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Which of the following words are the most abstract?
A) two, contract, performance
B) software, code, signal
C) kick, move, walk
D) productivity, quality, motivation
E) building, machine, template
A typical paragraph contains the three basic elements of
A) a topic sentence, support sentences, and transitional words and phrases.
B) simple, compound, and complex sentences.
C) the
main idea, supporting ideas, and evidence.
D) a problem, discussion, and a solution.
E) strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
For instance, one of the toughest messages a manager ever has to write is an internal memo or email announcing layoffs. This is a difficult situation for everyone involved, and managers can be tempted to resort to euphemisms such as streamlining, restructuring, improving efficiency, reducing layers, or eliminating redundancies to avoid using the word layoff.3 Doing so might ease the emotional burden on the writer and promote the illusion that the message isn't as negative as it really is. However, these euphemisms can fail the "you" attitude test, as well as the standards of ethical information, by failing to answer the question every reader in these situations has, which is simply: Am I going to lose my job?
To build, maintain, or repair your credibility, emphasize the following characteristics:
• Honesty. Demonstrating honesty and integrity will earn you the respect of your audiences, even if they don't always agree with or welcome your messages.
• Objectivity. Show that you can distance yourself from emotional situations and look at all sides of an issue.
• Awareness of audience needs. Directly or indirectly, let your audience members know that you understand what's important to them.
• Credentials, knowledge, and expertise. Audiences need to know that you have whatever it takes to back up your message, whether it's education, professional certification, special training, past successes, or simply the fact that you've done your research.
• Avoid clichés, and use buzzwords carefully. Although familiar words are generally the best choice, avoid clichés—once-colorful terms and phrases so common that they have lost some of their power to communicate. Buzzwords, newly coined terms often associated with technology, business, or cultural changes, are more difficult to handle than clichés because in small doses and in the right situations, buzzwords can be useful. Avoid clichés, be extremely careful with trendy buzzwords, and use jargon only when your audience is completely familiar with it.
• Use jargon carefully. Jargon, the specialized language of a particular profession or industry, has a bad reputation, but it's not always bad. Using jargon is often an efficient way to communicate within the specific groups that understand these terms.
Balancing Abstract and Concrete Words
An abstract word expresses a concept, quality, or characteristic.
Abstractions are usually broad, encompassing a category of ideas, and are often intellectual, academic, or philosophical. Love, honor, progress, tradition, and beauty are abstractions, as are such important business concepts as efficiency, quality, and motivation.
Abstract words tend to cause more trouble than concrete words because they are sometimes "fuzzy" and can be interpreted differently, depending on the audience and the circumstances. The best way to minimize such problems is to balance abstract terms with concrete ones. State the concept, then pin it down with details expressed in more concrete terms. Save the abstractions for ideas that cannot be expressed any other way.
In contrast, a concrete word stands for something you can touch, see, or visualize. Most concrete terms are anchored in the tangible, material world. Chair, green, two, and horse are concrete words; they are direct, clear, and exact. Things don't need to have a physical presence to be considered concrete, by the way; app, database, and website are all concrete terms as well.