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Elements of Effective Written Communication Part 3-Communication Skills-Lecture Handout, Exercises of Communication and Presentation Skills

Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala UniversityCommunication and Presentation Skills

Communication is a process, which involves sharing of information between people through a continuous activity of speaking, listening, and understanding. Communication is important factor in business management. This lecture includes: Element, Effective, Written, Communication, Specific, Information, Word, Sentence, Abstract, Vivid, Specific, Information

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Communication Skills – MCM 301 VU
© Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan
117
Lesson 28
Elements of Effective Written Communication
5. Concreteness
Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general.
Concrete writing makes specific references to persons, places, objects, & actions while abstract mans
making general references to these items.
To make your writing concrete you should:
a. Include as much specific information as possible.
b. Use active rather than passive verbs.
c. Use vivid, image-building words.
Include as much specific information as possible
Unfortunately, what is concrete to us may not be concrete to our readers. An effective way to overcome
this dilemma is to provide as much specific information as possible rather than general information. For
example, knowing how “fast” “fast” is in the following sentence is impossible without presenting
additional information.
Change: She is a fast typist.
To: She types @ of 80 words/min.
Another example of a general statement and a more concrete revised version follows.
Change: He got a good score in his MBA Program.
To: His GPA in 2000 was 3.9 on a four point scale.
General words are often interpreted differently by the reader from what you intended. The following is a
partial list of particularly troublesome words.
large good
small around
old convenient
young little
majority large
It’s permissible – even desirable - to use general expressions, only when:
i. It’s not possible to be specific: “You may not have the precise figures & facts.
ii. You wish to be diplomatic (considerate): “You have missed three invitations to my office” – is harsh,
rude; you may be tactful by saying, “I have sent you several reminders to see me in my office.”
iii. Exact figures are unimportant, as in “more than half the committee was present”.
Use active rather than passive verbs
Active verbs help make your sentences more:
1. Specific: “The Dean decided” is more explicit than “A decision has been made”.
2. Personal: “You will note” is both personal and specific. “It will be noted” is impersonal.
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Lesson 28

Elements of Effective Written Communication

5. Concreteness

Communicating concretely means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general. Concrete writing makes specific references to persons, places, objects, & actions while abstract mans making general references to these items. To make your writing concrete you should: a. Include as much specific information as possible. b. Use active rather than passive verbs. c. Use vivid, image-building words.

Include as much specific information as possible

Unfortunately, what is concrete to us may not be concrete to our readers. An effective way to overcome this dilemma is to provide as much specific information as possible rather than general information. For example, knowing how “fast” “fast” is in the following sentence is impossible without presenting additional information. Change: She is a fast typist. To: She types @ of 80 words/min. Another example of a general statement and a more concrete revised version follows. Change: He got a good score in his MBA Program. To: His GPA in 2000 was 3.9 on a four point scale. General words are often interpreted differently by the reader from what you intended. The following is a partial list of particularly troublesome words. large good small around old convenient young little majority large It’s permissible – even desirable - to use general expressions, only when: i. It’s not possible to be specific: “You may not have the precise figures & facts. ii. You wish to be diplomatic (considerate): “You have missed three invitations to my office” – is harsh, rude; you may be tactful by saying, “I have sent you several reminders to see me in my office.” iii. Exact figures are unimportant, as in “more than half the committee was present”.

Use active rather than passive verbs

Active verbs help make your sentences more:

  1. Specific: “The Dean decided” is more explicit than “A decision has been made”.
  2. Personal: “You will note” is both personal and specific. “It will be noted” is impersonal.
  1. Concise: The passive requires more words and thus slows both writing and reading. Compare “Figure shows” with “It’s shown by figures”
  2. Emphatic: Passive words dull action. Compare “The students held a contest” with “A contest was held by the students”. You may prefer the passive voice, instead of the active, only in such situations:
  3. When you want to avoid personal, blunt accusations or comments. “The October cheque was not included” is more tactful than “You failed to include the October cheque”. “Attendance at the meeting is required” is less harsh than “ You must attend”.
  4. When you want to stress the object of the action. In “Your saving account is insured up to 1,00,000”, you have intentionally stressed “your account” not the firm that does the insuring. Also “You are invited” is better than “We invite you.”
  5. When the doer isn’t important in the sentence. In “Three announcements were made before the meeting started” the emphasis is on the announcements not on who gave them or who made the announcement.

Use vivid, image-building words Among the devices you can use to make your messages forceful,

vivid, and specific are sensory appeals, comparisons, concrete nouns, and well-chosen adjectives and adverbs.

Examples:

Change: This report is weak. To: The following flaws weaken the quality of this report:

  • the numerous grammatical errors
  • the inaccurate information that is presented, and
  • the absence of feasible recommendations.” Change: This is a long letter. To This letter is three times as long as you said it would be.

6. Completeness

Incomplete messages quickly increase the organization’s cost. Any time a message is prepared that requires the preparation of another message, the cost of communicating doubles. Incomplete messages are costly in other ways as well because they can result in:

  1. Loss of goodwill.
  2. Loss of valued customers.
  3. Loss of sales.
  4. Waste of time trying to make sense out of an incomplete message.
  5. Cost of returning merchandise because of an incomplete order. The best way to determine if you have provided enough information is to subject your writing to questions like Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? – 5Ws & H. If you have provided clear answers to these questions, your response is likely to be complete. If you cannot answer these questions, you probably should consider adding additional information.

As you strive for completeness, keep the following guidelines in mind:

 Provide all necessary information.

 Answer all questions asked.

 Give something extra, when desirable.

Provide all necessary information