7 CS OF

COMMUNICATION
CREDIBILITY
COURTESY
CLARITY
CORRECTNESS
CONSISTENCY
CONCRETENESS
CONCISENESS
TECHNIQUES FOR
EFFECTIVE WRITING

A] USE ACTIVE VERBS

MOST OF THE TIME
Active: The customer received five
hundred samples.
Passive: Five hundred samples were
received by the customer.
However, use passive verbs in these
situations:
a)To emphasize the object receiving
the action, not the agent.
Your order was shipped on
November 15.
b) To provide coherence within a
paragraph
The bank made several risky loans in
the late 1990s. These loans were
written off as uncollectible in 2004.

c) Use passives to avoid assigning

blame
The order was damaged during
shipment.

B] Use verbs to present the

information more forcefully
Weak: We will perform an
investigation of the problem
Better: We will investigate the
problem.

C] Eliminate words that say

nothing
Wordy: the estimate which is enclosed
Better: the enclosed estimate

Wordy: There are three reasons which

explain the projects success.
Better: Three reasons explain the
projects success.

D] Use Gerunds and

Infinitives to make sentences
shorter, smoother and more
conversational.
Wordy: A plant suggestion has been
made where they would purchase a fax
machine for the purpose of
transmitting test reports between
plants.
Better: The plant suggests purchasing
a fax machine to transmit test reports
between plants.

E] Use Parallel Structure

Words or ideas that share the same

logical role in your sentence must also
be in the same grammatical form. This
makes writing smoother and more
forceful.
Faulty: Errors can be checked by
reviewing the daily report or note the
number of errors you uncover when
you match the lading copy with the file
copy of the invoice.
Parallel: Errors can be checked by
reviewing the daily report or by noting
the number of errors you uncover
when you match the lading copy with
the file copy of the invoice.
Parallel: To check errors note
1. The number of items on the
daily report.

2. The number of errors discovered

when the lading copy and the file
copy are matched.

F] Delete Redundancies
Consensus of opinion
consensus
New innovations
innovations
Visible to the eye
visible
Surrounded on all sides
surrounded

G] Brevity in Phrases
For the purpose of
for
In the event that
if

In the near future

shortly/soon

H] Use Simple Words

Procure
Fundamental
Transmit
Utilize

get
basic
send
use

Exceptions:
Use a long word if it is the only word
that expresses your meaning exactly.
Use a long word or phrase if it is more
familiar than a short word.
Use a long word if its connotations are
more appropriate.
Use a long word if the discourse
community prefers it.

I] Getting Rid of Business

Jargon
Weak: Enclosed please find
Enclosed is, here is
Weak: Persuant to
According to
Weak: As per your request
As you requested
Hereto, herewith
OMIT
Please be advised/informed
OMIT
Trusting, this is satisfactory, we remain
OMIT