speak with Mike again to explain what she really wanted. It also means Mike has extra work to do as he needs to revisit and redo his report.

Stop for a moment and think about all the communication you do in a single day. Emails. Conference calls. Team meetings. Presentations. One to one meetings. Even casual chats by the coffee machine. The number of communications you send and undergo in a single day can easily number in the hundreds.

Though effective communication you can avoid misunderstandings. Avoiding misunderstandings saves you time.

Thus, you can give your productivity a huge boost by sharpening up your communication skills to reduce misunderstandings.

The 7 Cs of Effective Communication

You can think of the 7 Cs of Communication as being a checklist to ensure you communicate clearly and effectively. The 7 Cs are:

Let’s examine each of the 7 Cs of Communication in turn.

Begin every message by asking the question, “What is the purpose of this communication?”. This will enable you to make the objective of your communication clear to the recipient.

If you’re not sure what the purpose of your communication is, then the chances are that your recipient won’t be either.

Clarity is also about avoiding the use of complex words, sentences, and fuzzy language.

Make your message brief and to the point.

Why use 10 sentences to explain something when a single sentence will suffice.

Being concise will save time for both you and the receiver of your message.

To help make your communications more concise, avoid going over the same point several times, and avoid the use of filler words, sentences, and over wordy expressions.

Although we are trying to be concise, it is important to remember that we are not trying to lose completeness.

3. Concrete

Concrete communication is about being specific and clear rather than vague, obscure, and general.

To be more concrete use sentences that cannot be misinterpreted. Include supporting facts and figures to underscore your message, but don’t allow anything that detracts from the focus of your message.

Incorrect information doesn’t help anyone and it does your credibility no good. Ensure that:

Your message is typo-free.
Your facts and figures are correct.
You are using the right level of language.

Being correct first time will both save you time and boost your credibility. A correct message will also have a greater impact on the recipient than an incorrect one.

5. Coherent

Does your message make sense? Does it flow logically from one sentence to the next?

To ensure that your communication is coherent:

Check that each sentence flows logically from one to the next.
Check that you haven’t tried to cover too many points or been distracted by side issues.

6. Complete

Your message must contain all the necessary information to achieve the desired response.

To ensure that your message is complete think about questions the receiver might think of as they receive your message. Address these questions.

Ensure you have included a call to action so that your audience knows exactly what you expect them to do next.

7. Courteous

Be polite. You’re more likely to get what you want from your communication if you are courteous, as courtesy builds goodwill.

Check that your message is polite, shows respect for the feelings of the receiver, and is tactful.

Using The 7 Cs of Communication

You might find the following checklist useful when getting started with the 7 Cs of Communication:

The 7 Cs of Effective Communication is essentially a checklist which can help us communicate more effectively.

If you use the 7 Cs checklist the next time you need to communicate then you know you’ll be delivering the clearest message you can.

This will reduce misunderstandings, boost your credibility, and ultimately make you more productive by saving you time.

Cite this article

Minute Tools Content Team, 7 Cs of Communication, Minute Tools, Apr, 2018 https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2018/04/7-cs-communication/

Originally hailing from Dublin, Denis has always been interested in all things business and started EPM in 2009. Before EPM, Denis held a leadership position at Nokia, owned a sports statistics business, and was a member of the PMI's (Project Management Institute’s) Global Executive Council for two years. Denis now spends his days helping others understand complex business topics.

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What are the Seven C’s of Communication?

On the daily basis, how often do you communicate with people in the English language? And have you ever thought about how clear or successful your communication is? If not, you should now. Because let’s be honest, no matter how hard we try, there is always one thing or sometimes more (unfortunately) that we fail to make clear to our listener or reader. Do not worry; the seven C’s of communication are here to save the day just like Iron Man in the Avengers Endgame saved the day.

Thus, whether you are in a room full of English speakers or going to attend a TED talk, or have to write an official email, the seven C’s offers a checklist that helps you make sure your core message is conveyed.

According to the seven C’s, your communication has to be: clear, complete, concise, correct, courteous, concrete, and coherent.

The seven principles of communication or the seven C’s are one of the most useful elements of English to make sure your communication is successful. To note that by successful communication, we mean that your core message is conveyed without any trouble.

The seven C’s are useful for not only verbal communication but also in written communication. All in all, they provide a simple structure to your communication.

Thus, if you want to improve your communication, let us dive in.

1. Completeness

Completeness in communication means that anything and everything is crystal clear to your audience. Your core message is communicated properly. Besides, your reader or listener has everything he requires. He has all the information and he knows when and how to take the action. And most important, your audience knows what you want from them.

Moreover, you should include all the important details such as names, dates, and figures. You can also make subdivisions of your main topic to make sure you cover everything.

While communicating with someone, you should be clear about your goal. For instance, if you want your listener or reader to do something, be clear about it to yourself first. Besides, if you are not sure about what your main purpose is, your audience will lose interest.

To be clear, you can use:

plain and simple language
short sentences
simple and concrete words

Also, try to avoid cliche expressions and idioms. Moreover, keep it straight and to the point. You can also minimize the number of ideas in each paragraph. All in all, make sure your reader understands everything without any trouble.

3. Correctness

Undoubtedly, this C’s name itself explains it all. Anyways, correctness means that all the data that you provide should be correct. And the language that you use should be correct. Thus, try to avoid including any information that you are not sure about. Besides, in the end, double-check all the data to make sure everything is correct.

4. Conciseness

Have you ever felt like you have been lost in the flow of conversation? Or have you ever felt like you have stretched the conversation longer than you have done. Or else have you felt these for someone else?

If your answer is YES. Than, you may have experienced that the conversation gets boring soon enough. Besides, you loose interest in that conversation.

Therefore, it is better to keep conversations concise. You should only say what is needed to be said. Do not include stuff you think is important. To see if something is worth saying, ask yourself whether or not that certain idea is going to help improve your conversation. If you get NO as a reply then you should avoid that idea.

All in all, try to keep your message short, simple, and impactful.

5. Coherence

To bring coherence in your conversation, try to stay logical. Speak only if it is needed to be said. Moreover, try to maintain a flow of ideas in your writing and speaking. Make connection between the previous sentence or paragraph and the next sentence or paragraph.

6. Concreteness

Concreteness means that in your communication, there should not be any room left for misinterpretation for the listener or the reader. Your idea should be solid and clear. All the facts and figures should be mentioned clearly.

7. Courteous

Communication should be courteous means that it should be friendly and open. In your communication, try to avoid any passive aggression or critical expression that might disappoint the reader or listener. Your reader or your listener should understand that you genially care for them without even showing that by yourself.

On daily basis, all of us communicate for various purposes. And any failure in our communication can cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, it is better to practice and improve our communication skills than regret later.

So, keep practicing the above seven C’s of communication and let us if you have any questions or need any sort of help in the comment section below.

The Seven C's of Communication

We are born communicators. It starts with the first cry of a newborn baby. We learn about the world by communicating, through listening and talking. Yet, we fail at communicating effectively daily. Why is it so, and what can we do about it?

What is Communication?

Communication is the exchange of ideas, thoughts and words. The word ‘communication’ comes from the Latin word ‘communism’ which means ‘common’. When people exchange their ideas, thoughts and words, they communicate often to reach common ground.

Communication could become hard and get complicated. While learning is a solo effort, communication involves at least two people. Everyone has a shortage of time and a limited attention span. Everyone is being pulled and pushed in countless different directions.

The Seven C’s:

In 1952, University of Wisconsin professors Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center published their seminal book, ‘Effective Public Relations’ in which they introduced the ‘Seven C’s of Communication’.

Useful Resources : effective communication program | communication courses for professionals

“Good prose is like a windowpane” - George Orwell

What is the function of a windowpane? It’s to show you what’s on the other side. A good windowpane is one which is clear and not one that draws attention to itself. That is how communication should be; clear.

Photo by Randy ORourke on Unsplash

Clarity in communication ensures easy-to-read and easy-to-understand messages. Clear communication

Avoids jargon
Uses simple language
Uses simple structures
Focuses on the core message

George Orwell in an essay called the unnecessary words we add in our communication, ‘verbal false limbs’. For example, usages such as ‘make contact with, ‘militate against’, ‘give rise to’, ‘increase the size of’ and ‘make grounds for’. Make contact with can just be contact, increase the size of can be just increase. By using ‘stop’ instead of ‘put an end to’ and ‘now’ instead of ‘at this moment in time’, we can get rid of those unnecessary verbal false limbs and make communication clear.

As they say, for any communication, verbal or written, clarity is the highest beauty.

Correctness verifies the legibility of the data conveyed, whilst ensuring grammatical and syntactical correctness and no spelling mistakes in the case of written communication.

Here’s an example of communication that went wrong:-

Hi Ashok, Enjoyed our conservation today. Please find attached our proposal. Hope you can reveiw this with the team and get back to us in a weak.

Rajesh

The above message has 3 silly spelling mistakes that could have been avoided with a little bit of care. These not just distract and also affect the readability of the message. These dent your credibility and paint a picture of unprofessionalism.

How can one trust an organisation that does not know how to send an email without silly typos to their clients? If this is the level of attention with which their employees attend to their tasks, what would be the quality of their products and services? Silly mistakes such as these more often than not mean lost sales and revenue to the organisation. Something that could have easily been avoided with a little more attention.

One good heuristic to keep in mind with communication is the ‘completeness criteria’: who , what , when , where, why and how .

Who : Who all are the communication intended for? Is the language appropriate for that audience?
What : What is the objective or goal? Is that clear in the message?
When : When must the communication take place? Are there time and dates that are important in communication? If a response is required, is that clearly mentioned?
Where : Where can the recipient(s) and sender arrive to hold the communication? Is that provided with all the details?
Why : Why is this communication important ? Does it ensure that the reader/listener will be benefited?
How : How can you encourage a positive response? Communication promoting goodwill goes a long way.

One other key aspect of good communication is the solidity of the message. It means being specific; vivid and not vague. Include the necessary details, but not too detailed so that the focus of the message is not lost. It needs to be balanced and layered based on its target audience.

Marketing or Advertising campaigns are occasions where this quality is paramount and comes to the fore.

Source: https://hookagency.com/blog/great-taste-less-filling/

The Great Taste, Less Filling ad campaign of Miller Lite in 1974 is an example of an ad that created a new market for a product. The common misconception was light beer can never actually taste good and that is what The Miller Brewing Company wanted to communicate. They wanted to show ‘real men’ drinking light beer and declaring it to be tasting great. By striving to be different and taking head on a perception they created a new category and dominated it for years.

Concrete communication uses facts and figures with the sources called out. Words should be carefully chosen and be exact so that nothing is left to imagination. People remember precise words longer than general words.

Let’s consider couple of examples, of vague versus precise usage in sentences:

Vague: The new car offers good storage space in the boot.

Precise: The new car offers 480L of storage space in the boot.

Vague: The travel agency offers economical packages to hill stations.

Precise: The travel agency offers packages under Rs. 9999 to hill stations.

Concise refers to communication in the least number of words without compromising on the quality of the communication. It qualifies crisp versus being verbose which would distract and bore listeners or readers. Don’t use 20 words if 10 would do. Avoid beating around the bush.

Use active voice
Use action verbs
Remove unnecessary words, especially adverbs
Use short words in place of long phrases
No roundabout sentences, be direct

Below are examples of couple of short, direct words to illustrate this better: Long : I would appreciate it if

Short : Please

Long : At this point in time

Short : Now

Keep your communication to the point, short and simple.

Courteous As the old saying goes, ‘Everyone gains where courtesy reigns’. Courtesy is a cardinal requirement of any form of communication. Courteous messages are those which use positive words and respect the receiver. It promotes goodwill and shows empathy. Courtesy goes more than merely words; it includes a positive and friendly body language. It also includes learning to spell and pronounce the name of the recipient correctly. Special care needs to be taken when the recipient is from a different linguistic background where names could be pronounced differently. Taking the effort and showing the care to use the right spelling and pronunciation is courteous.

Another tip to keep in mind is to structure the sentences to state in the positive and what can be done; and avoid negative references as much as possible. As far as possible, try and avoid negative words such as complain, irritate, fear, lazy, mistake, reject and doubt. Also, try to be as gender-neutral as possible.

Timeliness with communication is an element that goes into courteous communication. Sending thank-you notes and congratulations messages within a stipulated time makes all the difference.Let the whole communication carry a courteous tone. Make it a habit to respond to all written messages within a week or so. All keep the language open, friendly, open, honest and professional.

Tips :

Be sincere and authentic
Be thoughtful & respectful
Humour may be best avoided
Choose language carefully: no discriminatory refereences togender, race, colour etc.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

The last of the 7C’s is the need for coherence. Coherence in communication refers to it being logical and consistent. Make sure the message flows smoothly and does not hit avoidable speed bumps. If there are multiple points or arguments being made, they all should be linked to each other and should naturally flow a certain order that builds up the whole communication in a logical fashion. Ideally the individual sub-points should connect well to a single main takeaway from the communication. You need to have a good understanding of what goes where and what comes when.

Lack of coherence would lead to the recipient not following the message or sometimes leading to wrong conclusions and confusion. The main rule is to stick to one topic. If there are multiple topics, tackle them one by one by putting them into different sections or compartments. Within a single main argument use appropriate connecting words and phrases to help maintain the flow. Not all parts of the message can be equally important. Identify the parts that are key and make sure those elements stand out. Let the other elements be supporting arguments to the main idea.

Consider using transitional verbs such as ‘Therefore’, ‘However’, ‘Yet’, ‘Thus’, ‘First’, ‘Later’, ‘Then’, either between sentences or between paragraphs in written communication. These help to connect the different parts of the message without losing context and stay on track.

Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash

Now that we have the basic tenets of communication, let’s listen to this video and hear another great tip that has worked for Nelson Mandela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgxcznI1cpo . A great one, isn’t it?

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Practical Explanation of 7Cs of Communication with Examples

“Communication works for those who work at it” John Powell

In every sphere of life ranging from personal relationships to highly complex strategic business planning, communication will always be more significant than we will ever know. Whenever we communicate with someone, we have an intended purpose behind it that we seek to fulfill via communication. In simpler words, all kinds of communication written or verbal have specific objectives. We want the recipient to clearly understand our message with no room for any misconceptions or misinterpretations.

Introduction

Correctness

Completeness, concreteness, consideration.

Otherwise, we may have to convey the same message over and over again and the outcome will be negatively affected. In fact, all of us have first-hand experiences of how miscommunication and communication gaps can affect our lives drastically. Quite relatable, isn’t it? Having said that, we need to ensure that we are always communicating in an effective manner to establish utmost understanding or call to action. We need to embrace effective communication both in our personal and professional lives to drive positive outcomes.

The real question is, what does it take to communicate in a decisive and conclusive manner? What are the dimensions of efficient communication? Is there a checklist we need to be looking at while communicating? Yes, there surely is and this checklist is referred to as the 7Cs of communication. This article analyzes each of these 7 components of communication in detail for lucid understanding so that you can enhance your communication skills in an amazing way. So, let us get underway without any further delay and know exactly what are the 7Cs of communication with example.

7 Cs of Communication: All that you need to know

Listed below are the 7 most crucial traits of effective communication that hold the key to being a charismatic communicator who can lead the way for others. Let’s unwrap the 7Cs of effective communication one by one.

This dimension of communication is self-explanatory to a great extent, isn’t it? When you communicate a message to others whether in writing or verbally, the message must carry maximal clarity. To explain, the recipient must be clearly able to understand what you are trying to convey to them.

Unless there is utmost clarity, the recipient’s understanding will remain overshadowed by confusion. Further, these misunderstandings can lead to strains in personal relationships, ineffective business decisions, delays in planning or taking the right action. Having said that, you need to ensure that your message contains the greatest amount of clarity in terms of purpose, information, and what you expect from the recipient.

Example depicting the importance of clarity in communication: Let’s say the change leaders in an organization want to integrate automation into the operational capabilities of the company. Now, to get stakeholders involved in change management, they will need to clearly communicate the vision to employees. Here, it is important that they clearly explain to employees that automation is meant to boost employee productivity and not to replace employees. If this message is not clearly communicated, it will lead to large disengagement among employees and fears of job loss.

The second key trait of effective communication is correctness. As the term implies, the message should be conveyed to the recipient inclusive of the correct details and information. Besides, for optimized correctness, as a communicator, you also need to use the appropriate language while communicating your message. Also, it is such a key thing to communicate the right thing at the right time. Hence, it is also essential to remember that correct communication also ought to be well-timed.

Furthermore, it is also noteworthy that when you communicate correctly, your confidence and motivation get a great boost. You feel more accomplished as a communicator when you have the knack for driving a high degree of correctness in your communications.

Example depicting the importance of correctness in communication: Let’s say a student from China is applying to a Master’s program in the US for which the student needs to submit an SOP to the admission committee of a US university. SOP (Statement of Purpose) is the communication of a student’s personality and exposure to the admissions committee in the form of an essay usually. Now, the information that the student is adding to the SOP with respect to skills, internship experiences, and educational background has to be completely correct. Otherwise, the members of the admission committee would not clearly understand how the students’ skills and experiences are aligned with the course that he or she is applying for. Similarly, for every communication written or verbal, being correct is vital.

To be fair, in this highly competitive world, people do not have the time to engage in recurring conversations on the same topic. Thus, you need to ensure that your message contains all the relevant information, details, facts, and figures at once. Needless to say, when messages are communicated in entirety such that they include all the necessary information, they lead to quick decisions, brisk resolution of problems, and positive communication.

On the contrary, communications lacking the prerequisite details will lead to unprecedented delays in actions. So, in your personal as well as professional lives, you should always aim for framing and communicating complete messages with no loopholes.

Example depicting the importance of completeness in communication: Let’s say an analyst at a top MNC is tasked with conducting a PESTLE Analysis for the company to identify key external factors affecting its customer acquisition efforts. A week later, the analyst presents the documented PESTLE analysis to the top management. However, the analysis is not complete as it does not include the industry growth rates, inflation rates, emerging disruptive technologies, and other key details. Hence, the analysis does not offer any decisive insights to the top management as a lot of relevant information is missing.

Communications seem so much more impressive when facts and key details are established firmly with no scope of subjective interpretation. You would any day be more attracted to a communicator who puts forth concrete details rather than the one whose communication has loose ends, isn’t it?

So, the bottom line is that communication ought to be concrete with no room for misunderstandings. Understanding would by default be much greater when facts and figures speak for themselves. Concrete communications appeal more to the recipients and they are impressed by firm arguments. This is something you should surely acknowledge to be a great communicator. The better you align to the 7C’s of communication, the greater the success.

Example depicting the importance of concreteness in communication: Let’s say a management student has to work on a SWOT Analysis assignment. The task of the student is to conduct the SWOT analysis of Hewlett-Packard. Now, to present the analysis in the best possible form, the student should back the findings of the analysis with compelling figures and facts. The student should go through the annual statements of Hewlett-Packard to assess the financial position, the number of employees, and the supplier network of the company. These are the key internal factors that can be looked at as a brand’s strengths. Similarly, to assess the opportunities and threats, the student should look to include key industry trends, customer behavior trends, and statistics to back the arguments. In this way, through the analysis, the student can communicate concrete conclusions to the professor.

The next important thing about effective communication is that messages need to be straightforward, concise, and to the point. Long conversations have become a luxury in contemporary times when people are running against time. People hence subscribe to precise and concise conversations that highlight only the key details. In fact, you can also look at it from the viewpoint of Pareto’s 80-20 Rule . 20 percent of details in every conversation will ultimately account for more than 80 percent of the impact on the recipient.

When you keep it concise, it becomes easier for the recipient to understand the key details of the message. Also, you need to be considerate of the average attention span that humans have. The attention of recipients will be much higher in straightforward conversations while in long conversations elaborating on unnecessary details, the actual message is likely to be lost.

Example depicting the importance of being concise in communication: When you appear for an interview, recruiters are looking for precise details regarding your core competencies and traits. If you rather start elaborating on skills that are not relevant to the position you are applying for, you are not providing the concise information the recruiters are looking for. It is quite possible that by doing so, you can create disinterest among recruiters and that can even cost you the opportunity.

Effective communication is also a lot synonymous with taking the recipients’ perspectives and viewpoints into consideration. The central idea is to make conversation engaging to optimize their impact and to keep the recipients interested. For that, you have to ensure that communication is two-way and you encourage your audience to share their opinions.

Further, when they express their perspectives, you need to show consideration for their mindsets, cultural backgrounds, and preferences. You may or may not agree with them but you can surely be considerate enough.

Example depicting the importance of consideration in communication: Let’s say an employer wants to bring the problem of high client attrition rates to the attention of employees. Rather than just stating the issue and asking the employees to boost efforts, the employer should rather have an inclusive approach and discuss the issue with employees. The employer should consider what employees have to say about the reasons for high client attrition and the possible solutions. In this way, an inclusive conversation can lead to better-informed decisions taking different perspectives into consideration for efficient strategic planning .

The seventh dimension in the 7Cs of communication is that of courtesy. It simply states that communicators need to be courteous toward the feelings and emotions of the recipients that further inspire their viewpoints and thought processes. To add, as a communicator, you should show great respect for your audience and their opinions. When you do so, communications come out to be highly positive and inspire optimism among recipients.

Now you may feel that courtesy can only be expressed in verbal communications as feelings are not really evident in written communications. However, that is not entirely true. Even in written communications, you can rely on the appropriate choice of words and a respectful tone to manifest courtesy.

Example depicting the importance of courtesy in communication: It happens so often that we find ourselves at odds with our parents because of generational differences. What may seem a right choice to us may seem a rather risky decision to them. When we have to convey our choices to them, we need to extend great respect to their feelings and opinions. This is what will encourage them to pay heed to our choices and perspective and offer respect to them in lieu of the respect that we extend. In this way, we can make ourselves better understood to them without offending them or deteriorating the relationship. Makes great sense, isn’t it?

To conclude, communication skills are among the most desirable and worthiest interpersonal skills in this era that depends a lot on knowledge and information sharing. If you can excel as an effective communicator, you will always be able to hold on to a competitive advantage over others when it comes to your career. Besides, even in the context of your personal relationships, being a good communicator will also help you in holding on to your loved ones. For such efficacy in communications, all that you need to do is rely on the 7C’s of communication.

Can the 7Cs of Communication be useful in resolving conflicts and misunderstandings?

Yes, by ensuring clarity, correctness, and completeness, the 7Cs can help in resolving misunderstandings and reducing conflicts.

Can the 7Cs of Communication be used to enhance written communication?

Yes, the 7C principles can improve written communication by making it clear, concise, and coherent, ensuring the message effectively conveys the intended information.

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7 C’s of Effective Communication with Examples

‘Communication is key’ – a phrase we’ve heard of many times in an array of relationships between two people to two million people. Leaders worldwide are re-elected for their next term when their crucial factor is good communication, and organisations claim that good leadership increases an employee’s productivity and the company’s turnover.

This blog introduces the seven C’s of effective communication with examples and how it can impact your professional relationship with your customers by relaying business through proper communication.

Table of Contents

7 C’s of Communication

The seven C’s of communication are the checklist of skills needed by individuals in any post in an organisation to improve their communication management skills and convey a message clearly and concisely. These principles adhere to effective communication and uplift your company to generate better productivity and harmony.

The 7 C’s are a much-quoted list, first provided by Cutlip and Centre in 1952 in Effective Public Relations. These are 7 C’s because these principles start with a C, connected to communication. The original list goes as follows.

Completeness

The message should be complete, which means it should contain all the necessary information for the intended audience. The complete information answers all of the receivers’ questions and assists the recipient in making better decisions. An incomplete message shows the negligence of the writer and can cause misunderstandings on the recipient’s end.

Example – Follow these guidelines for Completeness – Five W’s

What – Bikayi Is conducting an Open Venue Meet for Entrepreneurs.

When – On the 23rd of April, Thursday at 5 PM

Where – Jalbhawan, Koramangala, Bengaluru- 560098

Why – To provide a platform to upcoming entrepreneurs to pitch their idea

Who – The event is conducted by Bikayi and the team.

Conciseness

The message should always be to the point. Short and brief notes hold the viewer’s attention faster than long-form text, which can contain unnecessary information. A concise message saves time and effort for both sender and receiver.

Example – Follow the guide – ‘Less is more.’

“In the month of May, employees are required to come into the office, swipe their card at the access machine, choose their seats according to their team calls, and attend the daily meets of their team schedules.”

Instead, use

“Employees are required to attend the office from May and clear their security protocols and take attendance with their team.”

Consideration

This skill is the simple humane skill of being considerate towards the recipient. In this principle, the sender must consider the recipient’s mindset, background, needs etc., to communicate effectively. The sender must relate to the receiver and be involved in their activities to know the receiver’s stand on a matter.

Example – Follow the guide – Focus on ‘you’ more than ‘we’

“This month, we cannot process the bonus checks due to an awaiting payment from one of the clients, so we will not be able to get back on this sooner.”

“We are not able to process the Bonus checks for this month due to a client payment , we are sorry for the delay however we assure you that we shall resolve the situation soon and ensure cash flow benefits for your hard work.”

Concreteness

The word concrete is to be solid. Communication must be concrete so that there is no room for misunderstanding and the message is specific and clear. A statement must have facts and figures to back up the sender’s information through credible sources and irrefutable data. This skill especially applies to feedback during work, as poor feedback reverts to poor quality of work.

Example – Focus on image building data with references.

“The work quality is poor here; I’m not happy about this thumbnail.”

“The picture quality isn’t great; use the HD pictures and change the thumbnail background for a better experience.”

Ever heard of the phrase ‘Give Respect to Take Respect’? It applies to everyone, regardless of their post, anywhere in the world. This communication shows politeness and builds goodwill toward both parties. This skill includes being thoughtful and appreciative about the opinion of the receiver but also not being biased based on their configurations.

Example – Focus on mutual respect.

“My team is not able to concentrate on their work because of all the noise by yours, can you try and keep it down”?

“I understand that your team must be going through a lot of work due to priority projects , however, our team is going through a similar project with urgent requirements. It would help us both if we can limit our communication to nil ,thank you.”

It is critical to understand the purpose of the message you are delivering. The sender must inform the recipient why they are receiving the news and what you hope to accomplish by providing it. If there are multiple objectives, each should state its goals separately. Use clear and concise language, and lay it out in a structured format; using fancy words can misplace the message and create unnecessary miscommunication.

Example – Follow the guide – Crystal clear.

“At sharp 1 PM, the author Sidney Sheldon will make an appearance at Blossoms Book House for a 2-hour reading”.

Correctness

Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling are examples of correctness. Even though mistakes are never intentional, they distract the recipient and cast a bad image of your organisation. The message should be precise and timely, and correct statements have a more significant impact on the receiver while also being more effective and never using short forms.

Example – Follow the guide – Proofread five times before sending a message.

“Always carry your ID at the opening hrs.”

“Always carry your identification card from 11 AM – 5 PM.”

This checklist applies to both written and spoken communication. These seven skills play an essential role in understanding a client’s approach and preparing for a problem.

Communication is all about connection, so these skills points ensure the bridge between the gaps in a lousy communication and help you set the tone for clear, concise, and logical business communication.

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Principles of Business Communication

When your communication is clear, you are able to convey your thoughts more precisely. You will also be able to get the job done and in case of job interviews, you may also be able to land your dream job. As for every form of learning, business communication also has some principles which make your communication more effective. These are known as 7 C’s of communication.

Browse more Topics under Intro To Business Communication

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7 C’s of communication

Principles of business communication

Just imagine if you are working at a place and everyone in the place does not have proper communication skills and as a result, everyone is following their own thoughts. Will that working place be effective? No, it will not be effective, it will be a big mess. That is why is important to learn the 7 C’s of communication. Here are those:

Being concise means being able to convey your messages in shortest possible words. But this doesn’t mean that you provide the information less but articulating in such a possible way that you get to spread the message across everyone and that too in fewer words.

It is a necessity for business communication as this C does not involve the vague words and this the message is clearly sent to everyone. Because of conciseness, you save time as well as you save a lot of costs.

As this C excludes the needless and excessive words it makes the main idea or the message more understandable. For audience also this form is more convenient and appealing.

Clear or clarity is very important in business communication. Through this, you are able to emphasize a specific message or a goal at that time. In a business communication, you cannot achieve too much in one go. That is why you need to clear about your ideas.

Because of clarity, the understanding of ideas becomes easier. As the clarity is achieved for ideas and thoughts, the meaning of the words is enhanced. The message becomes more appropriate and exact.

The understanding of your audience is directly proportional to the correctness of your ideas. Because correct communication of thoughts and ideas is also an error-free form of communication. There are many ways to achieve this correctness in your sentences.

One is through a technical understanding of your thoughts and ideas. Further, the names and titles that you have mentioned should be correct. Because of correctness the confidence level of yours as well as your audience increases. It has more impact.

4. Concrete

Concreteness refers to the idea of being clear and particular. It avoids the basic fuzziness and general in your ideas and thoughts. Concreteness also adds to your confidence level.

Concreteness is supported by figures and facts thus it gives your ideas a boost. As it involves clear words only, it helps in increasing your reputation. There are little to none chances that your message is misinterpreted.

5. Complete

A message or an idea is complete when the audience has everything that they want to be informed. Also, this gives an authority to them to move to call of action.

The complete communication generally involves the call to action, which helps the readers understand what you want to imply to them. It also includes all the facts and figures in the sentences.

Due to complete communication, the reputation is enhanced for an organization. A complete communication also involves additional information whenever or wherever it is required. Thus, it leaves no room for doubt in the mind of the readers and audiences. It also helps in persuading the audience.

6. Courteous

Courtesy is the respect that we show to others and in business communication also it means the same thing. You should show respect to your reader by having courteous communication. The individual while sending the message should be polite, sincere, enthusiastic, and reflective.

Being courteous means that you have taken into consideration the feeling receiver as well as your own. It also shows that you are positive and your focus is on the audience. Courteous messages are not at all biased.

7. Coherent

The messages that you send should be logical and that is why coherent communication is important. The message involves certain ideas and thoughts and thus when they are coherent than only they are able to convey the main idea of the message. All the points that you have mentioned should be relevant to the topic and connected.

Further, the flow and tone of the communication should also be consistent. What does your message imply should be the main focus under the coherent message? When all the above 7 C’s of communication are used, then your message becomes more effective. Practice this more to improve your business communication.

Practice Questions on 7 C’s of communication

Q. Which C makes the message unbiased?

A. Clear B. Concise C. Coherent D. Courteous

Answer: D. Courteous

Q. Which C helps in persuading the audience?

A. Clear B. Concise C. Complete D. Courteous

Answer: C. Complete

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Resources: Discussions and Assignments

Module 1 assignment: seven pillars of communication.

Open Pedagogy Assignments are assignments in which students use their agency and creativity to create knowledge artifacts that can support their own learning, their classmates’ learning, and the learning of students around the world. (See this peer-reviewed article for more details.) The assignment on this page is aligned to the learning outcomes of Business Communication for Managers and we’ve identified the module where the reading appears. All of the assignments can be created with a cell phone camera or any video recording device, Google or Word documents, and your learning management system.

In the first module of the course, we introduce effective communication in a business setting . For this assignment, you are going to create a short video of less than two minutes about your experience with a business either as an employee or as a customer. Think about a time when you had a positive experience with communicating your perspective in a business setting.

It’s one thing to read about the experiences of other people and it’s quite another experience to see and listen to people’s stories. For this assignment, let’s use informal stories about your positive experiences to share what works for managers.

Using your cell phone or any other recording device, create a short video for this assignment. You don’t have to edit or create a professional-grade film. You’ve most likely have done this type of recording already on social media, so feel free to use the same informal conversational tone.

Think of your audience as other students who are eager to improve their communication skills in a business setting. In your video, you’ll want to practice using the concepts (in bold listed below) of the seven pillars of business communication.

If you need some questions to guide your response, here is a short list.

The seven pillars of communication have the following elements:

What objective details can you give your audience about the event?
How did the company demonstrate an understanding of audience knowledge ?
What were the relevant details?
What was clear about the communication in your experience?
What were the concise details of the exchange?
How were the speakers consistent in their messaging?
What left you feeling complete about the exchange?

A Note To Teachers : Your students in the first term will create videos, and with their permission you can upload them into your course in order to show examples for the next term. The idea will be to have students generate content that other students can listen to and learn from with this assignment. Encourage them to use positive and negative examples from their work experience or from their experience as customers.

Seven Pillars of Communication. Authored by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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COMMENTS

The 7 C's of Effective Communication
Courtesy. Clarity. Consideration. Concreteness. These strategies apply to both written and oral communication. The one who is aware of and makes use of these 7C's in a sensible manner can become a good and effective communicator. 1. Completeness. This is one of the most significant aspects of effective communication.
7 C's of Communication With Examples
The 7 C's of communication - clear, concise, concrete, correct, courteous, complete and constructive - provide a useful framework for ensuring that written and verbal messages are well-received by the intended audience. These principles emphasize the importance of precision, brevity and politeness in business and personal communications.
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The 7 Cs stand for: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous. Though there are a few variations. You can use the 7 Cs as a checklist in your written and spoken messages. Follow our examples to learn how! Think of how often you communicate with people during the day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate ...
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The 7 Cs of Communication Explained With Examples
The 7 Cs of communication can be applied to many interactions. (Foto: CC0 / Pixabay / jamesoladujoye) Poor communication which does not encompass the 7 Cs of effective communication can negatively impact a huge array of our professional and personal dynamics. Financially, it is estimated to cost businesses over a trillion dollars every year. Other statistics suggest that 86 percent of ...
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The 7cs of effective communication are Concise, Complete, Coherent, Clear, Courteous, Concrete and Correct. 1. Concise. The longer your message is, the harder it can be for the audience to remember. It's easy for people to lose attention when your message is long and includes a draggy explanation.
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The 7 C's of communication are as follows: Clear. Concise. Concrete. Correct. Consideration. Complete. Courteous. Let us take a look at each attribute in detail with examples for implementation.
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That is what we call competence. 3. Concise. Stick to the point. Be brief. This shows respect for our audience (you appreciate that their time is valuable), but it also helps to keep us clear and precise. A good example of concise information is the Can Do statements that we use to describe learner competence.
The 7 C's of Communication
The seven C's of communication is a list of principles for written and spoken communications to ensure that they are effective. The seven C's are: clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered and courteous. Summary by The World of Work Project. You can learn more broadly about communication in our podcast on the subject.
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Lastly, be courteous. This means having a friendly, open, and honest tone, and avoiding hidden insults or a passive-aggressive tone. Always keep your audience's viewpoint in mind, and show that you empathize and understand its needs. For further examples of how you can apply the 7 Cs to your communications, read the article.
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7 Cs of Effective Communication. 1. Clear. Any message needs to come out clearly from your communication rather than the recipient having to assume things and come back to you for more information. This will only lead to more time being wasted on emails.
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Here are the seven Cs of communication: 1. Concise. Concise statements often have a greater impact on listeners. Brief, well-delivered messages are also more memorable. The more details you include, the more challenging it can be for listeners to follow and recall, especially if the subject matter is new to them.
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Make sure you keep your message short and clear so that it has a lasting impact on the listeners. Mark the seven C's of Communication in your skill-learning to-do list as they will take you a long way. Head straight to Harappa Education's Speaking Effectively and Writing Proficiently courses to improve your oral and written communication ...
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To ensure that your communication is coherent: Check that each sentence flows logically from one to the next. Check that you haven't tried to cover too many points or been distracted by side issues. 6. Complete. Your message must contain all the necessary information to achieve the desired response.
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ASSIGNMENT OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION. Bs Accounting and Finance 3rd semester. MUHAMMAD AYAZ Roll num 71. 7 C's of Communication. 7 C's of communication is important in every field of our life, whether we are at home, at school, at office or at work. A person who communicate effectively will have many advantages when dealing with people.
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Concreteness means that in your communication, there should not be any room left for misinterpretation for the listener or the reader. Your idea should be solid and clear. All the facts and figures should be mentioned clearly. 7. Courteous. Communication should be courteous means that it should be friendly and open.
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Clarity in communication ensures easy-to-read and easy-to-understand messages. George Orwell in an essay called the unnecessary words we add in our communication, 'verbal false limbs'. For example, usages such as 'make contact with, 'militate against', 'give rise to', 'increase the size of' and 'make grounds for'.
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7 c's of communication - Download as a PDF or view online for free. ... Unit 1 Assignment 2 Principles of effective communication. ... To make the process of studying code examples more interactive, CS education researchers developed a range of tools to engage students in the study of code examples. These tools include codecasts (codemotion ...
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Completeness. Concreteness. Concise. Consideration. Courtesy. FAQs. Otherwise, we may have to convey the same message over and over again and the outcome will be negatively affected. In fact, all of us have first-hand experiences of how miscommunication and communication gaps can affect our lives drastically.
7 C's of Effective Communication with Examples
These principles adhere to effective communication and uplift your company to generate better productivity and harmony. The 7 C's are a much-quoted list, first provided by Cutlip and Centre in 1952 in Effective Public Relations. These are 7 C's because these principles start with a C, connected to communication. The original list goes as ...
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Because of clarity, the understanding of ideas becomes easier. As the clarity is achieved for ideas and thoughts, the meaning of the words is enhanced. The message becomes more appropriate and exact. 3. Correct. The understanding of your audience is directly proportional to the correctness of your ideas.
Module 1 Assignment: Seven Pillars of Communication
In the first module of the course, we introduce effective communication in a business setting. For this assignment, you are going to create a short video of less than two minutes about your experience with a business either as an employee or as a customer. Think about a time when you had a positive experience with communicating your perspective ...

The 7 C’s of Effective Communication – Explained with Examples

The 7 C’s of Effective Communication

It involves the following C’s:

1. Completeness

2. Correctness

3. Conciseness

4. Courtesy

6. Consideration

7. Concreteness

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4. Complete

5. Consideration

6. Concrete

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What Are the 7 Cs of Communication? Dos & Don’ts

Importance of 7cs of Communication

What Are the 7 Cs of Communication?

Don’t: Drag on and use unnecessary words.

Do: Get straight to the point.

2. Complete

Don’t: Leave out crucial details or information.

Do: Provide all necessary details.

3. Coherent

Don’t: Jump from topic to topic without a clear connection.

Do: Ensure your message flows logically.

Don’t: Use jargon or complicated words without explaining them.

Do: Make sure your message is easily understood.

5. Courteous

Don’t: Be blunt or insensitive.

Do: Use polite and respectful language.

6. Concrete

Don’t: Be vague or ambiguous.

Do: Use specific details and facts.

Don’t: Use incorrect grammar or misinformation.

Do: Ensure your message is grammatically and factually accurate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are the 7 C’s Important in Communication?

How much of communication is non-verbal?

Who Created the 7 C’s of Communication?

How can one achieve conciseness in communication?

How do the 7cs of communication improve business communication?

Can the 7 Cs of communication be applied to both written and verbal communication?

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