View source for Guide to Good Business Communications 5e by Bennie

[[Guide to Good Business Communications 5e by Bennie]] is the 5th edition of the ''Guide to Good Business Communications: How to Write and Speak English Well in Every Business Situation'' book authored by Michael Bennie and published by How To Content, A division of How To Books Ltd, Oxford, United Kingdom in 2009.

*[[Adjective]]. A word that qualifies a noun, e.g. little, brown, round.
*[[Adverb]]. A word that qualifies a verb, adjective, preposition or other adverb, e.g. well, clearly, very.
*[[AIDA]]. A formula for remembering the order in which an advertisement or sales letter should be written. Stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
*[[Ampersand]]. The symbol & an abbreviation for 'and'.
*[[Appendix]]. A section of a report or book that usually gives full details of matters not discussed in detail in the main part.
*[[Bar chart]]. A method of presenting figures visually. Particularly useful for comparing two or more sets of figures at a particular time.
*[[Bcc]]. Typed only on copies of a document to indicate that a copy is being sent to the person named – a 'blind copy'. Used instead of 'cc' when you do not want the document's addressee to know that you are sending a copy to a third party.
*[[Cc]]. Typed on a document to indicate that a copy is being sent to the person named.
*[[Charting]]. A method of writing an outline for a document, involving making a chart of ideas you want to express.
*[[Circumlocution]]. A phrase or clause that uses more words than are necessary to express an idea.
*[[Clause]]. A group of words within a sentence that has a subject and a predicate.
*[[Cliché]]. An expression that has been used so often that it has become hackneyed.
*[[Colloquialism]]. An expression that is common in speech but is not acceptable in written English.
*[[Complex sentence]]. A sentence that contains a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
*[[Complimentary close]]. The ending of a letter. Usually 'Yours sincerely' or 'Yours faithfully' in business correspondence.
*[[Compound sentence]]. A sentence that contains two or more clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.
*[[Compound complex sentence]]. A sentence that contains two or more main clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.
*[[Conjunction]]. A word that links two words, phrases or clauses, e.g. and, but, however.
*[[Co-ordinating conjunction]]. A conjunction that joins two clauses of equal weight.
*[[Deduction]]. A method of reasoning from one premise to another to reach a conclusion.
*[[Edit]]. To check a piece of writing for spelling, grammatical and stylistic errors.
*[[Emotional buying trigger]]. An appeal to an emotion or instinct in selling or advertising.
*[[Enc]]. Typed at the bottom of a letter to indicate that something is enclosed.
*[[Four Ps]]. A formula for remembering how to write a sales letter. Stands for Promise, Picture, Proof, Push.
*[[Freewriting]]. A method of writing an outline for a document, involving writing freely as ideas occur to you.
*[[Fyi]]. For your information. Typed on copies of correspondence sent to third parties to indicate that no action is expected from them.
*[[Graph]]. A method of presenting figures visually. Particularly useful to show a trend over time.
*[[Hanging participle]]. A participle that introduces an adjectival phrase with no noun to qualify.
*[[Indexing]]. A method of standardising the presentation of figures so that different fields can be compared. Usually involves giving the figures for Year 1 a value of 100, and relating subsequent years' figures to that.
*[[Induction]]. A method of reaching a conclusion from one's own experience or observation rather than by reasoning from one premise to another.
*[[Inside address]]. The name and address of the person to whom you are writing, which appear at the top of a letter.
*[[Jargon]]. Language that is specific to a particular group or profession.
*[[Listing]]. A method of writing an outline for a document, involving listing the points you want to make.
*[[Minutes]]. A formal record of discussions and decisions at a meeting.
*[[Noun]]. A word that is used to name a person, place or thing, e.g. letter, Harriet Cornish, London.
*[[Object]]. The person or thing that has the action of the verb done to it. Must be a noun or a pronoun.
*[[Parentheses]]. Another word for round brackets.
*[[Phrase]]. A group of words within a sentence that does not have a subject and a predicate.
*[[Pie chart]]. A method of showing figures visually. Particularly useful for showing the segmentation of a total figure.
*[[Pp]]. Typed or written by a signature, when the signatory is signing a letter on behalf of someone else.
*[[Predicate]]. The part of a sentence that describes what the subject did or was. Must contain a verb.
*[[Preposition]]. A word that describes the relationship of one person or thing to another, e.g. by, from, for.
*[[Pronoun]]. A word used instead of a noun, e.g. she, him, your.
*[[Salutation]]. The opening of a letter. Usually begins 'Dear ...'
*[[Sentence]]. A group of words complete in itself. Must contain a subject and a predicate.
*[[Simple sentence]]. A sentence containing only one clause.
*[[Subject]]. The person or thing a sentence is about. Must be either a noun or a pronoun.
*[[Subordinate clause]]. A clause that is dependent on the rest of the sentence for its meaning or relevance.
*[[Subordinating conjunction]]. A conjunction that joins a subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence.
*[[Tautology]]. Saying the same thing twice in different words.
*[[Topic sentence]]. A sentence that indicates the topic of a paragraph.
*[[Unique selling proposition]]. Something that makes a product or service unique.
*[[Vague qualifier]]. An imprecise adjective or adverb that adds nothing to the reader's understanding.
*[[Verb]]. A word that describes what is done by or what happens to the subject of a sentence, e.g. agree, have written, will decide.

[[Category: Reference Books]]