Business Communication
104 flashcards by MentisLibrary
How to write, speak, listen, and give feedback at work: BLUF and the Pyramid Principle, email and meeting practice, active listening, nonverbal and cross-cultural cues, feedback models, and persuasive structure, for early-career professionals and managers.
- What are the elements of the Shannon-Weaver model of communication?
- A sender encodes a message, sends it through a channel to a receiver who decodes it, with noise able to distort it at any point; later versions add feedback from receiver to sender.
- What is noise in communication theory?
- Anything that interferes with a message between sender and receiver: physical noise, semantic confusion, psychological distraction, or channel problems.
- What are the seven Cs of effective communication?
- Clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous.
- What does BLUF stand for, and how is it used?
- Bottom Line Up Front: state the conclusion or request in the first sentence, then give the supporting detail.
- What is the Pyramid Principle?
- Barbara Minto's approach to business writing: lead with the answer, then group the supporting arguments beneath it, with each group ordered logically.
- What does MECE mean?
- Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive: a way of grouping ideas so the categories do not overlap and together cover everything.
- What is the SCQA framework?
- A structure for introductions: Situation (the stable context), Complication (what changed), Question (what the reader now asks), Answer (your main point).
- What is the difference between the direct and the indirect approach in business messages?
- Direct puts the main point first; indirect opens with a buffer or context and delivers the main point later.
- How is a bad-news message typically structured?
- Buffer, then reasons, then the bad news stated clearly, then a positive or forward-looking close.
- What is the you-attitude in business writing?
- Writing from the reader's point of view, emphasizing what they gain or need to do rather than what the writer wants.
- What is the inverted pyramid in writing?
- A structure from journalism: the most important information first, then supporting detail, then background, in descending order of importance.
- Active voice vs passive voice: which should business writing prefer, and why?
- Active voice (the subject performs the action) is the default because it is shorter and names who is responsible; passive is reserved for when the actor is unknown or unimportant.
- What is a nominalization, and why do editors cut them?
- A verb or adjective turned into a noun, such as make a decision instead of decide; it adds words and drains the action from the sentence.
- What is plain language?
- Writing that a reader can understand the first time: common words, short sentences, active voice, and a logical order.
- What does a readability score such as Flesch Reading Ease measure?
- It estimates how easy a passage is to read from sentence length and word length (syllables per word); higher scores mean easier text.
- What is a topic sentence?
- The sentence, usually first, that states the single point a paragraph will make.
- What is signposting in writing and speaking?
- Words and phrases that tell the audience where they are and where you are going: first, in contrast, to sum up, the key risk is.
- What is jargon, and when is it acceptable?
- Specialized vocabulary of a profession or group; acceptable when every reader shares it, a barrier otherwise.
- What are hedges, and when do they weaken a message?
- Words that soften a claim, such as somewhat, perhaps, I think, sort of; they weaken a message when the writer is actually certain.
- What is the curse of knowledge?
- The difficulty experts have imagining what it is like not to know what they know, which makes them skip steps and use insider terms.
- What are the three parts of a well-formed email subject line?
- It should be specific, front-loaded with the key words, and, where useful, include the action needed, such as Action Required or FYI.
- CC vs BCC: when do you use each?
- CC copies people who should see the message but need not act; BCC hides recipients from each other, used for large lists or to protect addresses.
- When is Reply All appropriate?
- Only when every recipient needs your reply to do their work or stay accurately informed.
- What is the rule of one for emails?
- One topic per email, with one clear ask, so the message can be answered, forwarded, and found later.
- How should an email that requests action be structured?
- State the request and deadline first, give the minimum context needed, list any options, and end by restating what you need and by when.
- What is an appropriate email tone for business?
- Courteous and direct: warm enough to be human, plain enough to be clear, and matched to the relationship and the culture of the reader.
- What is the recommended handling of an angry email you receive?
- Do not reply immediately; separate the facts from the emotion, respond to the substance, acknowledge the frustration briefly, and move the conversation to a call if it is escalating.
- What is media richness theory?
- Daft and Lengel's idea that channels differ in how much they convey (tone, immediacy of feedback, multiple cues), so ambiguous or emotional messages need richer channels.
- Synchronous vs asynchronous communication: what is the trade-off?
- Synchronous (meeting, call) gives immediate feedback and builds rapport but interrupts and needs everyone present; asynchronous (email, docs, chat) respects time zones and lets people think, but is slower to resolve.
- What belongs in a meeting agenda?
- The purpose of the meeting, the decisions or outcomes expected, the topics in order with a time and an owner for each, and any pre-reading.