Business and Administrative Communication 11e by Locker, Kienzler

Business and Administrative Communication by Locker and Kienzler (11th edition) is the 11th edition of the textbook authored by Kitty O. Locker, The Ohio State University, and Donna Kienzler, Iowa State University, and published by McGraw-Hill Education, New York in 2015.

• Abstract. A summary of a report, specifying the recommendations and the reasons for them. Also called an executive summary.
• Acknowledgment responses. Nods, smiles, frowns, and words that let a speaker know you are listening.
• Active listening. Feeding back the literal meaning or the emotional content or both so that the speaker knows that the listener has heard and understood.
• Active voice. A verb that describes the action done by the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• Adjustment. A positive response to a claim letter. If the company agrees to grant a refund, the amount due will be adjusted.
• Agenda. A list of items to be considered or acted upon at a meeting.
• Alliteration. A sound pattern occurring when several words begin with the same sound.
• Alternating pattern (of organization). Discussing the alternatives first as they relate to the first criterion, then as they relate to the second criterion, and so on: ABC, ABC, ABC. Compare divided pattern.
• Analytical report. A report that interprets information.
• Anchor effect. The tendency to rely on the first piece of information given (the anchor) when making decisions.
• Argument. The reasons or logic offered to persuade the audience.
• Assumptions. Statements that are not proved in a report, but on which the recommendations are based.
• Audience benefits. Benefits or advantages that the audience gets by using the communicator's services, buying the communicator's products, following the communicator's policies, or adopting the communicator's ideas. Audience benefits can exist for policies and ideas as well as for goods and services.
• Auxiliary audience. People who may encounter your message but will not have to interact with it. This audience includes "read only" people.
• Average. See mean.
• Backchannel. The practice of using online technology to hold conversations concurrent with another activity, such as a speaker.
• Ballpark figure. An estimate of what a number should be.
• Bar chart. A visual consisting of parallel bars or rectangles that represent specific sets of data.
• Behavioral economics. A branch of economics that uses social and psychological factors in understanding decision making. It is particularly concerned with the limits of rationality in those decisions.
• Behavioral interviews. Job interviews that ask candidates to describe actual behaviors they have used in the past in specific situations.
• Bias-free language. Language that does not discriminate against people on the basis of sex, physical condition, race, age, or any other category.
• Blind ads. Job listings that do not list the company's name.
• Blind copies. Copies sent to other recipients that are not listed on the original letter, memo, or e-mail.
• Block format. In letters, a format in which inside address, date, and signature block are lined up at the left margin; paragraphs are not indented. In résumés, a format in which dates are listed in one column and job titles and descriptions in another.
• Blocking. Disagreeing with every idea that is proposed.
• Body language. Nonverbal communication conveyed by posture and movement, eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures.
• Boilerplate. Language from a previous document that a writer includes in a new document. Writers use boilerplate both to save time and energy and to use language that has already been approved by the organization's legal staff.
• Boxhead. Used in tables, the boxhead is the variable whose label is at the top.
• Brainstorming. A method of generating ideas by recording everything people in a group think of, without judging or evaluating the ideas.
• Branching question. Question that sends respondents who answer differently to different parts of the questionnaire. Allows respondents to answer only those questions that are relevant to their experience.
• Bridge (in prospecting job letters). A sentence that connects the attention-getter to the body of a letter.
• Brochure. Leaflet (often part of a direct mailing) that gives more information about a product or organization.
• Buffer. A neutral or positive statement designed to allow the writer to delay, or buffer, the negative message.
• Build goodwill. To create a good image of yourself and of your organization—the kind of image that makes people want to do business with you.
• Bullets. Small circles (filled or open) or squares that set off items in a list. When you are giving examples, but the number is not exact and the order does not matter, use bullets to set off items.
• Business plan. A document written to raise capital for a new business venture or to outline future actions for an established business.
• Businessese. A kind of jargon including unnecessary words. Some words were common 200–300 years ago but are no longer part of spoken English. Some have never been used outside of business writing. All of these terms should be omitted.
• Buying time with limited agreement. Agreeing with the small part of a criticism that one does accept as true.
• Bypassing. Miscommunication that occurs when two people use the same language to mean different things.
• Case. The grammatical role a noun or pronoun plays in a sentence. The nominative case is used for the subject of a clause, the possessive to show who or what something belongs to, the objective case for the object of a verb or a preposition.
• Central selling point. A strong audience benefit, big enough to motivate people by itself, but also serving as an umbrella to cover other benefits and to unify the message.
• Channel. The physical means by which a message is sent. Written channels include e-mails memos, letters, and billboards. Oral channels include phone calls, speeches, and face-to-face conversations.
• Channel overload. The inability of a channel to carry effectively all the messages that are being sent.
• Chartjunk. Decoration that is irrelevant to a visual and that may be misleading.
• Checking for feelings. Identifying the emotions that the previous speaker seemed to be expressing verbally or nonverbally.
• Checking for inferences. Trying to identify the unspoken content or feelings implied by what the previous speaker has actually said.
• Choice architecture. A form of persuasion that involves changing the context in which people make decisions to encourage them to make specific choices.
• Chronological résumé. A résumé that lists what you did in a dated order, starting with the most recent events and going backward in reverse chronology.
• Citation. Attributing a quotation or other idea to a source in the body of the report.
• Claim. The part of an argument that the speaker or writer wants the audience to agree with.
• Claim letter. A letter seeking a replacement or refund.
• Clip art. Predrawn images that you can import into your documents.
• Close. The ending of a communication.
• Closed body position. Includes keeping the arms and legs crossed and close to the body. Suggests physical and psychological discomfort, defending oneself, and shutting the other person out. Also called a defensive body position.
• Closed question. Question with a limited number of possible responses.
• Closure report. A report summarizing completed work that does not result in new action or a recommendation.
• Clowning. Making unproductive jokes and diverting the group from its task.
• Cluster sample. A sample of subjects at each of a random sample of locations. This method is usually faster and cheaper than random sampling when face-to-face interviews are required.
• Clustering. A method of thinking up ideas by writing the central topic in the middle of the page, circling it, writing down the ideas that topic suggests, and circling them.
• Cognitive dissonance. A theory positing that it is psychologically uncomfortable to hold two ideas that are dissonant or conflicting. The theory of cognitive dissonance explains that people will resolve dissonance by deciding that one of the ideas is less important, by rejecting one of the ideas, or by constructing a third idea that has room for both of the conflicting ideas.
• Cold list. A list used in marketing of people with no prior connection to your group.
• Collaborative writing. Working with other writers to produce a single document.
• Collection letter. A letter asking a customer to pay for goods and services received.
• Collection series. A series of letters asking customers to pay for goods and services they have already received. Early letters in the series assume that the reader intends to pay but final letters threaten legal action if the bill is not paid.
• Comma splice or comma fault. Using a comma to join two independent clauses. To correct, use a semicolon, use a comma with a conjunction, subordinate one of the clauses, or use a period and start a new sentence.
• Common ground. Values and goals that the communicator and audience share.
• Communication channel. The means by which you convey your message.
• Communication theory. A theory explaining what happens when we communicate and where miscommunication can occur.
• Competitive proposal. A proposal that has to compete for limited resources.
• Complaint letter. A letter that challenges a policy or tries to get a decision changed.
• Complex sentence. Sentence with one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
• Complimentary close. The words after the body of the letter and before the signature. Sincerely and Yours truly are the most commonly used complimentary closes in business letters.
• Compound sentence. Sentence with two main clauses joined by a comma and conjunction.
• Conclusions. Section of a report or other communication that restates the main points.
• Conflict resolution. Strategies for getting at the real issue, keeping discussion open, and minimizing hurt feelings so that people can find a solution that seems good to everyone involved.
• Connotations. The emotional colorings or associations that accompany a word.
• Consensus. Group solidarity supporting a decision.
• Contact letter. Letter written to keep in touch with a customer or donor.
• Convenience sample. A group of subjects to whom the researcher has easy access; not a random sample.
• Conventions. Widely accepted practices.
• Conversational style. Conversational patterns such as speed and volume of speaking, pauses between speakers, whether questions are direct or indirect. When different speakers assign different meanings to a specific pattern, miscommunication results.
• Coordination. The second stage in the life of a task group, when the group finds, organizes, and interprets information and examines alternatives and assumptions. This is the longest of the stages.
• Corporate culture. The values, beliefs, norms, history, and assumptions of an organization that shape behaviors and decisions of individual employees.
• Counterclaim. A statement whose truth would negate the truth of the main claim.
• Credibility. Ability to come across to the audience as believable.
• Criteria. The standards used to evaluate or weigh the factors in a decision.
• Critical activities (in a schedule]]. Activities that must be done on time if a project is to be completed by its due date.
• Critical incident. An important event that illustrates behavior or a history.
• Crop. To trim a photograph to fit a specific space, typically to delete visual information that is unnecessary or unwanted.
• Culture. The patterns of behavior and beliefs that are common to a people, nation, or organization.
• Cutaway drawings. Line drawings that depict the hidden or interior portions of an object.
• Cycling. The process of sending a document from writer to superior to writer to yet another superior for several rounds of revisions before the document is approved.
• Dangling modifier. A phrase that modifies the wrong word or a word that is not actually in a sentence. To correct a dangling modifier, recast the modifier as a subordinate clause or revise the sentence so its subject or object can be modified by the dangling phrase.
• Decode. To extract meaning from symbols.
• Decorative visual. A visual that makes the speaker's points more memorable but that does not convey numerical data.
• Defensive body position. See closed body position.
• Demographic characteristics. Measurable features of an audience that can be counted objectively: age, education level, income, etc.
• Denotation. A word's literal or "dictionary" meaning. Most common words in English have more than one denotation. Context usually makes it clear which of several meanings is appropriate.
• Dependent clause. See subordinate clause.
• Descriptive abstract. A listing of the topics an article or report covers that does not summarize what is said about each topic.
• Deviation bar charts. Bar charts that identify positive and negative values, or winners and losers.
• Devil's advocate. Person who defends a less popular viewpoint so that it receives fuller consideration.
• Dingbats. Small symbols such as arrows, pointing fingers, and so forth that are part of a typeface.
• Direct mail. A form of direct marketing that asks for an order, inquiry, or contribution directly from the reader.
• Direct mail package. The outer envelope of a direct mail letter and everything that goes in it: the letter, brochures, samples, secondary letters, reply card, and reply envelope.
• Direct marketing. All advertisements that ask for an order, inquiry, or contribution directly from the audience. Includes direct mail, catalogs, telemarketing (telephone sales), and newspaper and TV ads with 800 numbers to place an order.
• Direct request pattern. A pattern of organization that makes the request directly in the first paragraph.
• Discourse community. A group of people who share assumptions about what channels, formats, and styles to use for communication, what topics to discuss and how to discuss them, and what constitutes evidence.
• Divided pattern (of organization). Discussing each alternative completely, through all criteria, before going on to the next alternative: AAA, BBB, CCC. Compare alternating pattern.
• Document design. The process of writing, organizing, and laying out a document so that it can be easily used by the intended audience.
• Documentation. Full bibliographic information so that interested readers can go to the original source of material used in a report.
• Dominating (in groups). Trying to run a group by ordering, shutting out others, and insisting on one's own way.
• Dot chart. A chart that shows correlations or other large data sets. Dot charts have labeled horizontal and vertical axes.
• Dot planning. A way for large groups to set priorities; involves assigning colored dots to ideas.
• Editing. Checking the draft to see that it satisfies the requirements of good English and the principles of business writing. Unlike revision, which can produce major changes in meaning, editing focuses on the surface of writing.
• Ego-involvement. The emotional commitment that people have to their positions.
• Elimination of alternatives. A pattern of organization for reports that discusses the problem and its causes, the impractical solutions and their weaknesses, and finally the solution the writer favors.
• Ellipsis. Spaced dots used in reports to indicate that words have been omitted from quoted material and in direct mail to give the effect of pauses in speech.
• Emotional appeal. A persuasive technique that uses the audience's emotions to make them want to do what the writer or speaker asks.
• Empathy. The ability to put oneself in someone else's shoes, to feel with that person.
• Enclosure. A document that accompanies a letter.
• Enunciate. To voice all the sounds of each word while speaking.
• Evaluating. Measuring something, such as a document draft or a group decision, against your goals and the requirements of the situation and audience.
• Evidence. Data the audience already accepts.
• Exaggeration. Making something sound bigger or more important than it really is.
• Executive summary. See abstract.
• Expectancy theory. A theory that argues that motivation is based on the expectation of being rewarded for performance and the importance of the reward.
• External audiences. Audiences who are not part of the writer's organization.
• External documents. Documents that go to people in another organization.
• External report. Report written by a consultant for an organization of which he or she is not a permanent employee.
• Extranets. Web pages for customers and suppliers.
• Extrinsic motivators. Benefits that are "added on"; they are not a necessary part of the product or action.
• Eye contact. Looking another person directly in the eye.
• Fallacies. Common errors in logic that weaken arguments.
• Feasibility report. A report that evaluates a proposed action and shows whether or not it will work.
• Feedback. The receiver's response to a message.
• Figure. Any visual that is not a table.
• Filler sounds. Syllables, such as um and uh, which some speakers use to fill silence as they mentally search for their next words.
• Five Ws and H. Questions that must be answered early in a press release: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
• Fixed font. A typeface in which each letter has the same width on the page. Sometimes called typewriter typeface.
• Flaming. Sending out an angry e-mail message before thinking about the implications of venting one's anger.
• Focus groups. Small groups who come in to talk with a skilled leader about a potential product or process.
• Font. A unified style of type. Fonts come in various sizes.
• Forecast. An overview statement that tells the audience what you will discuss in a section or an entire report.
• Form letter. A prewritten, fill-in-the-blank letter designed to fit standard situations.
• Formal meetings. Meetings run under strict rules, like the rules of parliamentary procedure summarized in Robert's Rules of Order.
• Formal report. A report containing formal elements such as a title page, a transmittal, a table of contents, and an abstract.
• Formalization The third and last stage in the life of a task group, when the group makes its decision and seeks consensus..
• Format. The parts of a document and the way they are arranged on a page.
• Formation. The first stage in the life of a task group, when members choose a leader and define the problem they must solve.
• Freewriting. A kind of writing uninhibited by any constraints. Freewriting may be useful in overcoming writer's block, among other things.
• Frozen evaluation. An assessment that does not take into account the possibility of change.
• Full justification. Making both right and left margins of a text even, as opposed to having a ragged right margin.
• Fused sentence. The result when two or more sentences are joined without punctuation or conjunctions.
• Gantt charts. Bar charts used to show schedules. Gantt charts are most commonly used in proposals.
• Gatekeeper. The audience with the power to decide whether your message is sent on to other audiences.
• Gathering data. Physically getting the background data you need. It can include informal and formal research or simply getting the letter to which you're responding.
• General semantics. The study of the ways behavior is influenced by the words and other symbols used to communicate.
• Gerund. The -ing form of a verb; grammatically, it is a verb used as a noun.
• Getting feedback. Asking someone else to evaluate your work. Feedback is useful at every stage of the writing process, not just during composition of the final draft.
• Glossary. A list of terms used in a document with their definitions.
• Good appeal. An appeal in direct marketing that offers believable descriptions of benefits, links the benefits of the product or service to a need or desire that motivates the audience, and makes the audience act.
• Goodwill. The value of a business beyond its tangible assets, including its reputation and patronage. Also, a favorable condition and overall atmosphere of trust that can be fostered between parties conducting business.
• Goodwill ending. Shift of emphasis away from the message to the reader. A goodwill ending is positive, personal, and forward-looking and suggests that serving the reader is the real concern.
• Goodwill presentation. A presentation that entertains and validates the audience.
• Grammar checker. Software program that flags errors or doubtful usage.
• Grapevine. An organization's informal informational network that carries gossip and rumors as well as accurate information.
• Grid system. A means of designing layout by imposing columns on a page and lining up graphic elements within the columns.
• Ground rules. Procedural rules adopted by groups to make meetings and processes run smoothly.
• Grouped bar chart. A bar chart that allows the viewer to compare several aspects of each item or several items over time.
• Groupthink. The tendency for a group to reward agreement and directly or indirectly punish dissent.
• Guided discussion. A presentation in which the speaker presents the questions or issues that both speaker and audience have agreed on in advance. Instead of functioning as an expert with all the answers, the speaker serves as a facilitator to help the audience tap its own knowledge.
• Headings. Words or short phrases that group points and divide your letter, memo, e-mail, or report into sections.
• Hearing. Perceiving sounds. (Not the same thing as listening.)
• Hidden job market. Jobs that are never advertised but that may be available or may be created for the right candidate.
• Hidden negatives. Words that are not negative in themselves, but become negative in context.
• High-context culture. A culture in which most information is inferred from the context, rather than being spelled out explicitly in words.
• Histogram. A bar chart using pictures, asterisks, or points to represent a unit of the data.
• Hypothetical interview question. A question that asks what a person would do in an imaginary situation.
• Impersonal expression. A sentence that attributes actions to inanimate objects, designed to avoid placing blame on a reader.
• Indented format. A format for résumés in which items that are logically equivalent begin at the same horizontal space, with carryover lines indented.
• Independent clause. See main clause.
• Infinitive. The form of the verb that is preceded by to.
• Infographic. An informative graphic combining statistics, text, color, and visuals.
• Informal meetings. Loosely run meetings in which votes are not taken on every point.
• Informal report. A report using letter or memo format.
• Information interview. An interview in which you talk to someone who works in the area you hope to enter to find out what the day-to-day work involves and how you can best prepare to enter that field.
• Information overload. A condition in which a person cannot process all the messages he or she receives.
• Information report. A report that collects data for the reader but does not recommend action.
• Informational dimensions. Dimensions of group work focusing on the problem, data, and possible solutions.
• Informative message. Message giving information to which the reader's basic reaction will be neutral.
• Informative presentation. A presentation that informs or teaches the audience.
• Informative report. A report that provides information.
• Inside address. The reader's name and address; put below the date and above the salutation in most letter formats.
• Interactive presentation. A presentation that is a conversation between the speaker and the audience.
• Intercultural competence. The ability to communicate sensitively with people from other cultures and countries, based on an understanding of cultural differences.
• Internal audiences. Audiences in the communicator's organization.
• Internal document. Document written for other employees in the same organization.
• Internal documentation. Providing information about a source in the text itself rather than in footnotes or endnotes.
• Internal report. Reports written by employees for use only in their organization.
• Interpersonal communication. Communication between people.
• Interpersonal dimensions. In a group, efforts promoting friendliness, cooperation, and group loyalty.
• Interview. Structured conversation with someone who is able to give you useful information.
• Intranet. A web page just for employees.
• Intrapreneurs. Innovators who work within organizations.
• Intrinsic motivators. Benefits that come automatically from using a product or doing something.
• Introduction. The part of a report that states the purpose and scope of the report. The introduction may also include limitations, assumptions, methods, criteria, and definitions.
• Jargon. There are two kinds of jargon. The first kind is the specialized terminology of a technical field. The second is businessese, outdated words that do not have technical meanings and are not used in other forms of English.
• Judgment. See opinion.
• Judgment sample. A group of subjects whose views seem useful.
• Justification report. Report that justifies the need for a purchase, an investment, a new personnel line, or a change in procedure.
• Justified margins. Margins that end evenly on both sides of the page.
• Key words. Words used in (1) a résumé to summarize areas of expertise, qualifications, and (2) an article or report to describe the content. Key words facilitate computer searches.
• Letter. Short document using block, modified, or simplified letter format that goes to readers outside your organization.
• Letterhead. Stationery with the organization's name, logo, address, and telephone number printed on the page.
• Limitations. Problems or factors that constrain the validity of the recommendations of a report.
• Line graph. A visual consisting of lines that show trends or allow the viewer to interpolate values between the observed values.
• Logical fallacies. See fallacies.
• Low-context culture. A culture in which most information is conveyed explicitly in words rather than being inferred from context.
• Main clause. A group of words that can stand by itself as a complete sentence. Also called an independent clause.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Five levels of human need posited by Abraham H. Maslow. They include physical needs, the need for safety and security, for love and belonging, for esteem and recognition, and for self-actualization.
• Mean. The average of a group of numbers. Found by dividing the sum of a set of figures by the number of figures.
• Median. The middle number in a ranked set of numbers.
• Memo. Document using memo format sent to readers in your organization.
• Methods section. The section of a report or survey describing how the data were gathered.
• Minutes. Records of a meeting, listing the items discussed, the results of votes, and the persons responsible for carrying out follow-up steps.
• Mirror question. Question that paraphrases the content of the answer an interviewee gave to the last question.
• Misplaced modifier. A word or phrase that appears to modify another element of the sentence than the writer intended.
• Mixed punctuation. Using a colon after the salutation and a comma after the complimentary close in a letter.
• Mode. The most frequent number in a set of numbers.
• Modified block format. A letter format in which the inside address, date, and signature block are lined up with each other one-half or two-thirds of the way over on the page.
• Modifier. A word or phrase giving more information about another word in a sentence.
• Monochronic culture. Culture in which people do only one important activity at a time.
• Monologue presentation. A presentation in which the speaker talks without interruption. The presentation is planned and is delivered without deviation.
• Multiple graphs. Three or more simple stories told by graphs juxtaposed to create a more powerful story.
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. A scale that categorizes people on four dimensions: introvert–extravert; sensing–intuitive; thinking–feeling; and perceiving–judging.
• Negative message. A message in which basic information conveyed is negative; the reader is expected to be disappointed or angry.
• Networking. Using your connections with other people to help you achieve a goal.
• Neutral subject line. A subject line that does not give away the writer's stance on an issue.
• Noise. Any physical or psychological interference in a message.
• Nominative case. The grammatical form used for the subject of a clause. I, we, he, she, and they are nominative pronouns.
• Nonageist. Refers to words, images, or behaviors that do not discriminate against people on the basis of age.
• Noncompetitive proposal. A proposal with no real competition and hence a high probability of acceptance.
• Nonracist. Refers to words, images, or behaviors that do not discriminate against people on the basis of race.
• Nonrestrictive clause. A clause giving extra but unessential information about a noun or pronoun. Because the information is extra, commas separate the clause from the word it modifies.
• Nonsexist language. Language that treats both sexes neutrally, that does not make assumptions about the proper gender for a job, and that does not imply that one sex is superior to or takes precedence over the other.
• Nonverbal communication. Communication that does not use words.
• Normal interview. A job interview with mostly expected questions.
• Noun–pronoun agreement. Having a pronoun be the same number (singular or plural) and the same person (first, second, or third) as the noun it refers to.
• Objective case. The grammatical form used for the object of a verb or preposition. Me, us, him, her, and them are objective pronouns.
• Omnibus motion. A motion that allows a group to vote on several related items in a single vote. Saves time in formal meetings with long agendas.
• Open body position. Includes keeping the arms and legs uncrossed and away from the body. Suggests physical and psychological comfort and openness.
• Open punctuation. Using no punctuation after the salutation and the complimentary close.
• Open question. Question with an unlimited number of possible responses.
• Opinion. A statement that can never be verified, since it includes terms that cannot be measured objectively. Also called a judgment.
• Organization (in messages). The order in which ideas are arranged.
• Organizational culture. The values, attitudes, and philosophies shared by people in an organization that shape its behaviors and reward structure.
• Outsourcing. Going outside the company for products and services that once were made by the company's employees.
• Package. The outer envelope and everything that goes in it in a direct mailing.
• Paired bar chart. A bar chart that shows the correlation between two items.
• Parallel structure. Using the same grammatical and logical form for words, phrases, clauses, and ideas in a series.
• Paraphrase. To repeat in your own words the verbal content of another communication.
• Passive verb. A verb that describes action done to the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• People-first language. Language that names the person first, then the condition: "people with mental retardation." Used to avoid implying that the condition defines the person's potential.
• Performance appraisals. Supervisors' written evaluations of their subordinates' work.
• Persona. The "author" or character who allegedly writes a document; the voice that a communicator assumes in creating a message.
• Personal brandings. A pop term for marketing yourself, including job searching. It includes an expectation that you will use various options, including social media such as LinkedIn, to market yourself.
• Personal space. The distance someone wants between him- or herself and other people in ordinary, nonintimate interchanges.
• Personalized. A message that is adapted to the individual reader by including the reader's name and address and perhaps other information.
• Persuade. To motivate and convince the audience to act or change a belief.
• Persuasive presentation. A presentation that motivates the audience to act or to believe.
• Phishing e-mails. E-mails that look like messages from official business but actually connect to private sites seeking to acquire data for fraud or identity theft.
• Pictogram. A bar chart using pictures or symbols to represent a unit of data.
• Pie chart. A circular chart whose sections represent percentages of a given quantity.
• Pitch. The highness or lowness of a sound.
• Plagiarism. Passing off the words or ideas of others as one's own.
• Planning. All the thinking done about a subject and the means of achieving your purposes. Planning takes place not only when devising strategies for the document as a whole, but also when generating "miniplans" that govern sentences or paragraphs.
• Polarization. A logical fallacy that argues there are only two possible positions, one of which is clearly unacceptable.
• Polychronic culture. Culture in which people do several things at once.
• Population. The group a researcher wants to make statements about.
• Positive emphasis. Focusing on the positive rather than the negative aspects of a situation.
• Positive or good news message. Message to which the reader's reaction will be positive.
• Positive psychology. A branch of psychology that studies how to help people thrive.
• Possessive case. The grammatical form used to indicate possession or ownership. My, our, his, hers, its, and their are possessive pronouns.
• Post office abbreviations. Two-letter abbreviations for states and provinces.
• Prepositions. Words that indicate relationships, for example, with, in, under, at.
• Presenting problem. The problem that surfaces as the subject of discord. The presenting problem is often not the real problem.
• Primary audience. The audience who will make a decision or act on the basis of a message.
• Primary research. Research that gathers new information.
• Pro-and-con pattern. A pattern of organization that presents all the arguments for an alternative and then all the arguments against it.
• Probe question. A follow-up question designed to get more information about an answer or to get at specific aspects of a topic.
• Problem-solving pattern. A pattern of organization that describes a problem before offering a solution to the problem.
• Procedural dimensions. Dimensions of group work focusing on methods: how the group makes decisions, who does what, when assignments are due.
• Process of writing. What people actually do when they write: planning, gathering, writing, evaluating, getting feedback, revising, editing, and proofreading.
• Progress report. A statement of the work done during a period of time and the work proposed for the next period.
• Proofreading. Checking the final copy to see that it's free from typographical errors.
• Proportional font. A font in which some letters are wider than other letters (for example, w is wider than i ).
• Proposal. Document that suggests a method and personnel for finding information or solving a problem.
• Prospecting letter. A job application letter written to a company that has not announced openings but where you'd like to work.
• Psychographic characteristics. Human characteristics that are qualitative rather than quantitative: values, beliefs, goals, and lifestyles.
• Psychological description. Description of a product or service in terms of audience benefits.
• Psychological reactance. Phenomenon occurring when a person reacts to a negative message by asserting freedom in some other arena.
• Purpose statement. The statement in a proposal or a report specifying the organizational problem, the technical questions that must be answered to solve the problem, and the rhetorical purpose of the report (to explain, to recommend, to request, to propose).
• Questionnaire. List of questions for people to answer in a survey.
• Ragged right margins. Margins that do not end evenly on the right side of the page.
• Random sample. A sample for which each member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen.
• Range. The difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a set of figures.
• Recommendation report. A report that evaluates two or more possible alternatives and recommends one of them. Doing nothing is always one alternative.
• Recommendations. Section of a report that specifies items for action.
• Reference line. A subject line that refers the reader to another document (usually a numbered one, such as an invoice).
• Referral interview. Interviews you schedule to learn about current job opportunities in your field and to get referrals to other people who may have the power to create a job for you. Useful for tapping into unadvertised jobs and the hidden job market.
• Reflexive pronoun. Refers to or emphasizes a noun or pronoun that has already appeared in the sentence. Myself, herself, and themselves are reflexive pronouns.
• Release date. Date a report will be made available to the public.
• Reply card. A card or form designed to make it easy for the reader to respond to a direct mail letter. A good reply card repeats the central selling point, basic product information, and price.
• Request for proposal (RFP). A statement of the service or product that an agency wants; an invitation for proposals to provide that service or product.
• Respondents. The people who fill out a questionnaire; also called subjects.
• Response rate. The percentage of subjects receiving a questionnaire who answer the questions.
• Restrictive clause. A clause limiting or restricting the meaning of a noun or pronoun. Because its information is essential, no commas separate the clause from the word it restricts.
• Résumé. A persuasive summary of your qualifications for employment.
• Résumé blasting. Posting your résumé widely—usually by the hundreds—on the web.
• Reverse chronology. Starting with the most recent events, such as job or degree, and going backward in time. Pattern of organization used for chronological résumés.
• Revising. Making changes in the draft: adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging. Revision can be changes in single words, but more often it means major additions, deletions, or substitutions, as the writer measures the draft against purpose and audience and reshapes the document to make it more effective.
• RF. See request for proposal.
• Rhetorical purpose. The effect the writer or speaker hopes to have on the audience (to inform, to persuade, to build goodwill).
• Rhythm. The repetition of a pattern of accented and unaccented syllables.
• Rival hypotheses. Alternate explanations for observed results.
• Rule of three. The rule noting a preference for three short parallel examples and explaining that the last will receive the most emphasis.
• Run-on sentence. A sentence containing two or more main clauses strung together with and, but, or, so, or for.
• Sales pattern. A pattern of persuasion that consists of an attention getting opener, a body with reasons and details, and an action close.
• Salutation. The greeting in a letter: "Dear Ms. Smith:"
• Sample (in marketing). A product provided to the audience to whet their appetite for more.
• Sample (in research). The portion of the population a researcher actually studies.
• Sampling frame. The list of all possible sampling units.
• Sampling units. Those items/people actually sampled.
• Sans serif. Literally, without serifs. Typeface whose letters lack bases or flicks. Helvetica and Geneva are examples of sans serif typefaces.
• Saves the reader's time. The result of a message whose style, organization, and visual impact help the reader to read, understand, and act on the information as quickly as possible.
• Schematic diagrams. Line drawings of objects and their parts.
• Scope statement. A statement in a proposal or report specifying the subjects the report covers and how broadly or deeply it covers them.
• Secondary audience. The audience who may be asked by the primary audience to comment on a message or to implement ideas after they've been approved.
• Secondary research. Research retrieving data someone else gathered. Includes library research.
• Segmented, subdivided, or stacked bars. Bars in a bar chart that sum components of an item.
• Semantics or general semantics. The study of the ways behavior is influenced by the words and other symbols used to communicate.
• Sentence fragment. Words that are not a complete sentence but that are punctuated as if they were a complete sentence.
• Sentence outline. An outline using complete sentences. It contains the thesis or recommendation plus all supporting points.
• Serif. The little extensions from the main strokes on letters. Times Roman and Courier are examples of serif typefaces.
• Signpost. An explicit statement of the place that a speaker or writer has reached: "Now we come to the third point."
• Simple sentence. Sentence with one main clause.
• Simplified format. A letter format that omits the salutation and complimentary close and lines everything up at the left margin.
• Situational interviews. Job interviews in which candidates are asked to describe what they would do in specific hypothetical situations.
• Skills résumé. A résumé organized around the skills you've used, rather than the date or the job in which you used them.
• Social signals. Nonverbal communications such as gestures, facial expressions, voice tone, and proximity.
• Solicited letter. A job letter written when you know that the company is hiring.
• Spot visuals. Informal visuals that are inserted directly into text. Spot visuals do not have numbers or titles.
• Stereotyping. Putting similar people or events into a single category, even though significant differences exist.
• Storyboard. A visual representation of the structure of a document, with a rectangle representing each page or unit. An alternative to outlining as a method of organizing material.
• Strategy. A plan for reaching your specific goals with a specific audience.
• Stratified random sample. A sample generated by first dividing the sample into subgroups in the population and then taking a random sample for each subgroup.
• Stress (in a communication). Emphasis given to one or more words in a sentence, or one or more ideas in a message.
• Stress interview. A job interview that deliberately puts the applicant under stress, physical or psychological. Here it's important to change the conditions that create physical stress and to meet psychological stress by rephrasing questions in less inflammatory terms and treating them as requests for information.
• Structured interview. An interview that follows a detailed list of questions prepared in advance.
• Stub. The variable listed on the side in a table.
• Subject line. The title of the document, used to file and retrieve the document. A subject line tells readers why they need to read the document and provides a framework in which to set what you're about to say.
• Subordinate clause. A group of words containing a subject and a verb but that cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence. Also called a dependent clause.
• Summarizing. Restating and relating major points, pulling ideas together.
• Summary abstract. The logic skeleton of an article or report, containing the thesis or recommendation and its proof.
• Summary sentence or paragraph. A sentence or paragraph listing in order the topics that following sentences or paragraphs will discuss.
• Survey. A method of getting information from a group of people.
• SWOT analysis. A method of evaluating a proposed action that examines both internal factors (Strengths, Weaknesses) and external factors (Opportunities, Threats).
• Table. Numbers or words arrayed in rows and columns.
• Talking heads. Headings that are detailed enough to provide an overview of the material in the sections they introduce.
• Template. A design or format that serves as a pattern.
• 10-K report. A report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission summarizing the firm's financial performance.
• Thank-you note. A note thanking someone for helping you.
• Threat. A statement, explicit or implied, that someone will be punished if he or she does or doesn't do something.
• 360-degree feedback. A form of assessment in which an employee receives feedback from peers, managers, subordinates, customers, and suppliers.
• Tone. The implied attitude of the author toward the reader and the subject.
• Tone of voice. The rising or falling inflection that indicates whether a group of words is a question or a statement, whether the speaker is uncertain or confident, whether a statement is sincere or sarcastic.
• Topic heading. A heading that focuses on the structure of a report. Topic headings give little information.
• Topic outline. An outline listing the main points and the subpoints under each main point. A topic outline is the basis for the table of contents of a report.
• Topic sentence. A sentence that introduces or summarizes the main idea in a paragraph.
• Transitions. Words, phrases, or sentences that show the connections between ideas.
• Transmit. To send a message.
• Transmittal. A message explaining why something is being sent.
• Truncated code. Symbols such as asterisks that turn up other forms of a keyword in a computer search.
• Truncated graphs. Graphs with part of the scale missing.
• Two-margin format. A format for résumés in which dates are listed in one column and job titles and descriptions in another. This format emphasizes work history.
• Umbrella sentence or paragraph. A sentence or paragraph listing in order the topics that following sentences or paragraphs will discuss.
• Understatement. Downplaying or minimizing the size or features of something.
• Unity. Using only one idea or topic in a paragraph or other piece of writing.
• Unjustified margins. Margins that do not end evenly on the right side of the page.
• Unstructured interview. An interview based on three or four main questions prepared in advance and other questions that build on what the interviewee says.
• Usability testing. Testing a document with users to see that it functions as desired.
• Venting. Expressing pent-up negative emotions.
• Verbal communication. Communication that uses words; may be either oral or written.
• Vested interest. The emotional stake readers have in something if they benefit from maintaining or influencing conditions or actions.
• Vicarious participation. An emotional strategy in fundraising letters based on the idea that by donating money, readers participate in work they are not able to do personally.
• Visual impact. The visual "first impression" you get when you look at a page.
• Volume. The loudness or softness of a voice or other sound.
• Watchdog audience An audience that has political, social, or economic power and that may base future actions on its evaluation of your message..
• White space. The empty space on the page. White space emphasizes material that it separates from the rest of the text.
• Widget. A software program that can be dropped into social networking sites and other places.
• Wild card. Symbols such as asterisks that turn up other forms of a keyword in a computer search. See also truncated code.
• Withdrawing. Being silent, not contributing, not helping with the work, not attending meetings.
• Wordiness. Taking more words than necessary to express an idea.
• Works cited. The sources specifically referred to in a report.
• Works consulted. Sources read during the research for a report but not mentioned specifically in the report.
• You-attitude. A style of communicating that looks at things from the audience's point of view, emphasizes what the audience wants to know, respects the audience's intelligence, and protects the audience's ego. Using you generally increases you-attitude in positive situations. In negative situations or conflict, avoid you since that word will attack the audience.