Communication skills are very important both in personal and professional lives. One has to know to convey thoughts and opinions honestly and respectfully.
Communicating truth is the toughest thing as it may have positive or negative outcomes depending on how the receiver is taking it. Candid and Candor are the two important characteristics of communication.
Key Takeaways
- Candor is the quality of being open and honest in communication, while candid refers to a person or statement that is straightforward and truthful.
- Candor is a noun, whereas candid is an adjective.
- Both terms emphasize the importance of honesty and transparency in personal and professional interactions.
Candor vs Candid
Candor refers to the quality of being sincere and straightforward in speech or action without hiding anything or being deceitful. Candid implies a more informal, unguarded, and sometimes even blunt manner of expressing oneself without sugar-coating or concealing one’s thoughts or feelings.
Candor is honesty communicated by the behaviour and personality of a human. Candor is to communicate the whole truth as it is without thinking about how the receiver takes it.
Candor’s communication is good, but it also makes people uncomfortable. Candor communication increases trust within the organization and helps to explore different ideas.
Candid is frankness communicated in the expressions. Candid communication is communicating the truth to help others without hurting them. It is very important to communicate candidly to resolve issues and improve performance.
Candid communication helps the receiver understand where they are wrong by unmasking the truth. It is also practised in organizations to improve team performance.
Comparison Table
| Parameters Of Comparison | Candor | Candid |
| Definition | Candor means to be honest. | Candid also means to be frank. |
| Parts of Speech | Noun | Adjective |
| Derived from | Latin word Candere means pure and white | Latin word Candidus means pure and white |
| Result | It allows others to communicate in the same way clearly without any fear. | It allows others to respond candidly. |
| Type of communication | It requires a person to prepare for candour communication. | It is spontaneous and unprepared communication. |
What is Candor?
Communication is the way to express opinions and share knowledge with others. However, when communicating, people try to be nice to others, which stops them from conveying the tough truth.
It is the fear of embarrassment, the isolation that stops people from speaking the truth.
Being nice does not always have good results in the end, and being frank does not always have bad results. Trust is the factor that fills the gap between the good and bad in communication.
Candor is one of the characteristics of Verbal and written communication, where people speak with honesty and frankness about the situation.
Candor communication is very important in organizations, educational institutes, and other fields to reveal the truth to benefit others.
Leaders with candor communication will communicate clearly about the missions and company goals with employees and encourage them to be honest in their feedback.
Candor communication requires research and preparation to convey the message without hurting the receiver’s feelings. Candor communication helps leaders to communicate clearly.
To communicate with candor, one has to be patient and listen to others’ points of view. When not prepared for communication, candor will have negative consequences and lead to conflicts.
What is Candid?
Candid communication is another characteristic of effective communication skills that has the same meaning as candor. A Candid is an adjective used in communication to express opinions frankly.
It is an unprepared communication where a person speaks spontaneously. Candid communication may have negative results if the speaker is unable to speak properly.
Candid is used to express honesty and frankness in communication. It means honesty is seen in words and the person. It is used to measure the candor of a person.
Candor and candidness are used interchangeably. Even though candid means the same, it is grammatically wrong to use it in place of candor.
Candid communication does have biases and prejudice. It is spontaneous and makes listeners uncomfortable. Candid communication may also harm the reputation of the listener.
The sender and receiver of the information need to understand each other’s perspectives. The communicator has to use words or convey the bitter truth in such a way that it helps the listener to improve and not to degrade.
In business organizations, leaders must initiate Candid communication to eliminate the fear of conflict among employees. They need to reward the employees who communicate candidly.
Candidness increases idea generation in the workplace and also speeds up performance. It helps people and organizations to become great from the good.
Main Differences Between Candor and Candid
- Candor is a noun form in a sentence, and Candid is an adjective in a sentence.
- Candor communication is straightforward and polite, while Candid communication may be rude if there is no trust relationship among the communicators.
- Candor communication is prepared communication, while candid is spontaneous unprepared communication.
- Candor is derived from the Latin word Candere, and Candid is from Candidus.
- Candid communication makes listeners uncomfortable, but not candor.
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00909880600769944
- https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Candor/1GQEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=candor&printsec=frontcover
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
