Key Terms Business Communication

Key terms

Chapter 1
Abstract word: a word that identifies an idea or feeling as opposed to a concrete object
Audience: the person or persons with whom you are communicating.
Communication: the process of sending and receiving messages.
Concrete word: a word that identifies something the senses can perceive.
Connotation: the subjective or emotional feeling associated with a word.
Denotation: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.
E-mail: a message transmitted electronically over a computer network most often connected by cable, telephone lines, or satellites.
Euphemism: an inoffensive expression used in place of an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.
Feedback: the receiver`s reaction or response to a message.
Filter: The mental process of perceiving stimuli based on one`s knowledge, experience, and viewpoints.
Formal communication network: the transmission of prescribed information through downward, upward, horizontal and cross-channel routes.
Informal communication network: the transmission of information through nonofficial channels within the organization, also called the grapevine.
Jargon: the technical terminology used within specialized groups.
Letter: a written message mailed to someone outside the organization.
Medium: the form of a message – for example, a memo, or telephone call.
Memo: a written message sent to someone within the organization.
Message: the information (either verbal or nonverbal) that is communicated.
Noise: environmental or competing elements that distract one`s attention during communication.
Nonverbal message: a nonwritten and nonspoken signal consisting of facial expressions, gestures, voice qualities, and the like.
Report: an orderly and objective presentation of information that assist in decision making and problem solving.
Slang: an expression, often short-lived, that identifies with a specific group people.
Stimulus: an event that creates within an individual the need to communicate.
Verbal message: a message comprising spoken or written words.
Website: the location of one or more pages of related information that is posted on the World Wide Web and is accessed via the Internet.

Chapter 2
Groupthink: is a barrier to communication that results from an overemphasis on group cohesiveness, which stifles opposing ideas and the free flow of information.
Ethnocentrism: The belief that one`s own cultural group is superior
Ethics: Rules of conduct
Team: a group of individuals who depend on one another to accomplish a common objective.
Chapter 3
Agenda: an ordered list of topics to be considered at a meeting, along with the name of the person responsible for each topic.
Minutes: an official record of the proceedings of a meeting that summarizes what was discussed and what decisions were made.
Parliamentary procedure: written rules of order that permit the efficient transaction of business in meetings.
Chapter 4
Audience analysis: identification of the needs, interest, and personality of the receiver of a communication.
Brainstorming: jotting down ideas, facts, possible leads, and anything else that might be helpful in constructing a message.
Drafting: composing a preliminary version of a message.
Editing: the stage of revision that ensures that writing conforms to standard English.
Free writing: writing continuously for 5 to 10 minutes without stopping as a means of generating a large quantity of material that will be revised later.
Mind mapping: generating ideas for message content by first writing the purpose of the message in the center of a page and circling it and then writing possible points to include, linking each one to either the purpose or to another point; also called clustering.
Organization: the sequence in which a topics are presented in a message
Revising: the process of modifying the content and style of a draft go increase its effectiveness.
Writer`s block: the inability to focus one`s attention on the writing process and to draft a message.

Chapter 5
Active voice: the sentence form in which the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.
Cliché: an expression that has become monotonous through overuse.
Complex sentence: a sentence that has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
Compound sentence: a sentence that has two or more independent clauses.
Dangling expression: any part of a sentence that does not logically connect to the rest of the sentence.
Expletive: an expression such as there is or it has been that begins a clause for which pronoun has no antecedent.(förgående)
Mechanics: Those elements I communication
Nondiscriminatory language: language that treats everyone equally, making no unwarranted assumptions about any group of people.
Parallelism: using similar grammatical structure to express similar ideas.
Passive voice: the sentence form in which the subject receives the action expressed by the verb.
Platitude: a trite, obvious statement.
Receiver benefits: the advantage a reader would derive from granting the writer`s request of from accepting the writer`s decision.
Redundancy: the unnecessary repetition of an idea that has already been expressed or intimated.
Simple sentence: a sentence that has one independent clause.
Style: the manner in which an idea is expressed.
Tone: the writer`s attitude toward the reader and the subject of the message.
“You” attitude: a viewpoint that emphasizes what the reader wants to know and how the reader will be affected by the message.

Chapter 6
Adjustment letter: a letter written to inform a customer of the action taken in response to the customer`s claim letter.
Claim letter: a letter from the buyer to the seller, seeking some type of action to correct a problem with the seller’s product or service.
Direct organizational plan: a plan which the major purpose of the message is communicate first, followed by any needed explanation.
Form letter: a letter with standardized wording that is sent to different people.
Goodwill messages: a message that is sent strictly out of a sense of kindness and friendliness.
Indirect organizational plan: a plan which the reasons or rationales are presented first, followed by the major idea.
Resale: information that reestablishes a customer`s confidence in the product purchased or in the company that sold the product.

Chapter 7
Central selling theme: the major reader benefit that is introduced early and emphasized throughout a sale letter.
Derived benefit: the benefit a potential customer would receive from using a product or service.
Rhetorical question: a question asked strictly to get the reader thinking about the topic; a literal answer is not expected.
Chapter 8
Buffer: a neutral and supportive opening statement designed to lessen the impact of negative news.
Chapter 10
Conclusion: the answer to the research questions raised in the introduction to a report.
Direct quotation: the exact word of another.
Documentation: giving credit to another person for his or her words or ideas that you have used.
Executive summary: a condensed version of the report body; also called an abstract or synopsis.
Generic heading: a report heading that identifies only the topic of a section without givinh the conclusion.
Paraphrase: a summary or restatement of a passage in one`s own words.
Plagiarism: using another person`s words or ideas without giving proper credit.
Talking heading: a report heading that identifies not only the topic of the report section but also the major conclusion.
Transmittal document: a letter or memorandum that conveys the finished report to the reader.