Answer to Question 1
Editing a document to follow the six Cs of communication ensures that your message is
straightforward and uses the you-attitude. The six Cs are:
Clear: Business communications are written to get actionnot to entertain or increase the
vocabulary of the reader. Good business writers use simple words and proper English. They
also make every effort to avoid clichs. Using transitional words and phrases contributes to
clarity.
Complete: A complete message includes all necessary information. Because the writer is so
familiar with the message, omitted details are not always obvious to the writer.
Concise: Needless repetition of words decreases the effectiveness of your message because
the reader must wade through a lot of words to get just a little information. To make your
writing concise, include only necessary words and avoid repeating the same words several
times in a message.
Consistent: Business messages should be consistent in fact, treatment, and sequence. A
message is consistent in fact if it does not contradict itself, an established fact, or a source
document. Treating similar items the same way results in consistency in treatment.
Correct: Accuracy in content, typing, and mechanics (capitalization, grammar, spelling,
punctuation, and so on) makes the message more effective.
Courteous: Courtesy means that the document is pleasing to the eye, reader-centered, and
positive.
Answer to Question 2
Proofreading one's own writing is considered more difficult than proofreading the work of
others for two reasons. First, writers may tend to be overconfident, believing that they
corrected all errors during keyboarding process. Second, writers may be overly familiar with
the document, which may cause them to read what they intended to type instead of reading
what they actually typed.
