A

Agenda: An outline of discussion points for a business meeting. Appendices: A presentation of supplementary materials, including graphics, at the end of a document. Argumentation: A form of rhetoric in which you use logic and emotion to defend a course of action. Assimilation: Merging from one culture into another; taking on the behaviors and values of the new culture. Authorization message: A part of the prefatory material to a formal report that provides a copy of the official authorization from an official in the organization for the report project.

B
Borders: Frames for graphics that distinguish them from surrounding text. Brainstorming: Jotting down ideas as they come to mind. Buffer: A neutral beginning to a letter or memo in which the news is negative or questionable in nature. Businessese: Jargon peculiar to the world of business, the language used within a business organization.

C
Caption: Identifying label for a graphic used in a written presentation or report. Clip art: Ready-made images you can choose from your software program to include in your document. Clustering: A technique of creating a visual diagram linking your ideas together. Also called mapping. Collegiality: Working cooperatively with colleagues within your business organization. Colloquial style: A writing style that imitates the conversational style of your work environment. Connotation: Implied meaning of a word. Courtesy title: A respectful form of address, such as Mr., Ms., Dr., Your Honor. Credibility: Earning the trust of the audience with good faith and knowledge of the business matter. Cross-hatching: A background in a graphic that causes information to stand out for the reader. Cultural diversity: The celebration of the virtues of the customs of all cultures. Culture: A group with a shared set of values. Customs: The preferred ways of doing things in a given culture.

D
Debate: A contest in which each side presents an argument. Degrees of headings: A way to organize headings and subheadings, according to degree of importance, for example, first degree for most important, second for next most important, and so on. Denotation: Literal, dictionary meaning of a word. Design: The plan for physical appearance that you create for a written document. Diction: The words we choose to express an idea appropriately to an audience. Direct order: An organizational plan in which you state the main business first, then follow with support. Direct plan: An organizational pattern for communication, which begins with the main purpose. Directional communication: In internal communication that refers to the audience within your organization. Upward communication is to higher levels than your own; lateral is to your own level; downward is to lower levels. Discourse community: A group of people with common expectations for topics, channels, formats, and style in business communication. Diversity: Acknowledgement and acceptance of people of all ages, gender, physical and mental abilities, and sexual orientation as well as those of all cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds. Documentation: A systematic method of giving credit to sources of information through the use of notes and a bibliographic listing of sources. Drafting: Composing multiple versions of a message before completing the final written communication.

E
Empathy: The quality of putting yourself in the place of another person, of sympathizing with that person's feelings. Ethnocentrism: The belief that one's culture is superior to all others. Etiquette: Rules for dealing courteously with people in oral and written communication. Euphemism: A word or phrase that seeks to soften the impact of bad news or unpleasant information. Executive summary: Sometimes called an abstract, it is a brief overview of the contents of the report, presented in condensed form. Extemporaneous presentation: A delivery method for formal presentation in which you talk directly to your audience based on your knowledge of the topic. External audience: A group that exists outside the communicator's organization.

Extranet: A web site designed for both internal and external use in an organization. Extraversion: An outer-directed personality type.

F
Feasibility reports: Reports designed to determine whether a proposed solution is practical for a company to adopt. Figures: Graphics that present information in pictorial format. Flextime: An alternative to traditional 9:00-5:00 work days, which allows employees choices in how to work their required hours. Formal style: An elevated style of writing, using multisyllabic words, internal punctuation, and long sentences, sometimes called the "literary" style. Free write: A technique of jotting down thoughts as they come to mind as a means of getting past writer's block.

G
Gatekeeper: The official in an organization who has the authority to stop or to send forward your communication. Globalization: International character of business today. Grammar: The rules that govern how writers express meaning in a given language. Grapevine: An informal information network within organizations. Gunning Fog Index: Statistical measure of a level of education needed to read a written document.

H
High context culture: A culture that relies heavily on context for meaning, believing in the value of indirect-nonverbal communication.

I
Icon: A symbol that represents a feeling, such as a smiley face. Indirect approach: An organizational plan in which the main message is embedded in the middle of the written communication. Indirect order: An organizational plan in which you defer the main business, building a logical case for accepting your argument. Indirect plan: An organizational pattern for communication that embeds the main purpose in the middle of the document. Informal style: A writing style appropriate to a college-educated audience. Intangible benefits: Indirect benefits that do not involve a tangible reward, such as a pay raise or promotion. Examples are a compliment, a thank you card, a small gift, or recognition at a public meeting. Internal audience: A group that exists within the communicator's organization.

Intranet: A web site designed for internal use only in an organization. Introversion: An inner-directed personality type. Invited proposal: A proposal to offer a service or product invited from a potential customer, or one assigned to you by a supervisor to gain authorization for a new idea.

K
KISS principle: "Keep it simple, stupid," the acronym that expresses the principle for the basic style of business writing.

L
Layout: The arrangement of text and graphics on a page. Letter: A formal communication format used for external audiences. Letter of transmittal: A cover letter that identifies an accompanying document and explains its function as when you call attention to an enclosed report. Limitations: A section of the introduction that explains problems encountered in completing the project. Linear pattern: A process in writing of moving step by step from beginning to end. Logic: Use of reason to support an argument. Low context culture: A culture that believes the context of a communication is less important than getting to the point through clear, written details.

M
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A systematic analysis of human motivations starting from the most basic and moving to the most abstract. Mean: In a statistical survey, the number derived from dividing the total of all figures by the number of samples. Mechanics: The commonly accepted conventions through which writers express themselves. Median: In a statistical survey, the number exactly in the middle of the results. Memo: A written communication format used for internal audiences. Mode: In a statistical survey, the number that occurs most often. Monochromic culture: A time-driven culture that operates on tightly scheduled plans. Myers-Briggs Test: A testing instrument for audience analysis that uses a questionnaire to determine personality types.

N
Non-verbal communication: Communicating through means other than words, such as gestures, facial expressions, body movements, signs, or

other means other than words.

O
Organizational culture: A group culture made up of the common values, attitudes, and philosophy, such as a business organization. Origin of the report: A section of the introduction of the formal report that reviews the background facts of the report project. Outsourcing: Contracting work outside of an organization to a country or business that can perform it at lower cost.

P
Paraphrase: A form of borrowing in which you put someone elses ideas in your own words. For such borrowing, you must give credit. Parliamentary procedure: A formal set of rules established for conducting meetings. Personal communication: A form of internal communication involving nonbusiness events, such as a wedding or birth announcement for an employee. Personalization: Adding a personal touch to a business communication through using the first name of the individual addressed. Persuasion: A form of rhetoric in which you as a writer or speaker seek to motivate your audience to take an action or you attempt to influence them to assume the position you take on a particular subject. Also known as argumentation. Pitch: The range of high and low sounds in speaking. Plain English Please: A movement to promote direct, easy-to-understand English in written communications in specialized fields, such as law and medicine. Polychromic culture: A culture not driven by time considerations, which operates on a leisurely, relaxed schedule. Positive emphasis: Communicating with an emphasis on the positive; avoiding negative wording. Preface: A section at the beginning that provides helpful information about the formal report to the reader, also called a foreword. Prefatory material: An introductory section for a formal report that serves to establish credibility for the text that follows. Prewriting: The planning stage in the process of writing. Primary research: Directly gathering information yourself, as in generating a survey to solicit responses. Proposal: A written document offering a possible solution to a problem that usually needs authorization from a supervisor or from the executive level. Prospecting proposal: Initiating a proposal without an invitation to present to a potential customer or to your supervisor.

R
Range: In a statistical survey, the difference between the highest number and the lowest number for any variable. Readability: The quality of being easy to read for the audience, based on choice of familiar words, short, direct sentences, and short paragraphs. Reader benefits: Business communication that uses a strategy of focusing on benefits to the reader as the main support for the message. Recursive pattern: A process in writing that involves circling back to previous steps instead of moving from beginning to end in a linear pattern. Refutation: "Turning back" objections to a persuasive plan through providing evidence to the contrary. Reselling: A technique of promoting your products and services as part of the goodwill closing. Rhetoric: The science of presenting arguments through oral or written communication.

S
Scope: A section of the introduction that sets the boundaries of what the report examines. Secondary research: As an investigator, you take information from a source already established. In this case, you must give credit to your source. Shouting: A jargon term used for overusing all capital letters for emphasis. Simplified letter format: A modernized form of the business letter, which omits the salutation and complimentary close. Slang: A writing style involving the "inside" jargon of a specialized audience, such as colleagues within a particular business; it is also a level of speaking that falls below standard usage of grammar and mechanics. Spin: A slang term referring to words and phrases that impose a certain interpretation on events, often presenting a negative as a positive. Style: The way in which a writer communicates; the personality that comes through in the writing. Subject line: In a memo, the line in the heading that announces the main business; in a simplified letter format, the subject line appears in place of the salutation. Subjective approach: In research, looking for a preconceived answer instead of letting the sources determine the answer. Syntax: The structure of sentences; the way in which a writer or speaker constructs thoughts in complete form.

T
Tables: Graphics that present information in tabular form in rows and columns. Tact: The quality of being considerate, of being sensitive to other people's

feelings. Testimonials: Endorsements of your product or service from experts in the field or from people with name recognition. Text messaging: Communicating through writing on-screen messages on cell phones. Title: Identifying label for a graphic used in an oral presentation. Title fly: A single page that begins the formal report and contains only the title of the report. Tone: The attitude of the writer as reflected in choice of words. Truncation: Shortening a scale by beginning with a number other than zero.

U
Universal language: A common language understandable to all parties.

V
Verbal communication: Communication using words, either spoken or written.

W
Watchdog audience: The individual or group that oversees the implementation of the terms of your approved business communication. Works cited: A list of sources used in a research project offering information on names, titles, dates, and places of publication. Writer's block: A psychological condition in which a writer cannot start the writing process.

Y
You-attitude: Using the second-person pronoun you as a reader-directed communication technique. You-orientation: Business communication that emphasizes the benefits to the reader through the use of the pronoun you.