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Firstly, being clear helps to convey the message easily. This allows the audience to quickly decipher and understand the points brought up by the writer. Secondly, when the writing is concise, the points are more straightforward. There is no beating around the bush since the unnecessary parts are removed. Thirdly, to be concrete is to be specific. Showing evidence and examples can help to back up whatever points that were
brought up. Next, the writing has to be correct. Double-checking the spelling, grammar, punctuation and format will make the writing more professional and easier to read. After which, there is coherence, whereby the writer ensures the writing is smooth flowing so that there are no breakages in ideas or points. Furthermore, the writer has to include all information and points. This can be for the format or the writing as a whole. This is to make the piece complete. Lastly, be courteous at all times. Have a positive attitude to the reader and make sure they are respected.
By incorporating the 7 Cs, we can enhance the quality of our writings. This is especially important in the case of official letters or e-mails. In order to be respected as a writer, the e-mail or letter has to be of proper format and have a high level of professionalism to it. This way, the points brought up will be taken seriously by the reader.
However, there are times when we can skip the use of the 7 Cs. One of which is when writing to a close friend or relative. These letters or e-mails generally do not follow a fixed format. If it does, it may appear to be distant, which will then defeat the purpose.
On a personal note, I feel that my writing has deteriorated since junior college. It basically came down to rustiness. After the A Levels, I have not been writing any formal letters or e-mails. Hence, not being able to practise the format and the application of the 7 C's. That is where CG1413 comes in!
What I really took home from the first formal tutorial of CG1413 was this following quote by my classmate - "The reader is not a mind-reader". It makes a lot of sense and I will definitely keep it in mind while doing my future writings.
January 27, 2010 at 2:08 AM
Hi Xian Qin,
Your post explains the seven Cs of communication clearly and effectively. I liked the point you made about our writing getting rusty after leaving JC. Though I didn’t serve NS, it has still been a good year since I last wrote an essay, letter or any other piece of formal/organized writing (the CG1413 blog doesn’t count). I guess the main purpose of this course is not only to bring back the old, buried writing skills, but to also add on to them by improving our communications skills in general, including our writing.
One of the problems, related to what you mentioned in your post, is distinguishing between a formal and informal situation, especially when our immediate superiors are also friends. Other than that though, I felt your post focused a little too much on the 7Cs. What are your opinions about the other things we learnt so far? Perhaps you could include some personal examples – that would help a lot. Perhaps an example of how a lack of knowledge of the 7Cs affected you personally, or academically? This was a good read nonetheless.
Cheers,
Abhinav
January 27, 2010 at 2:16 AM
Hi Qinxian,
After reading through your post, I get the feeling you really fancy those 7Cs! I can still remember Mr James pointing out that while you presented in class last week, you ‘encroached’ into another group’s territory by talking about the 7Cs... Now you’re even talking about them in your blog post...
To be honest, I’m quite intrigued by the 7Cs as well. In the past whenever I had to type emails or write certain essays what I did was just writing down whatever was in my head. Of course, my essays never scored well, and my emails never really delivered my message the way I wanted it to.
I remembered while doing some administrative work in army, I had to email to some helpdesk regarding a certain glitch in a system used for recording results. As I did not apply the 7Cs correctly, what resulted was the exchange of emails for a period of 3 days before the helpdesk could finally understand the problem and help me get my job done. Well, although the speed of the recipient’s reply also attributed to the overall ‘draggyness’ of the process, (we all know how fast the army works...), part of the problem lies in myself for being unable to clearly and concisely portray the problem.
Great post by the way,
Cheers
Zhen Yong
January 27, 2010 at 6:03 AM
Hi Qinxian,
After having read your post, I now feel the importance of 7c’s which I have been neglecting for all these years. I agree with you that when we write an official letter, we have to stick to the point and be concise and clear and most importantly we have to check if there are any grammatical errors,etc as occurrence of it might give a bad impression on the reader which is not good.So I feel that out of the 7c's, to make sure if our letter or email is complete is most important.
I personally feel that even If you are writing letters or emails to your friends or relatives, you must still use the 7c’s as by practicing it, you will make sure that whenever you write a letter, email, etc in future you never forget to use it. The 7c’s are important for effective communication and effective communication itself plays a vital role for a team to achieve its goal. As teamwork is essential for competing in today’s global arena, for the team work to be effective, members in team must effectively communicate so as to express their plans, share their ideas and understand each other viewpoints clearly.
Reading your post was a pleasure to me as it gave me a recap on the 7c’s and it would have been nice if you had stressed on teamwork as well.
Regards,
Santhosh
January 27, 2010 at 7:40 AM
Hi Qinxian,
Seeing you interacting in the class and now reading your post I feel that you have been really fascinated by the 7 C’s. So am I. like you, even I feel that it is really important for one to incorporate the 7 C’s into one’s writing as it gives it a professional touch. Though I haven’t been able to write an article which truly incorporates the 7 C’s I do feel that the articles which do incorporate are a pleasure to read and leave a lasting impression on the minds of the reader.
Even I went to the similar dilemma like you did; of not having written and formal letters and essays since I got over with my class 12th exams (equivalent to your JC’s). Hence, I started assuming that writing and class participation is not what I want. But this is where the importance of CG1413 lies; to develop the writer in us and to instill confidence in us so that we learn to communicate effectively and not get scared of working in teams .
Overall I really like the way u have framed your post as it not only comprehensively explains the importance of the 7 C’s but also argues us to use them also.
Regards,
Saurabh Arora
January 27, 2010 at 4:48 PM
Hi Qinxian,
First and foremost, I greatly appreciate it that what I highlighted during my presentation about proposals created a lasting impression to you. Thank you very much!
Secondly, I agree that one’s way of writing creates a strong impression to the reader. Just as discussed previously in our CG1413 class where one overlooks errors in writing, the receiver will think negatively about the writer. In a professional context, even more with a non-e-mail-based text, it can hurt one’s reputation badly when similar situations happen. An example of an underlying meaning could suggest that the writer is not taking the reader seriously.
On another note, I do not totally agree that we do not have to follow the 7C’s when writing to our close friends and relatives. While it is true that a formally structured letter will make the relationship appear
distant, the 7 C’s doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to write in such a particular manner. The tone can be informal, but with the 7 C’s as a tool, we can minimize misunderstandings. Plus, we get to practice effective communication skills with them. They wouldn’t really mind when we commit mistakes here and there, right?
I believe that you will be able to regain your writing skills and even become better at it. In my opinion, your first blog post is not rusty at all.
Keep it up!
Regards,
Paul
January 28, 2010 at 3:13 AM
Hello Qin xian, I agree with you that using 7Cs can really enhance our standard of writing and gains respect from the readers. The 7Cs are essential especially when we are used to typing messages in short forms and typing them wrongly since we know our ‘informal’ reader understands. This culture of using wrong English should not be applied as professional engineers as it affects our reputations. Hence, I think that it is true that we should always keep the 7Cs in mind.
Regarding the point of skipping the use of 7Cs when writing to close friends, I think we should still preserve some of the 7Cs such as correctness as we should not take for granted that close relatives would not misunderstand us. Also, we can keep our writing as grammatically correct as possible so that we do not have to do as many grammar checks in professional writings. Also, I believe that using some 7Cs would not upset close relationships if you let them know the reasons beforehand.
Lastly, I think you have kept your writing error-free and clear as far as I am concerned and even though you think your writing has deteriorated, I think it is quite a good piece of work.