The exchange of ideas, thoughts, words, expressions, gestures etc. all comes under the definition of communication. The word communication has been derived from Latin word “communis” meaning “common”. Its historical perspective is that people interact among themselves or within own thoughts when come to a common point of agreement or views (permanent or temporarily) is called communication. According to oxford concise dictionary, communication means conveying of information. May it be the relations between countries or political speeches by the leaders, business organizations or teaching in university etc., communication plays extremely important role in every walk of life. Therefore, it has to be effective in order to save time, efforts and getting the desired results. In 1952, Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center provided the concept of Seven Cs (7Cs) of effective communication in the book “Effective Public Relations”, which was first of its kind on the topic about public relations.
Seven Cs of Communication
Seven Cs (7Cs) of communication are actually the principles explained to effectively communicate so that the targeted group may understand the intended purpose. These principles offer guidelines for individuals to learn how effectively can influence people with own or organizational agendas. These are completeness, conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity, courtesy and correctness. Following are the details of 7Cs and their importance in effective communication.
1. Completeness. It is referred to a communication between sender and recipient when all the relevant information has been sent by the sender after analysing the recipient’s mindset by ensuring no necessary information is missed during communication. In case the intellectual level of recipient demands clarification concerning to the information provided; the sender should be in a position to satisfy recipient by answering the relevant queries. This will result into effective communication with completeness of information. Otherwise, the communication will not be effective. For example, it is essential for a teacher to understand the mindset of students in a class and provide information accordingly. The communication between teacher and students will be effective in case of questions highlighted by the students are judiciously answered by the teacher.
2. Conciseness. It means getting to the point with precise set of words. During interaction, the use of accurate information in short sentences will be considered as concise way of communication. It is more effective where the recipients are more focused on time then communication. Therefore, provisioning of concise useful information would be much regarded as effective communication while the response from the audience will also be positive.
3. Consideration. It is referred to a communication where the advantage of recipients is given due attention by respecting the mental perception and awareness of the recipient. The communication mainly focuses the needs, thoughts and requirements of the recipients with a positive approach. For example, the interaction of political leaders with the public is mainly describing the needs and problems of the people, which are directly influencing the targeted group of people and play emotional part in it. This can actually convert a normal communication into an effective one.
4. Concreteness. Generally speaking may keep a normal fashion of communication without any substantial effect. On the contrary, concreteness refers to the specifics where interaction is performed with preciseness or by referring statistics. This creates a pronounced effect on the recipients as compared to the general talks. For example, highlighting about performance of an automobile in speed, economy and esthetics will be more effective than generalizing the product once compared with different brands of same type.
5. Clarity. The endeavour for an effective communication is to transfer your thoughts and ideas into the mind of recipient. It can effectively occur when the simple, precise and easy set of words are used for communication in order to express the purpose without going into extensive interaction. Clarity is important in effective communication for removing fog of assumption on recipients mind. According to Pope John Paul-ll, “Know what you are talking about” is a famous saying explaining that one must be aware of what and about what he is talking.
6. Courtesy. A polite word can play a prominent role in resolving dispute(s) among people. Therefore, understanding the mentality of recipients of information and their feelings towards the intended interaction is very important for effective communication. It creates a long lasting effect even if there is difference of opinion between communicating people or organizations. Yet it can respectfully create harmony throughout during the course of communication. For example, despite of cultural differences, the communication between people belonging to different ethnic groups can remain fruitful by avoiding derogatory remarks about each other.
7. Correctness. It is referred to the factual accuracy of words used in communication between or people communicating with organizations. It is important in both verbal and non-verbal communication where selection of correct words at the right time is important. The set of information used during communication is to be reliable substantiating the information provided during communication. For example, it is important for company’s representatives to communicate with correctness while visiting different markets or people in order to have effective product marketing.
Effective communication plays important role in organizations, businesses and public relations. The principles of effective communication (7Cs) can provide opportunity to establish a better society by educating people and interacting in a way they can understand and respond to your point of view. Famous political leaders do communicate effectively with the public in a convincing way without any ambiguity. Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart”.
