Business Communication Principles

CHAPTER FIVE
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES

The application of business communication principles helps to communicate effectively through letters,
memorandums, reports, speeches, telephones, face-to-face conversation, etc. The commonly used
principles in business communication are discussed in this topic. The message is said to be effective
when the receiver understands the same meaning that the sender was intended to convey. For any
communication in business, in order to be effective, it must have seven qualities. These seven attributes
are called seven C’s of effective business communication. (All these attribute starts with the alphabet
‘C’ so are called 7 C’s). To compose effective messages you need to apply certain specific
communication principles. The basic business communication principles known as seven C’s of
business communication provide guidelines for choosing content and style of presentation. The seven
C’s are as follows:
1. Completeness
Completeness is an essential factor for effective business communication. So a message must be
organized appropriately in the sense that it must include all the important ideals and its details. The
contents of the message must be checked in order to verify that there is no omission of the relevant
details. The successful business communicator provides complete message with all its necessary details.
When the message is fully understood, it becomes easier for the receiver to give prompt reply. But the receiver of
the incomplete message feels angry, confused and irritated by it.

By completeness means the message must bear all the necessary information to bring the response you
desire. The sender should answer all the questions and with facts and figures and when desirable, go for
extra details. Completeness brings the desired response.

Your message is complete when it contains all facts the reader or listener needs for the reaction you
desire. It is necessary for bringing the desired results without the expense of additional message. As
you strive for completeness, keep the following guidelines in mend:
 Answer all queries
 Give something extra, when desirable
 Check the five W’s and any other essentials. The five W’s are- who, what, where, when, why and
any other essentials like how.
To achieve both the specific purpose of the message and goodwill, examine your messages to make sure
that you have covered everything you intended to cover and that you provided sufficient detail for your
reader/receiver to know what you expect of him/her. Complete letter also minimizes the possible cost of
additional letter. To make your message complete, make sure the reader/receiver knows who is to do
what as well as where, when and why he/she is to do it. Furthermore to ensure completeness:
Answer all questions asked by the reader/receiver.
Answer anticipated questions the reader may have but forgot to ask.
Provide all the information necessary for the reader/receiver to make a logical decision.
Explicitly ask the reader/receiver to perform an action required, as may be necessary.

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Make the subject content sufficiently clear to accomplish the business objective and
Make the feeling suitable to accomplish the human objective.
2. Conciseness
Conciseness is one of the most important principles of effective business writing because a wordy
message requires more time and money to type and read. Conciseness is writing a message in the
minimum possible words without sacrificing completeness and courtesy. Conciseness involves
eliminating unnecessary words. Conciseness is an important factor in effective communication because
reader’s time invaluable. Don’t make him feel that he is wasting his time in going through your
unnecessary lengthy letter or listening irrelevant things. It means saying all that needs to be said and no
more. Unnecessary details and heavy paragraphs make our communication ridiculous and ineffective.
The message which can be expressed in fewer words is more impressive and effective than the same
message expressed in a number of words.

The communicator must organize his message in such a way that every word in it is meaningful and of
interest to the receiver. There should not be needless repetition of the same ideas and words. Even a
single word or a sentence which does not contribute to accomplish the purpose of the communication
should be carefully omitted. As time is precious in the business world, the businessmen do not have time
to read irrelevant details. The message should be as short as possible, but it must consist of all
significant ideas and necessary details. By conciseness, it also means that only relevant ideas should
appear in as few words as possible. The message must consist of only those sentences, which are related
to a specific unit of thought.

This means economy in writing saves time and money. The following are suggestions that could help to
achieve conciseness.
i. Omit unnecessary and longer expressions – Example: Use thank you” instead of "I want to thank
you", May 4” instead of “from this coming Saturday'', etc.
ii. Avoid unnecessary repetition and wordy statements – Avoid unnecessary repetition even though it is
sometimes necessary for emphasis.
Here are some ways to eliminate unnecessary repetition.
Use a short name after you have mentioned the longer one once. For example, instead of the ABC
Trading company, “use the company”
Use pronouns rather than repeating long names. For instance, instead of using “the Ethiopian Insurance
Company" again and again, uses “it.”
Omit unnecessary articles, relative pronouns prepositions, and conjunctions Example:
Article:
The evidence we have Evidence we have
Relative pronoun:
He said that he agreed. He said he agreed.
Prepositional phrase:
Date of the policy Policy date
Conjunction:

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And colon or period

Wordy Concise
During the year of 1993 during 1993
For the reason that since, because
Wordy sentence
There is no question that the increased use of advertising benefited the company.
Revised
Unquestionably, the increased advertising benefited the company.
iii) Include only relevant facts with courtesy – Include only those ideas that develop the purpose of
the message. The extent of the length of a message depends on the job it is expected to perform
effectively. The major causes of irrelevancy include:
 Failure to stick to the purpose of the message.
 Including information obvious to the reader.
 Using big words to make an impression.
 Beating around the bush - failure to come to the point.
 Being excessively polite, etc
3. Concreteness
Writing concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general. So,
good concrete writing and speaking include specific facts and figures with relevant examples. The
following guidelines should help to compose concrete and convincing messages. Concreteness
reinforces confidence
for example, while writing a general message the sender will write “he is an intelligent boy and got first
position in class” this is so confusing message. But if the sender writes “Ahmed got 85% marks in A
level.” This is specific.
i) Use specific facts and figures – To make your message concrete, use exact facts and figures rather
than general words. Example:
Vague, general, indefinite Concrete and convincing
Our product has won several (Name) product has won first prize prizes.
in four national contests within the past
three years.

Please send your check for the amount please send your check for $500 full
soon. on or before June 5.

Often vague, general words may have different meanings to the sender and the receiver. The list that
follows gives words, which can lead to uncertainty, misunderstanding, or confusion.
A few more short
High most slow
Large nice small
Low quick soon

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Many several tall

Using plenty of examples, prefixed by phrases like “for instance,” “for example,” “such as,” also helps
make your writing concrete as well as clear.

ii) Put action in your verbs – Strong verbs can activate other words and help made your sentences
definite. To write strong sentences:
 Use active rather than passive verbs, and
 Put action in your verbs instead of in nouns and infinitives..

Example:
“The board of directors decided” is more explicit than “A decision has been made.”
The passive requires more words and thus, slows both the writing and reading. For instance: “Figures
show” is more concise than “It is shown by figures.
Action must also be put in verbs, not in nouns and infinitives. Notice the following examples:
Action hiding in a Noun Action in the verb
The function of this office is the This office collects accounts
Collection of accounts and the and compiles statements.
Compilation of statements.
Action hiding in Infinitive Action in the verb
The duty of a stenographer is A stenographer checks and
to check all incoming mail and records all incoming mail.
to record it.
iii) Choose vivid and image building words
4. Clarity
Clarity is the transfer of the writer’s thoughts to a reader without misunderstanding. It is the single most
important factor in communication. Clarity demands the use of simple language and easy sentence
structure in composing the message. Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message on goal at a time
rather than trying to achieve too much at once. A misunderstood message is worse than no message at
all. A message that is not clear to a reader cannot possibly communicate the writer’s intentions. Thus,
clarity is the writer’s first responsibility. The first and most important task of the writer is to be
understood. That is, the writer wants to have his/her reader interpret the message with the same meaning
as intended. The following are some specific ways that help to make business writing clear.
i) Choose short and simple words rather than long and complicated words –Generally, short,
familiar and everyday words communicate more effectively than longer and less known words.
Therefore, use short and familiar words if your reader is to understand your message. Example:
Complicated word simple word
Interrogate ask
Subsequent to after
Give consideration to consider
Under date of on
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 Business Communication Principles

As of this writing now

In addition, when you select words you should make sure that the words you have selected would mean
the same thing to your audience as they do to you. Words have both denotations (dictionary meaning)
and connotations (associated, personal meanings). The words inexpensive and cheap can denote the
same thing. But their connotations are different. For most people, inexpensive simply means low in cost
while cheap means poorly made or a poor value.

ii) Avoid ambiguous and equivocal words – Ambiguous words have more than one meaning and
equivocal words. Whenever possible, avoid technical jargons when you talk or write to a person who is
not familiar with such words. If you must use technical words, define them briefly and clearly, otherwise
you will confuse, embarrass, or irritate your reader, and perhaps be forced to explain later. Example:
Technical jargon Expressions familiar to layperson
Annual premium annual payment
Assessed valuation value of property for tax purpose
Charge to your principal increase the balance of your loan
Maturity date final payment date
Per diem daily
Sentence: Days of grace under this policy expire May 15, 1980

Revised: The extra 30 - days allowed you to pay your premium without interest end May 15, 1980

iii) Use concrete and specific words rather than general and abstract words – Specific language
enables the reader to visualize the action of your letter and it creates believability. Always give exact
facts, figures, details, explanations and examples. For example, instead of soon use March 15, 2002.
iv) Use short and simple sentences – Sentence structure is also an important consideration in achieving
clarity. The easiest sentences to read and to understand are short, simple sentences using active voice in
the past, present, or future tense and making an explicit statement. While it is true that to avoid
monotony, sentence length should be varied; short sentences are easier to read and are therefore usually
clearer than long sentences. Use short sentences for your main ideas, and place supporting information
in the longer sentences. Beyond proper length, sentences seem to grow weaker with added word.
v) Your message must be definite and straight forward – State your message explicitly rather than
implicitly. Using specific and concrete words will help you make explicit statements.
Example:
Implicit: It will be to your advantage to order now
Explicit: By ordering now, you will receive two issues absolutely free.

vi) Construct effective sentences and paragraphs – Clear writing depends on logical structure. A clear
message requires a definite beginning, middle and end. In addition to the logical structure, the writer
also needs to provide the reader with a unified message that moves clearly from point to point. A unified

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message has continuity of thought. Unity and structure requires planning. You should group related
ideas together and then arrange the groups into a logical sentence. Eliminate ideas that do not pertain to
either your subject content or your feeling content. So that your reader will always know where your
message has been and where it is going as you move from idea to idea, provide your reader with a clear,
specific reference to the preceding idea or anticipate your next idea with an explicit statement of
direction. As a result your statement (writing) should aim for unity and coherence.

In a sentence, unity means having one idea and other ideas closely related to it. For instance, The
manager of the firm-X is Abraha and Alemu won a gold medal in the marathon, game. These two ideas
do not relate; the second idea is irrelevant to the first ideas Sentences and paragraphs should have logical
sequence showing the reader the relationship between them. The use of linking words is important in
this case. The principal ways of establishing the unity, coherence and transition required for clarity are
given as follows:
vii) Include visual Aids, when desirable
Visual aids- such as headings, tabulations, itemizations, pictures, and charts are definite aids to clarity
and easy reading.
5. Correctness
Presenting a message correctly helps you to avoid the risk of miscommunication. Mistakes cause
misunderstanding and they can destruct the recipients from concentrating on the intended message.
Besides, errors can affect the credibility of the sender and the message. As a principle of effective
writing the broad term correctness refers to:
Correct figures, accurate statements, facts and explicit identification of assumptions and opinions. It is
obvious that without correct figures and statements, accurate communication is impossible.
correct spelling, grammar, mechanics, and language usage. Misspelled words, faulty punctuation, and
awkward constructions will be barriers to communication. Your ability to use language correctly and to
write a message free from superficial errors is a nonverbal message that tells your readers that you are an
intelligent, careful person who cares enough about them to pay attention to the details of your message.
Because your letters, memos, and reports provide a lasting record of your abilities to think, write and
communicate about business matters, you should take the time to ensure correctness since
communication errors will undermine your business effectiveness. Correctness means that the message
you are going to send is grammatically correct and considerate (appreciative). Similarly the message
should not certain any insulate statement which may look the potential customer(s). Therefore to write a
correct message bears in mind the following guidelines:
 The message is grammatically correct  The message is bias less and impartial
 Send your message at the correct time  Proper punctuation and capitalization
6. Consideration
It means that you prepare every message with the recipient in mind and try to put yourself in his or
her place. Consideration means understanding of human nature. Consideration means that preparing
a message with the recipient in mind. This includes trying to put oneself in his/her place. It involves
visualizing and evaluating the recipient's situation, the desires, problems, circumstances, emotions

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and probable reactions to one's request so as to adjust the message from the recipient's point of
view. This includes taking into account the language and tone of your message. This thoughtful of
consideration is also called “you - attitude,” empathy, the human touch, and understanding of
human nature. In the following four ways it indicates that you are considerate:
 Focus on “You” instead of “I” or “We”
Readers are usually more concerned about themselves than about the writer or the company they
represent. They are more likely to read the writer's message when they see their name and the
pronoun “you” rather than “I, We, Us.”
 Show readers interest/benefit
Whenever possible and true, show how readers will benefit from whatever the message asks or
announces. They will be more likely to react favorably and do what you suggest if you show that
benefits be worth the effort and cost.
For instance, reader-benefits are desirable in job applications, favor requests, and announcements to
your customers, prospective buyers, stockholders and employees.
If your company provides employee benefits such as, health insurance and various retirement plans
management should make every effort to assure that all employees understand and appreciate those
benefits. To inform employees effectively, management can use such media as memos, employee
manuals, bulletins reports, etc.
 Emphasize on positive and pleasant facts
Here, reader is required to accent the positive. This means
 Stressing what can be done instead of what cannot be done and
 Focusing on ideas your reader can view favorably.
The reader wants to know what the writer can do for him/her. For most people negative words like no,
won’t, cannot, never, impossible trigger unpleasant emotional reactions. By making clear what you can
or will do, you (by implication) often make clear what you cannot do, without using a single negative
word.
Example:
Negative-Unpleasant Positive-Pleasant
It is impossible to open an As soon as your signature card for you account
today. reaches us, we will gladly open an account
When a customer closes an account, try to begin your follow-up letter to the former customer with a
favorable positive paragraph. A negative opening emphasizes ideas you would rather not have the
reader think about.
 Apply integrity and ethics
7. Courtesy
Courtesy can be defined as the considerate, friendly and sympathetic approach towards others. In business,
almost everything starts and ends in courtesy. Courtesy means not only thinking about receiver but also
valuing his feelings. Much can be achieved by using polite words and gestures, being appreciative,
thoughtful, tactful, and showing respect to the receiver. Courtesy builds good will and strengthen relations.
In order to be courteous in our language and conduct, we must not become sarcastic, unfriendly, impatient

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and irritated. In business, the important objective of communication is to build goodwill by establishing
better customer-company relationships. We can create the new customers and hold the present ones by our
courtesy. By our courteous and thanking nature, we shall not only be able to create new friends in the
business world but we shall also be able to avoid enmity and wrath of others. Courtesy is a matter of polite
tone, good manners and thanking nature. A courteous man neither criticizes the other party for their
mistakes nor uses harsh and bitter words in his speech.

Courteous message helps to strengthen present business friendship, as well as make new friends. Courtesy
stems from sincere you-attitude. It is not merely politeness with mechanical insertions of “pleases” and
“thank-you”. To be courteous, the communicator should follow the following suggestions regarding tone
and promptness of messages.
 Be sincere, thoughtful, and appreciative
 Omit expressions that irritate, hurt or belittle the reader
 Answer mails as promptly as possible

NB. Think about the 7 Cs every time you need to communicate something and you'll always know you're
delivering the clearest message possible.

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