Key Terms: How to Communicate Professionally Generated with AI assistance — review for accuracy and compare against your course materials. --- ACTIVE LISTENING A communication approach focused on fully understanding what someone is saying rather than just waiting for your turn to speak. Includes asking clarifying questions, summarizing what you heard, and confirming next steps. ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION Communication where participants do not need to be present at the same time — email, recorded messages, and shared documents are examples. Requires more care in writing because there is no immediate back-and-forth to resolve ambiguity. AUDIENCE AWARENESS Adjusting what you say and how you say it based on who will receive the message. A message appropriate for a classmate may not be appropriate for a supervisor, even if the content is the same. CC AND BCC CC (carbon copy) sends a copy of an email to additional recipients who can all see each other. BCC (blind carbon copy) does the same but hides those recipients from each other. Using the wrong one can create privacy or tone problems. CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK Feedback focused on specific behaviors or outcomes and oriented toward improvement rather than criticism. Constructive feedback describes what happened, what impact it had, and what could change — not the other person's character. EMAIL ETIQUETTE The norms and expectations around professional email: clear subject lines, appropriate greeting, concise body, specific ask, professional closing, and signature. Violating these norms signals a lack of professionalism regardless of the content. FOLLOW-UP A message sent after a meeting, interview, or previous communication to confirm what was discussed, reiterate an ask, or check on a pending response. A follow-up after an interview or important meeting is a professional standard, not optional. FORMAL REGISTER A communication style characterized by complete sentences, professional vocabulary, correct grammar, and respectful tone. Used with supervisors, instructors, external partners, and formal written documents. INFORMAL REGISTER A communication style that is more casual, uses contractions and colloquialisms, and may omit formalities. Appropriate with peers and close colleagues but not with supervisors or in formal written communication. PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION Communication that is clear, purposeful, and respectful — appropriate to the context and the relationship. Does not necessarily mean formal; it means the message is crafted with the recipient and goal in mind. PRONOUNS The words used to refer to someone in third person (he/him, she/her, they/them, and others). Using the pronouns someone identifies with is a basic professional courtesy. Including your own pronouns in an email signature signals that you respect others' preferences. SUBJECT LINE The field in an email that summarizes the message's purpose. A clear subject line helps the recipient prioritize, find the email later, and understand what is being asked before opening it. SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION Communication where participants are present at the same time, such as a phone call, video meeting, or in-person conversation. Better for complex topics, nuanced discussions, and situations where real-time back-and-forth is needed. TONE The overall attitude or feeling conveyed by a piece of writing. The same information can be delivered in a warm, neutral, or hostile tone depending on word choice and sentence structure.