 Lecture 11, As-Salaamu Alaikum. Welcome to the virtual university's course on business and technical communication. In today's lesson, we will complete the seven C's of effective communication and also do a recap of all that we have done previously with regards to the seven C's. Let's finally look at correctness. At the core of correctness is proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. The term correctness applied to business messages also means the following, that you should use the right level of language, that you should check the accuracy of figures, facts and words and that you should maintain the acceptable writing mechanics. When we talk of using the right level of language, what do we mean by that? There are three levels of language, this formal, informal and substandard. Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing. For example, doctoral dissertations, scholarly articles, top-level government agreements, etc. Formal writing is mostly about scholarly academic writing, which we call a formal writing. In this, there are theses, dissertations, articles that are published in some academic journal or some government documents that are included in scholarly writing or formal writing. For formal writing, the style is usually conventional, it's usually impersonal and contains long and involved sentences. As opposed to this, in informal writing, the style of writing is more common in business writing. Examples of informal writing would be communications via email, memos, etc. Let's have a look at some examples where we have some formal words and less formal words. It's basically the vocabulary that's used which also characterizes whether the type of writing is formal or informal. For example, if you have a formal piece of writing, you would have words like participate, procure, utilize, interrogate, endeavor, whereas in informal writing or less formal writing, you would have the corresponding words used would be join instead of participate, get instead of procure, use, question, try instead of utilize, interrogate and endeavor. These are more direct, more used in everyday life and therefore less informal. As a reminder, avoid substandard language when you're writing. This basically means that you should avoid using incorrect words, incorrect grammar, slang, language, faulty pronunciation. All these suggest inability to use good English. So in your writing, whether it's formal or informal, use correct language. It should not be substandard. Some examples of substandard would be words like ain't, can't hardly, aim at proving, stole, irregardless, whereas the correct words would be isn't, can't hardly, aim to prove, stolen, regardless, etc. I mentioned earlier that you need to check accuracy of figures, facts and words. It's possible to convey the meaning of words precisely through words from the head of the sender to the receiver, obviously. Whatever it is that is in the head of the sender has to be conveyed to the receiver through words and your goal as writers is to be as precise as possible and as accurate as possible and we've talked about this in previous lessons as well. A good check of data is to have another person read and comment on the validity of the material to make sure that whatever facts, figures and words you're using are correct and accurate. Try to have somebody else read as well. When you're using facts and figures, try to verify your statistical data, whatever numbers of figures you're using, try to verify them from somewhere else as well to make sure that they're correct. Double check your totals. Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you. Don't assume things. Make sure that the facts are correct. Don't just assume things. Don't just guess that something will happen in a particular way just because it has an impact on you. Also, have someone else read your message, especially if the topic involves data, because as I said earlier, if you have missed out on a particular number or a fact or some data and you've missed out a mistake in it or an error in it, then somebody else might pick it up for you and help you in improving your communication. Also, if you're quoting specific facts, check if the fact has changed over time. A lot of the times what happens is that something that may be a fact, a correct fact at a particular point in time may cease to be correct after some time has passed. Try to avoid using words that confuse your reader. The English language is constantly changing. It's constantly evolving and though dictionaries cannot keep up with rapid change, they're still the most useful resource for finding different correct words. So try to make sure that you are not using words that have changed. Try to use words that are current in language and the best tool for that is dictionaries. Try to use words that are less confusing. Again, use dictionaries to find synonyms of words that will portray the message effectively without confusing the reader. There are some rules that you need to keep in mind. For example, you have to use A before a consonant and consonant sounds or a long A sound and use an before vowels or silent H sounds. This is a common rule that we've learned in school through college but it's something that is very easy to forget as well because when we are writing a lot of the times we tend to forget where we will use a or a and an. So it's just to recap and remind you. Also, words like accept and accept are easily confused. Remember that accept A double C E P T is a verb that means receive whereas accept E X C E P T is a verb that relates to omitting out or leaving out. So, except we say that when we are accepting something except we will say that when we are removing something from a collection. In other words, that commonly confused are words like between and among. Please note that between involves two people and among is when you are talking of three or more people. Similarly, father and further F A R T H E R and F U R T H E R are commonly confused. Father is used to express more distance in space and further is used for distance in time quality or degree. So, when you are talking about distance for example, in space when you are saying something is farther away than something else in terms of actual space, that is what you will use. But when you are talking about time quality or degree, then you will use further. Similarly, by annually and by annually means two times a year by annual whereas by annually means every two years. By annually means every two years. By annually means every two years. For example, if there is something or occasion that comes twice a year, then you will say that it is by annual or if for example there is a message that comes twice a year, then it is by annual publication. Whereas if there is an event after two years, for example there is a championship of cricket, for example, then you will say that it is a by annual tournament. Also, you have to maintain acceptable writing mechanics. All material relating to mechanics, word processing and appearance is then relevant when we talk of the maintaining acceptable writing mechanics. You need to give careful detail, careful attention to mechanical parts of well-written documents. You need to make sure that whatever different elements in a document there are, they are according to the format, according to the detail for that particular document and that is something that is very important when we're talking about writing mechanics. Now, let's have a look at all the seven C's that we've been talking about so far. Let's quickly, briefly revise the seven C's of effective communication today so that in case there's something you've forgotten, we can come back to it and of course if you have any questions you can always contact us and we'll be happy to help you out. The first C that we talked about was completeness, then we said that there was conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity, courtesy and correctness. Correctness to humne aaj dekhili, dekhte hain ke baaki jo chhe thay, completeness, conciseness, consideration, concreteness, clarity and courtesy, wo kya thay? Completeness was your message is complete when it contains all the facts that the readers or listeners need for the reaction that you desire. Jo bhi aapke padne wale hain, ye sunne wale hain aapki communication ke unko jo facts aur material chahiye hain, agar aap wo deshaktin hain aur wo iss tarhan dein ke jo aap unse reaction chaare hain wo reaction ho, tab aapka message complete hain. Communication senders need to assess their messages from the eyes of the receivers to be sure that they have included all the relevant information. So, as a sender, you need to sometimes put yourself in the place of the receiver to check that all the information that was needed has actually been sent or has actually been put down. Jo bhi aapko lagta hain ke aapke sunne wale ya padne wale ko information chahiye hoge aap ek nazar usko dekhain aur ye sochain ke unko kya ye information saari mukamal toa pe mil rahi hain ya nahi mil rahi hain. The benefits of completeness are that complete messages are more likely to bring the desired result. Agar aapka message incomplete hain, to jo aap usse, usse message se jo aap netija chaare hain, wo boh chansa hain ke wo netija aapko naa mile. Agar aapka message mukamal hoga to pe jo aap desired result chaare hain, wo aapko milne me asani hoge. Also, complete messages do a better job at building goodwill and communication that seems inconsequential can become very important if the information that is within that communication is complete and relevant. Agar aap pahne wale ko ye lage pehle glance pe ke ye communication jo hain, ye shahid immaterial hain, unnecessary hain. Lekhin agar wo usko jo pahne bathe hain aur usme jo information dee gayi ho, wo bohat zeroori ho, wo bohat mukamal ho, to unka interest uske andar faran peda ho jayega. You need to keep some guidelines in mind to make sure that your message is complete. One, provide all necessary information, yani jo information aap chaare hain ke zeroori hain, wo aap mohaiya kare. Answer all questions asked. Jo savalaat puchhe gayi ho, pehle kisi previous communication me un sabka jawab diya jaai and give something extra when desired. Agar aapko lage ke yahaan behtar hain, to aap pehre kuch mazid information bhi shamil keji, ta ke aap ke pahne wale ko jo unne manga hain, wo to mele hi plus thoda sa extra orb hi mele aur unki information me azaafa ho. Now, out of these three, when we talk about providing all the necessary information you need to answer the five W's to make the message clear. You need to know who it is that the communication is going out to, what it is that needs to be said, when, what time it is or what is the context in which the information is going, when is it going, where is it going and why, what is the purpose of that communication being sent. For example, if you're requesting a merchandise, make sure what you want. Akhir aap, aapne kuch kaunse merchandise hain, kaunse cheez hain jo aapko chahiye. When you need it, aapko kap chahiye hain, to whom and where it is to be sent and how the payment would be made. So yeh saare, paanche W's jo hain, yeh peris me, shamil ho gaye, what, when, who, where and how. Next we come to credibility. When we talk of credibility, we talk about competence. Does the audience perceive the message sender as communicating honestly? Does the communication sender have credibility with the person who is receiving the communication? Ka jo padne wala hai, wo bejne wale ko, sacha in saan samaj rahe hai yeh nahi? Ke unki nazro mein, inki kya standing hai, aur usse saab se, jo jistana wo bejne wale ko perceive karenge, ussi tanha wo unki communication ko bhi receive karenge. Also, what about the character of the person who has written the communication? Does the sender of the message know his or her message? And how much do they know about what they are writing? Composure. Does the sender give the impression of being calm and collected? Ka padne wale ko yeh lag raha hai ki bejne wala wo composed in saan hai, usko apne kaam aur collected hune ke lawa, usko jo material hai usko par bhi aboor hai ya nahi hai? Also, there is a factor of sociability. Does the sender come across as a likable person? Is the reader likely to react favorably to this correspondence because of the impression he or she has of the writer? Also, there is the factor of extroversion. Does the source, the communication exhibit outgoing tendencies rather than timidity? Si ye lagta hai ke likne wala hai wo ek outgoing insaan hai ya ye lagta hai ke jo likne wala hai wo ko chuppa raha hai ya ikne apne apko bhihtaat bhihtereen darika se ekspres nahi karpara. Agar ek outgoing insaan lagenge aap aur aap ye lagega ki aap jo information likne hain wo open hai to zyada chance hai ke wo accept ki jai. For example, if you are the person who says, I am new to the city and would like to consider joining your welfare center as I will be visiting the center within the next month, will you please tell me where the next meeting will be held? If you answered only this question your letter would be incomplete. Agar aap sirf ye baataa denge ki meeting aap iss time pe hoge ya iss dayn hoge, toh phir aap ka hala ke aapne unke sawaal ka toh mukamal tohaal pe jawab de diya lekin aapne baaki bahut si ye lagega ki ek toh aap extra word nahi aap, bhoot social nahi aapne bahut, he rukha sookha to the point jawab diya hai. You should add information about a welcome message. You should add information about parking space, date, date, time of meeting, when they should come, how they should get there and also that you are looking forward to meeting them. So then your message will have something extra that the reader really needs and appreciates. For example, would be an incomplete question like this please fax me the return departure from Lahore to Karachi on 8th May. So aap agar aapko iss toh aap ka sawaal ho, toh aap iss ke jawab ne sirf departure time nahi denge you would in reply to this fax have something extra to give. You would give the time of the day, the airline that is flying that route from Lahore to Karachi the cost, the departure and arrival time. So agar aap ek travel agency me kaam ka rahe hain aur agar aapko iss taran ki query aayegi, to aapko phe saari complete information deni hai taake aap ke padne wale ko bhi yeh lage ke aap interested hain aur aap sirf rukhi sookhi unko information deke farekh nahi hua hain. Lekin aap ne unko sach much help kia hain guide kia hain. Coming to consideration. Consideration means that you should prepare every message with the receiver in mind. Jo bhi aap pehgaam likhe usko iss taran likhein ke aapke dhmaag mein hain aapne padne wale ka assaas ho. And that is when you are actually considering your audience, you are actually considering who the audience will be and who will be reading your communication. If you are writing a message that is going to be unpleasant or if you are writing because you have a complaint for example don't lose your temper because you have to, as I said, consider how your reader will receive your message. So even if you are upset about something and you are writing because of that, you are angry and you are writing to express your anger try not to lose your temper, try not to accuse the person of your communication and also don't charge them without facts. Agar aap ke pass facts nahi hai, kui sabboot nahi hai toh pehar aap ilzam mat laga hain aap koi accusation mat ka nahi kyunke usse aapki credibility pe fark padega. Also when you are trying to be considerate, you have to be foremost aware of the desires, problems, circumstances, emotions and probable reactions. So when you are trying to show consideration then you have to be foremost aware of your audience's desires, your audience's problems, their circumstances, emotions and probable reaction to your thoughts and how you have put down those thoughts. Agar aap jaate hain kya aap considerate hain, toh pehar aap yeh amesha madin aze rakh hain ke jo aapke padne wale hain wo kya soch rahe hain, unki aapka pehgaam padke aur aapke asa saath aapne aapne message me likke hain wo padke unka kya reaction hoga. Also try to handle the matter from their point of view. Jo unka point of view hain usse dekhhe, aur usse saap se apne communication ko likke hain ya agar oral communication hain usse saap se bole, ke unko wo jab perceive usko kare sunne wale ya padne wale positive ho. This thoughtful consideration is also called the you attitude, the human touch or understanding human nature. Yeh zaroori nahin kya amare sirf pehgaamat me hain ishtra likkhawa ho, lekin aap hum zindagi ke har shobe me jaah rahe agar hain, dusre ka apne saath wale ka khyaal karenge toh yeh hi ek human nature hoti hain. There are three specific ways to indicate consideration. The first is that you should focus instead of I or we. Secondly, show audience benefit or interest in the receiver. And three, emphasize positive, pleasant facts. Jo koi negative facts hain, unko itma emphasize mat kare, jo positive facts hain unko emphasize kare, aur jo receiver hain, usse opal zada emphasize kare, binisbat apne opar. Now using the you helps project a you attitude, agar aap apne messages me, you loves ka istamal karenge toh issse you attitude aap project karte hain, lekin isska overuse ya zyada istamal karna you ko negative bhi ho sakta hain usse isko zara khyaal se istamal karen. Specially agar koi negative message hain, toh pher you loves ka istamal karen, lekin agar positive message hain, toh pher usko istamal karen. To create considerate audience oriented messages, focus on how message receivers will benefit and what they want or need to know. Unki kya zururiad hain, wo kishtara aapke message se benefit karenge, unko kya fayda hoga, unko aapke message se kya cheez mil rahi hain, ye agar aap sari cheez hain madin azar rakhinge toh ye bhi aapka you attitude hain, na ke you loves ka istamal karen. In some cases, this can be accomplished by emphasis. You may downplay your own feelings to make your point as well. Either emphasize specific factors, specific points or downplay your own feelings to make a point and therefore emphasize the receiver. Coming to concreteness communicating concretely means being specific definite and vivid rather than being vague and general. Jab aap specific details, specific points aap include karenge apne message mein, apne communication mein to iska matlab hain ke aap concrete baat karenge, zada toast baat karenge agar aap general aur vague baat karenge toh wo peh aapka message bhi bahad hi vague aur unimpressive hoga aur peh jo bhi usko objective hain wo bhi aap poora nahi kar parenge. Misunderstandings of words have produced tragedies in both war and in peace in business and non-business situations. So therefore, it's important that you use specific words also to avoid misunderstandings. Vague message ke saath bahad general message ke saath ek toh yeh hoga aapka jo peh gham hain wo itta effective nahi rahega aur uske saath yeh bhi problem ho sakti hain ki misunderstandings create ho. Toh isli bhi zeroori hain ke aap toast baat karen, solid baat karen taaki misunderstandings hain jo baat hain, usko directly state kare naa ke usko golmol karke, bahad sir alfaaz mein usko chhupaad ke padne wale ko pata hi na jale ke aapne baat kya ki aur koi misunderstanding create ho jay. Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, vivid rather than vague in general as I said, often it means using denotative, direct, explicit, often dictionary based words rather than connotative words. Toh jo bhi alfaaz isthimal ke jaan wo direct hoon, aise hoon jo ke jinka meaning direct ho rather than aap aise alfaaz isthimal ke jaan jinka figurative meaning ho jo ke directly baat naa sabha jay yaa aise loves yaan phrase isthimal kya hain jiske aek se zyada matlab ho sake toh agar aap aise isthimal karen aek se zyada matlab wale phrases yaalfaaz toh usme phir misunderstanding hone ka chance bahad bhar jata hain binez bata iske kya aap aise alfaaz isthimal karen panne wale ko wo matlab samaja mein aaj jay the benefits to business professionals of using concrete facts and figures are that your receiver knows exactly what is desired agar aap ek business setting mein hain toh concrete facts and figures tohs information istimal karne se zahere aek toh ye faida hoga aap ke panne wale ko exactly pata chal jayaga ke aap kya chah rahe hain aap unse kya chahate hain and also when you supply specifics for the reader you increase the likelihood that your message will be interpreted the way you intend jab aap specific information deinge tohs information deinge toh phir je chance hain ke aap netija chah rahe hain wo hi netija aap ko milega padne wale se there are some guidelines that you should keep in mind in order to compose concrete convincing messages number one use specific facts and figures number two put action to words and number three use vivid image building words what do we mean when we talk about using specific facts and figures it is desirable to be precise and concrete both in written and oral communication vague communication would be something like students GMAT scores are higher haniye kya dea ke students ke GMAT scores higher hain lekin haniye nahi bataya ke kische se higher hain ya aap kitne hain koi humne ush mein concrete path nahi bataye concrete message isthana hoga in 1996 the GMAT scores averaged 600 by 1997 they had risen to 610 now this is concrete you are giving exact figures you are giving exact years so reading this communication can actually compare and they know how high they were in the next year and they were higher than what so that was concreteness now coming to another C which is clarity getting the meaning from your head accurately to the reader is the purpose of clarity jobi aapke demah mein bat hain wo clear tareeke se padne wale tak pohan jaay aapke demah se padne wale ke demah mein transfer ek baat ho rahi hain to wo bhetreen tareeke se kishtan transfer ho ke ush mein koi galti kaan desha nahi ho aur clearly jo aap kaya rahin hain wo hi samjha jaay in order to do this you need to choose precise concrete and familiar words concrete ki to humne pehle baat ki loves jo ke vague nahi ho of familiar vocal wale ko bhi pata ho agar aap ko lagta hain ke padne wale ki vocabulary mein kuch specific alphaz hain jo nahi honge yaha un alphaz ka pata nahi ho ka to koshish karein ki un alphaz ko nahi istamal kia jaay aur unke bonizbat simple alphaz istamal kia jaay jo unko samajne mein aasani ho also you should construct effective sentences and paragraphs to balance between precise language and familiar language jab ke humne chahiye ke aap humare language precise bhi ho sahi bhi ho humne ye bhi chahiye ke humare language padne wale ko familiar bhi ho jasa ke bhi main kaha so when you have the choice between a long word and a short word choose the short familiar word the golden rule is that when you are in doubt use the more familiar words the audience will understand them better use the word pay instead of remuneration and invoice instead of statement of payment in a business communication similarly unfamiliar words in an example in a sentence would be after a perusal of pertinent data the conclusion is that a lucrative market exists for subject property abhi ye jo sentence hai ye samajne ke liye kuch time lagta hai padne wale ko kuch sojna patta hai iski binezpat agar ishtara ye hi baat kee jai the data we studied show that your property is profitable and in high demand now these are familiar words the format is the structure of the sentence is familiar it's easy to understand and you as a reader or listener have no problem in comprehending what it is that the writer or speaker is saying true courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspectives of others but also their feelings the true courtesy is not only that you should keep the perspective of the reader but also that you should keep the perspective of the reader only then you can send a courteous message and only then your tone will be courteous and your message will also be courteous now how do you know what is your audience's obviously it will be known only when you know your audience who will read your communication or who will listen and when you know who they are only then you can keep their perspective in mind so you have to know your audience so that you can make statements of courtesy according to their perceptions and their feelings now this awareness of the message receiver is important in all forms of communication you have to be aware of the purpose that they are receiving your communication for along with who it is that they are the true courtesy also stems from a sincere you attitude that it is human nature understanding of other person and this you pronoun you when we say we use you attitude in our communication and also when we are talking of courtesy we should keep in mind that it is not only mechanically using please and thank you which makes a communication courteous it goes beyond that only by saying please and thank you we cannot be courteous if it is not enough that the message is written in a rude way then your message will not be courteous you have to keep an eye on your audience and keep an eye on that too and also please and thank you social norms that too your message will be courteous also using of please and thank you sometimes can be very empty if they are not accompanied by the right tone in the rest of the message so you have to be aware of the tone of your message as well if you want to be courteous it is the courtesy is the politeness that grows out of respect and concern for others and that respect and concern should be coming across in your communications as well if you want to be courteous you also need to be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative tact means whatever you say say it like this so that it does not reach to others though very few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt these negative traits are a common cause of discurtecy a lot of the times how we write tends to be abrupt the style of writing is abrupt without any doubt our intention is not to be impolite so we have to see our style that what we are saying is not abrupt or blunt and if it is then we have to change it so that it is tactful this is very important especially when we are portraying a negative message sometimes bluntness and abruptness can stem from a mistaken idea of conciseness and also sometimes from negative personal attitudes because of negative personal attitudes if there is bluntness or abruptness in a message then you as a writer have to melo your attitude so that your negative attitude and if because of conciseness you feel that you are getting conciseness but the reality is that you are getting abrupt or blunt then you have to change your writing style you will have to see that there is a conciseness message but it is short to the point but is it not that it is very short or too much to the point and the reader will feel that is why you have to take care of it while writing let's have a look at an example a tactless blunt language would be a stupid letter I did not understand any of it a more tactful way of saying the same thing would be it is my understanding that this letter says this so then you are clarifying that you understand this when your first reaction is that I do not understand anything this is such a stupid letter but you will write it so that the reader does not feel it what the reader wants to know completeness means that the message is complete whatever you want to say all those things are included in it and the reader whether you want to read or listen whatever information you want to take all those things are included in it the second seed was the conciseness that whatever it is it is a conciseness it is done in such a way that at least a few words are used but because of using those words the meaning of the word is not less meaning is complete but the words are less then we will call it a conciseness where you are using a small number of words to express a given thought in an effective manner remember that conciseness does not mean or blunt do not compromise the courtesy factor when you are trying to be conciseness consideration consideration means having the you attitude being considerate of the feelings of others knowing what they want what they might be feeling and also their perceptions how will they react to a particular point that you have written or to a particular communication or they perceive what you are writing so this is the same thing consideration that you should take care of the listener take care of his his perspective then we talked about conciseness where you will use terms that are specific, vivid and image building rather than using terminology in general because if you use vague and general terminology then it is possible that misunderstandings are created and it is also possible that your message does not reach the reader so in order to avoid misunderstandings and in order to make sure that your message goes across as complete you have to use concrete language as well the next point is of clarity where whatever you are saying has to be clear the language you are using has to be familiar to the reader so that they don't get confused and also that you are using words that have only one meaning and not more than one meaning whatever you use try to use such alphals or phrases which have one meaning or direct meaning whatever alphals are you can easily find them in dictionary and not have such figurative language that it means that the audience has to think about them we also talked of courtesy which means being polite to your reader being thoughtful of their feelings and we also said that courtesy goes beyond using only ease and thank you in your communication courtesy means keeping their considerations and their feelings in mind it's closely related to consideration but it involves tact, it involves diplomacy and lastly we talked of correctness where we talked about how you get your point across and make sure that whatever you are saying is truthful and whatever you are saying is honest misguiding the reader by giving out information that is not correct so with this we come to the end of our sessions on the seven seas of effective communication over the next few sessions we will be looking at business messages how to plan, compose and revise business messages we will also in this module look at letters and direct requests and if you have any questions about what we have done so far or obviously about what we are going to do in the next lessons please feel free to email us the email address is englishatvu.edu.pk until next time Allah Hafiz