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The 7 Cs of Effective
Communication in Your Online
Course
ByMelissaVenable
Throughoutyourworkasanonlinelearneryoudevelopeffective
communicationskillswhenyouengageinthreadeddiscussion
forumsandsendemail,submitwrittenassignmentsandgiveoral
presentations.Communicationtakesplacecontinuouslywithyour
instructorandclassmatesasyouinteractwiththeinformation
presentedinyourcoursematerials.
Moreeffectivecommunicationpracticesleadtoamoreeffective
learningprocess.Businessstudentsareprobablyalreadyfamiliar
withthe"7Cs"fromtheirbusinesscommunicationcourses,but
theseguidelinescanbeappliedtoarangeofprofessionalsettings,
includingyouronlinecourse.AsyoureviewthesevenCslisted
below,keepinmindthattheyarenotindependentofoneanother,
theyallworktogethertohelpyoucommunicatebothinwrittenand
oralformats.
Clarity
Clearwritingandpresentationsareeasytounderstand.Theyallowthereaderorlistenerto
understandthemeaningofyourmessage,asyouintendedittobeunderstood.Considerword
choiceaswellastheformattingandstructureofyourdocumentsandpresentationstoreduceor
eveneliminateconfusion.Simplifyyourvocabulary.Complicatedwordsmayseemsophisticated,

butoftenalterorevenmisrepresentthepointsyouaretryingtomake.CheckoutthePurdue
OnlineWritingLab'stipsforimprovingsentenceclarity.
Completeness
Provideacompletepictureandalltheinformationrequiredforareader/listenertotakeactionand
respond.Besuretoincludealloftherequiredcomponentsofeachassignmentsothatyour
instructorwillhaveeverythingthatisnecessarytoevaluateyourwork.Answerthewho,what,
when,why,where,andhowquestionsasappropriateforeachofyourcommunicationefforts,in
everythingfromanemailtoyourinstructortothesubmissionofaresearchpaper.
Conciseness
Bebriefwhereyoucan,workingwithintherequirementsofCompletenesslistedabove.Avoid
includingunrelatedinformation,unnecessaryrepetition,andlengthyexplanationsthatdonotadd
toorimproveyourcommunicationinahelpfulway.Practicewritingconciselywithanexercise
[PDF]fromSanJoseStateUniversity'sWritingCenter.Beingconcise,whileprovidingallofthe
necessarydetails,canbeabalancingact.
Concreteness
Reinforceyourwords,bothwrittenandoral,withspecificfactsandfigures.Thesemightinclude
visualcommunicationtechniquessuchasimagesandgraphics,aswellastablesandcharts.The
goalofthistechniqueistoreduceoreliminatethepossibilityofyouraudiencemisunderstanding
yourmessage.
Correctness
Professionalcommunicationinyouronlinecourseincludesmakingsurethatthemessageyou
sendiscorrect.Yourassignmentsandcorrespondenceshouldcontainaccurateinformation.
Proofreadingisalsohelpfultoaddresscorrectnessintermsoftypos,spelling,punctuation,and
grammar.Unsureaboutthedifferencebetween"further"and"farther?"Confusedaboutcomma
use?GrammarGirl'sQuickandDirtyTipsforBetterWritingisareferenceguideavailableonline.
Doesyouracademicprogramrequireyoutouseaspecificstyleguideforwrittenassignments
(e.g.APA,MLA)?Ifyouaren'tsure,checkwithyourinstructor.
Courtesy
Onlinecommunicationcanbecomplicated,especiallywhenyouwanttoconveyemotionor
urgency,perhapsinanemailtoyourinstructorormembersofastudentgroup.Youroveralltone
andapproachshouldbeprofessionalinnatureatalltimes.TheCoreRulesofNetiquetteinclude

10techniquesforbeingpoliteonline.Thebottomline:Respectothersandrememberthatyour
communicationeffortsreflectdirectlyonyou.
Consideration
ConsiderationisdirectlylinkedtoCourtesy.Whoistheintendedrecipientofyourmessage?Focus
ontheneedsandexpectationsoftheaudienceofyourcommunication,whetheryouarejoininga
smallgroupstudysessionwithyourpeersorsubmittinganassignmenttoyourinstructorfor
evaluation.Adjustyourapproachaccordinglyandmaintainapositiveoutlook.
MyresearchforthispostturnedupafewmoreCsrelatedtoeffectivecommunication.Canyou
suggestanymore?
Confident:Yourcommunicationshoulddemonstrateyourlevelofknowledgeandcomfortwith
thetopicyouareeitherwritingaboutorpresentinginperson.
Conversational:Especiallyapplicabletodiscussionassignments,bothsynchronousand
asynchronous.
Coherent:Easytounderstand,readorlistentowithalogicalflowandsequence.Thisoneis
closelyrelatedtoclarity.
Creative:Usingyourvoicetointerpretandrelayinformationinwritingandorally,aswellas
otherformats,likemultimedia.
Convincing:Areyoutryingtopersuadeyouraudience?Ifso,besuretofocusonclarity,
completeness,andcorrectnesstosendyourmessage.
Check:Itmightbehelpfultocreateachecklisttomakesureyou'veaddressedallofthese
importantareasbeforehitting"send."Askingsomeoneelsetoproofreadmaybehelpfulaswell.
Formoreinformationandguidanceexploretheresourcesavailableatyourschool,including
writingassistancecentersliketheWritingCenteratTheUniversityofNorthCarolina.Lookfor
howtoresources,examples,tutoring,andreview/feedbackservices.
Practiceandimproveyourcommunicationskillsnowthroughyouronlinecourserequirements.
You'llseethebenefitsasyoutransitiontotheworkforceandcommunicatewithsupervisors,
coworkers,clients,andcustomers.
September16th,2011writtenbyMelissaVenable(learnmoreaboutourauthors)

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MutharKhalilOmarUniversityofBaghdad
Drawingapicturepresintingyourownmentalstate,thatisthewriting.Sofollowingthe
mentionedcriteriawillmakethepictureclearandundertandable.
LikeReplySep30,20151:48am

LetteVTa
goodones!!thanks
LikeReplySep29,20157:59am

BrentCampbell
Greatlookatthisimportanttopic.
LikeReplySep18,20155:46pm

LindaGeorgeUniversityofDetroitMercy
Bighelp,thanks
LikeReplyJul31,201510:12am

KaushalSaxenaUniversityofDelhi
Great
LikeReplyJul11,20154:42am

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