Glossary · 34 terms
Every term, defined.
Engineers like things labelled. Here is every technique and term used on this site, in plain language, with a link to where it's taught.
- Actioning
- An acting technique: giving each line a transitive verb (I warn you, I reassure you) so the delivery has a clear intention. Popularised in the UK by director Max Stafford-Clark. Learn more
- Bottom line up front
- Opening with the conclusion or request, then giving the support. Common in military and executive writing. Learn more
- Commend, recommend, commend
- A feedback structure: what worked, one thing to change, what to keep doing. Learn more
- Communication style
- Your habitual way of interacting, often described on two scales: how much you tell versus ask, and how much you focus on tasks versus people. Learn more
- Consequence framing
- Describing a technical issue by its effect on what the audience cares about (money, time, safety, reputation) rather than by its mechanism. Learn more
- Continuation rise
- A rise or held pitch that tells the listener more is coming. Linguists contrast it with the final fall, which signals completion. Learn more
- Diaphragmatic breathing
- Breathing that moves the belly rather than the shoulders and upper chest. It gives steadier air pressure, so the voice holds under stress. Learn more
- Divergent narratives
- When leadership, management, the office and site each have a different story about what is happening. The wider the gap, the more rework and friction. Learn more
- Downtalk
- Dropping the pitch at the end of every clause, often trailing off in volume. Signals 'finished' over and over, so listeners relax and tune out. Learn more
- Fact pattern
- How engineers are trained to reason: get the facts right and the answer follows. A strength for the mechanics of communication, but people decide on feeling and justify with facts. Learn more
- Falling inflection
- Pitch moving down at the end of a phrase. Listeners hear it as a finished, certain statement. Learn more
- Filler
- A sound or word that fills silence while you think: um, ah, so, like, you know. Learn more
- Improv
- Improvised theatre: scenes made up on the spot. Classes train listening, quick thinking and comfort with uncertainty. A fast way to build range. Learn more
- Inflection
- The movement of pitch at the end of a phrase. Down signals a finished thought; up or held signals more is coming. Learn more
- Leadership style
- A repeatable pattern in how a leader sets direction and works with a team. Effective leaders switch styles to suit the situation. Learn more
- Lip trill
- Blowing air through closed, relaxed lips so they vibrate while you hum a slide. A standard singer and actor warm-up that eases tension without straining the voice. Learn more
- Mechanics
- The trainable, fixed-path parts of communication: structure, pace, pausing, breath, leading with the point. Learn more
- One Story
- Fred's narrative alignment program for organisations: find the stories each level is telling, agree one, and tell it up, down and across. Learn more
- Operative word
- The word in a line that carries its meaning or intention, given the emphasis. Also called the keyword. Learn more
- Pause
- A planned silence. Before a word it adds weight; after a point it lets the room catch up. Learn more
- Pitch range
- The spread between your lower and higher notes, measured in semitones. A narrow range tends to sound flat. Learn more
- PREP
- Point, Reason, Example, Point. A four-step structure for answering on the spot. Learn more
- Range
- The span of ways you can deliver the same material: pace, pitch, energy, warmth, stillness. Built through play and rehearsal, the way actors train. Learn more
- Restating
- Repeating the question in your own words before answering. It buys thinking time and confirms you are answering the right thing. Learn more
- Rule of three
- Grouping ideas in threes. Three items are easy to hold in short-term memory and feel complete. Learn more
- Speaking rate
- Words per minute. Conversational speech is roughly 140 to 170; nervous speakers often run well above it. Learn more
- Stillness
- Deliberately not moving while speaking, so any gesture you do make carries meaning. Learn more
- Story spine
- A simple sequence that turns information into a story: situation, obstacle, action, outcome. Learn more
- The 7/38/55 myth
- The claim that communication is 7% words, 38% tone and 55% body. It comes from two small 1967 studies of single words about liking and does not apply to communication in general. Learn more
- Timing lights
- Green, amber and red signals that show a speaker how close they are to their time limit. Learn more
- Turn-taking cue
- A signal that a speaker is finishing, such as a falling pitch or a long pause. Listeners use these to decide when to jump in. Learn more
- Uptalk (upspeak)
- A rising pitch at the end of a statement, so it sounds like a question. Linguists call it a high rising terminal. Weakens a point you need people to accept, though it can also hold the floor. Learn more
- Words, voice, body
- The three parts of spoken communication. Words decide what people know, voice whether they believe you, body whether they trust you. When they disagree, people believe the voice and body. Learn more
- Yes, and
- Improv's core rule: accept what the other person offers, then build on it. The opposite of 'yes, but', which blocks the conversation. Learn more