Effective communication skills

Communication is an exchange of ideas, facts or emotions by two or more person’s. communication is complete when the receiver understand in the same sense and sprit that the communicator intends to convey.

An effective communication is most essential for the organization whatsoever the form-letters, memorandums, reports. It may take, whatsoever the media’s, it may use. It has to be made effective by following certain scientific principle,

We divide the principle of communication into broad parts.

7c’s of communication

1. candid
2. clear
3. complete
4. concise
5. concrete
6. courtesies
7. correct

Candid

The message to be communicated should be candid (straight forward and frank). It should not be indirect or untrue. Gay Hendricks and kate ludeman remarks “ if you sure you are telling the truth. You have no need to worry about people listening to you. When people do not listen, it is usually because the speaker got something else, he or she is communicating the truth”.

To make the communication effective it is most important that the message should be frank and straight forward. There should be not beating about the conveying something that hinders the truth. It will led to prejudices doubt about the sincerity of the communication.

Clear

The message to communicated whether oral or written should be clear. For this’ not only clarity of expression is must, but also clarity of thoughts. It is the first and foremost requirement. Clear message always stems from clear mind and clear hearts. Since the message to be communicated is first produced in mind of the sender, it is imperative that sender’s mind should have clear thoughts about the objective of the communication, their effective on the receiver and the channel to be used.

The clearly thought out message should be with clear expression to avoid ambiguities(uncertainty) and confusion. The transmitter should be very careful about the meanings and organization of words and symbols used in communication.

To make the message clear and effective consider the followings points:

• Use simple and short words.
• Be familiar with audience.
• Construct effective sense.
• Use technical language for professionals.
• Be creative to improve the visual impact of the message.

Complete

Completeness is necessary for effective communication. Incomplete message creates misunderstanding and misinterpretations. It leads to further queries resulting in wastage of time and resources and irritate the receiver. Therefore, every aspect and relevant detail should be incorporated in logical sequence. So completeness is essential for proper understanding and interpretation of message.

Complete message always offer some benefits. These are given below:

• Complete message are more likely to bring the desired results without the expense of additional message.
• Easy to understand by receiver.
• Remove the chance of misunderstanding.

To make the message complete, followings guidelines should be kept in mind:

1. Provide all necessary information that the reader needs for through and accurate understanding. For this check whether the message provides answer to five w questions.

Who

What

When

Where

Why

And ant other essential such as how.

2. Answer all stated and implied questions which may arise in the mind of the reader.

Concise

Conciseness means conveying clear and complete message in fewest possible words Without sacrificing its completeness and clarity. It contributes to make the important ideas stand out. On the other hand, aimless and unnecessary details distract the reader attention and consequently reduce the effective communication. Concise message appear more interesting to the reader and show respect from recipients by not letting their personal as well as professional life bored with unnecessary information. Therefore communication message should clarity the meaning in fewest possible words, avoid needless repetition of the same ideas, words and appear in organization form.

Concrete

Communicated statement should not be vague, rather it should be concrete and specific. Concrete expression create specific visual images in the mind of receiver which generalized statements cannot. For example:

Consider the following statement

The price of washing machine is very high.

The price of automatic washing machine is Rs 23,000.

The first statement is vague and general. To say that the price is very high, conveys different meaning to the different people depending upon their economic background and perceptions. Hence the second statement present the real feature.

While written business letter, memo, advertisement copy, report etc. always give concrete facts of making generalized statement. Concrete language reduce the chances of misinterpretation by receiver and increase the likelihood that message will be understood in the way the sender intends.

Correct

The message should be correct, accurate and free from errors. The message should be communicated should be correct in spelling, grammar, format, contents etc. incorrect and inaccurate message mislead the receiver and message go to the wrong way. These may sometimes lead the management to wrong and disastrous decision. Therefore it is imperative that the sender should verify the correctness of the information before presenting to the receiver.

To make the message correct:

• Ensure that facts, figures are accurate and verify statistical data, total etc.
• Check whether grammar, punctuation spellings are proper.
• Use easy language.

Courteous

There must be courtesy in message and manner’s of communication. Pleasurable and healthy communication environment is essential to ensure the effectiveness of communication. Courtesy in the message as well as manner’s play dominating role in the regard. While communicating it is necessary that we should be concentrate, compassionate and friendly. It is necessary to criticize, we must be tactful in approach so that our communication generate more light than heat.

While communicating

· First, be in the right frame of mind. Ensure that you are not irritated, but are calm and quite.

· Always thank the other person his generate and favor.

· Do not forget to use the word please for requesting something.

· Ensure that the other person’s self respect is not hurt