Cognate Strategies sounds like a pretty difficult subject to understand, at first glance. However, it actually refers to methods used to promote understanding when addressing your message to the audience, in written or spoken form. In business communication, having your audience understand your message is vital to success. The strategies that are being focused on are: Clarity, Conciseness, Credibility, Tone and Reference.

Clarity is a big part of communication as it enforces understanding within the message. In other words, it allows for communication to flow naturally, and be understood easily. Without clarity, an audience may be thinking about something you said (such as a word, that they aren't familiar with), rather than thinking about what your message is about. In the past, I have used clarity to help describe a problem to a customer, rather than using difficult “trade terms” for them. Here's an example: “Look at the back of your TV, and you will see three cables. They are red, yellow and white colored.” That sentence is much easier to understand than “Look at the input …show more content…
In vocal messages, our tone can change the way our audience perceives a message. The audience can hear the senders emotions and expressions through the sounds of their voice, and can use that for deciding on positive or negative feedback. However, tone functions a bit differently in written communication. In writing, there is no voice, so it's important to accurate express your emotions by describing your emotions. I have used tones before in written communication when dealing with a tech support company. Here's an example: “As you can realize, I am quite upset about this purchase. The item was received dead on arrival, and is damaged to the point that it cannot be used. I used to have a lot of faith in your company before this, however, I'm starting to feel differently abut that faith. Is there anything you can do about