CPA Foundation Level
Communication Skills cheat sheet
Every chapter's key points, formulas and definitions on one page, for the last week before the exam. Each heading links to the chapter that explains it.
Introduction to communication
- Communication is the process of transmitting information, ideas and meaning from one party to another so that it is understood as intended.
- Its eight elements are sender, message, encoding, channel, receiver, decoding, feedback and noise, and they operate as a cycle rather than a straight line.
- Feedback is the element that turns one-way transmission into communication, because without it the sender cannot tell whether the message was understood.
- An effective message follows seven principles: clarity, conciseness, completeness, correctness, courtesy, consideration and concreteness.
- Barriers fall into five categories: physical, language, psychological, organisational and cultural.
Key terms
- Sender
- The party originating the message.
- Message
- The information being conveyed.
- Encoding
- Converting the intended meaning into words, symbols or gestures.
- Channel
- The medium the message travels through (spoken, written, visual).
- Receiver
- The party the message is intended for.
- Decoding
- The receiver interpreting the message.
- Feedback
- The receiver's response, confirming (or failing to confirm) understanding.
- Noise
- Anything that distorts the message between sender and receiver.
- Physical barriers
- Noise, distance, faulty equipment.
- Language barriers
- Jargon, vocabulary mismatch, translation loss.
- Psychological barriers
- Stress, prejudice, poor listening habits.
- Organisational barriers
- Rigid hierarchy, information overload, unclear authority.
- Cultural barriers
- Differing norms, assumptions and non-verbal cues across cultures.
The rest of the sheet covers
- Types of communication
- Oral communication
- Non-verbal communication
- Public speaking and presentation
- Group and team communication
- Writing skills
- Report and proposal writing
- Information technology and communication
- Ethics in communication
- Exam technique and revision
- Glossary