The 7 Cs of Communication (and Why I Wish They Were Non-Negotiable)

I recently saw the 7 Cs of communication shared on LinkedIn in this great post, and it reminded me how much I wish these communication commandments were non-negotiable. Imagine what an easy life we'd have if they were followed by our colleagues, our friends, our partners, and the strangers we encounter. 

Image description: AI-generated image of a colourful onboarding pack with a tote bage and notebook printed with the 7 Cs of communication.

The 7 Cs of communication

The 7 Cs of communication are:

• Clear. 

• Concise. 

• Concrete. 

• Correct. 

• Coherent. 

• Complete. 

• Courteous.

Envisioning the 7 Cs as a strategy

Are the 7 Cs a checklist, a framework or a strategy? Personally, I think they can fit in everywhere and are a helpful framework in strategic organisational goal-setting and vision-building.

An organisation with a clear mission and vision? Yes, please. 

An organisation that communicates clearly, concisely, concretely, correctly, coherently, with complete information and in a courteous manner? Sign me up.

That sounds like the kind of place anyone would want to work — or partner with.

Embedded into a strategy, the 7 Cs can then be repurposed as a practical checklist to operationalise that strategy.

Instead of printing organisational logos on notebooks and tote bags, imagine printing the 7 Cs. Imagine they were part of onboarding. Picture this: on your first day, you’re handed your office key and a “strategically branded” notebook and tote. Imagine they hung as A0 posters in meeting rooms. Imagine no meeting invite could be sent without conformity to the checklist — or you had the autonomy to decline in its absence.

When I look back over almost 20 years (gasp!) of working in communications — writing strategies, setting guidelines, editing articles, reviewing job descriptions, responding to internal drafts, navigating change communication — most of the recurring issues I deal with sit inside these seven words.

They show up across roles and levels, from leadership communication to everyday out-of-office emails, not because people don’t care, but because the basics are easy to forget or skip when work is busy and attention is stretched.

Clear

When communication isn’t clear, the effort shifts immediately to the person receiving it. Someone has to follow up, interpret, guess, or wait.

That happens with something as small as an out-of-office message that doesn’t say when someone will return, and with something as significant as a leadership announcement that doesn’t explain what changes in practice. In both cases, uncertainty spreads and time is lost.

Concise

Being concise means getting the point quickly and clearly. A lack of it is often where attention starts to drop. TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) springs to mind.

When we’re bombarded by emails and requests every day, we scan, prioritise, and decide quickly what deserves our focus. When the point of a message is buried in text, vague terminology, or meaningless jargon, the ask gets missed.

I see this often in job descriptions and calls for tenders or proposals. Of course the organisation, its values, mission, and strategy matter. But when they come first and the nuts and bolts of the role, responsibilities, and submission deadline appear much further down the page, readers can feel lost or overwhelmed.

A short summary at the beginning helps people decide whether to keep reading. A little conciseness up front goes a long way.

The same pattern appears in internal emails about change, new tasks, or decisions. Context leads, explanation follows, and the point arrives late. By the time readers reach it — if it’s there at all — they’ve already moved on.

Concise communication requires judgement: decide what matters most and put it where people expect to find it. Ironically, this section on conciseness is my longest section, but it's an important one for me!

Correct

Correct communication is about credibility, trust, and accountability.

It starts with basic checks: spelling, grammar, names, dates, figures, quotes, links, etc. These details matter because they signal attention to detail and care. When they’re wrong, readers may not only question the mistake but the reliability and trusthworthiness of the author or organisation behind it

Correct also means following agreed guidelines and policies. Using the right templates. The right logo. The right terminology. The latest version of a document. Checking consent, attribution, and permissions before publishing. These aren’t admin details or only a job for the comms department; they’re part of everyday professional responsibility.

This matters even more in the age of AI-generated content. Tools can draft text or visuals quickly, but they don’t check facts, apply organisational standards, or assess legal and ethical risk. That responsibility sits entirely with the person who publishes. Everything you put out — whether written by you, supported by AI, or adapted from elsewhere — represents you, your team, and your organisation. If something is inaccurate, misleading, non-compliant, or careless, “it was auto-generated” won't be an acceptable excuse.

Correct communication builds trust and in a world where content is easy to produce, credibility comes from taking the time to check.

Concrete

Concrete communication is where clarity turns into action. Concrete means naming what happened, who it affects, and what changes as a result. It means dates, owners, and decisions stated plainly.

I often see the absence of this in project communication. We describe activities, phases, and frameworks in detail, but delay the part people are actually looking for: what changed. For whom. Why it mattered. By the time you reach that part, if you even thought to include it, many people have already stopped reading or worse, unsubscribing.

This comes up again when I receive articles to proofread. If the opening paragraph doesn’t tell me what the piece is about, who it’s for, where it’s happening, why it matters, and how, I can’t properly assess what follows. I don’t know what level it should be pitched at, what’s essential, or what can be cut. The thinking hasn’t been done yet, so it lands on the reader.

Coherence & completeness

That’s where coherence and completeness come in. 

Coherence is about how ideas connect and flow. Completeness is about whether the reader has enough information to understand and act. When either is missing, confusion is likely to show up later in follow-up questions, misalignment, duplicated work, or parallel interpretations of the same message.

Courteous

Courtesy is often talked about in terms of tone, but it also shows up in behaviour.

Saying please and thank you. Responding to questions people have taken the time to ask. Replying within a reasonable timeframe. Letting someone know you’ve seen their message, even if you can’t act on it yet. Saying no rather than saying nothing at all.

Courtesy also keeps people oriented. Letting them know when something is still in development. Being clear about whether input is needed. Saying explicitly whether something is for information, consultation, or action.

There’s nothing worse than being left guessing — wondering whether you’ve been excluded, overlooked, or quietly taken advantage of. That feeling rarely comes from bad intent. It comes from silence. And often, it links back to gaps in completeness.

Courtesy is where communication, internal culture, and leadership meet. Clear, timely, orienting communication signals respect. It tells people their time matters and that their engagement is valued.

This is why I’m always hammering on about Brené Brown’s line that clarity is kindness. Clarity is a standard. It requires doing the work upfront instead of passing it on.

A shared responsibility

The 7 Cs of communication are commonly attributed to Scott M. Cutlip and colleagues, originating in public relations and management communication literature. The way I’m using the 7 Cs here reflects my own interpretation, shaped by years of working in communications. It’s not a formal or original definition of the framework, but a practical lens on how I see these principles show up in everyday work. What I appreciate about the 7 Cs is that they apply everywhere.

Leadership communication doesn’t get a pass. Strategy documents don’t get a pass. Neither do everyday emails, task requests, articles, job descriptions, or project updates.

Good communication isn’t a comms-team responsibility alone. It’s an organisational skill. It shapes trust, determines how decisions land, and affects how people experience their work.

The 7 Cs don’t demand perfection or brilliance. They demand critical thinking and care.

That’s why I was genuinely pleased to see them resurface on LinkedIn recently. They belong in everyday conversations and reminders. Maybe this year I’ll move from ChatGPT mock-ups to actually putting them on posters and walls — a prompt to pause before we send, publish, or present something and ask whether it’s usable for the person receiving it.

Notes: I orginally posted this article on LinkedIn on 4 January 2026. I used ChatGPT as an editing and proofreading aid for this piece. The ideas, structure, and interpretation are my own.