Six Cs of Business Communication

Six Cs of Business Communication

Effective business communication requires a tremendous amount of consideration for the audience. Utilizing the 6 C’s of business communication in any writing situation will help you achieve this end and ensure your audience can use the information you

Consideration

Give careful thought and attention to your audience in order to build goodwill. In many cases, your readership will be made up of many individuals with varying backgrounds and knowledge-bases. Since it’s impossible to know everything about everyone, focus on understanding as much as you can about what they will need and expect in order to show you respect them and their time.

Clarity

Write clear, straight-forward messages using plain language to avoid confusion or misunderstandings. Business writing often relies on block paragraphs and bulleted lists in order to make key information easy to find. It’s also important to assess what information is necessary and what can be left out to enhance clarity.

Conciseness

Keep your message brief in order to get to the point quickly. This means you must be selective with your information and pay special attention to how your phrasing can be worded in the most efficient way possible. Avoid wordiness by eliminating most adjectives and adverbs (very, really, extremely).

Coherence

Write your message in a way that allows the individual parts (words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.) to contribute to the whole. Organize information logically, grouping like-information together, and utilizing headers or strong transitions to help your reader easily understand your message.

Correctness

Strive for accuracy, in information as well as mechanics (spelling, grammar, etc.). If your writing contains errors your credibility is harmed, and it becomes difficult to establish the level of goodwill needed in order to reach your reader.

Confidence

Use your writing to demonstrate professionalism, competence, and clear thinking. When you write with confidence, your audience will have confidence in you. Demonstrate confidence by enacting the other C’s of business communication; follow genre conventions, get to the point quickly, proofread your work, and meet your deadlines. 

Howe Writing Initiative ‧ Farmer School of Business ‧ Miami University

SOURCE:http://www.fsb.miamioh.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/HWI-handout-CsofBusComm.html