Active listening
Fully concentrating on, understanding and responding to what someone says, and showing it through follow-up questions and summaries.
Communication skills
The delivery skills that show up in every customer conversation: pacing, filler words, presence and persuasion.
40 terms
Articulation
Pronouncing words clearly and distinctly so listeners understand you without effort.
Body language
Nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact and tone of voice that convey meaning and emotion. Body language can reveal a person's thoughts and feelings without a word being said, which is why reading it and controlling your own is part of every high-stakes conversation.
Bottom line up front (BLUF)
Stating your main point or ask first, then the supporting detail. Common in executive communication.
Call to action
The specific next step you want your audience to take: book the meeting, approve the pilot, sign up for a program or make a purchase. Strong presentations end with one clear call to action.
Clarity
How easily a listener understands your message, shaped by structure, word choice and delivery.
Concision
Saying what you mean in as few words as needed. Leading with the bottom line respects a busy audience's time.
Disfluency
Any interruption in the flow of speech, including filler words like "um," "ah" and "like," repeated words and restarts. Disfluencies are common in spontaneous speech and often signal hesitation, uncertainty or the speaker thinking in real time.
Empathy
Understanding and acknowledging another person's feelings and perspective, which is central to sales, support and leadership conversations.
Ethos, pathos and logos
Aristotle's three modes of persuasion: credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos) and logic and evidence (logos).
Executive presence
The ability to project confidence, clarity and composure so senior audiences trust your judgment.
Eye contact
Looking at your audience (or your camera on video) to build connection and signal confidence.
Filler words
Words like "um," "uh," "like" and "you know" that fill silence. A few are natural; too many erode credibility.
Framing
Presenting information in a way that shapes how the audience interprets it, such as describing a price as a cost per rep per month.
Glossophobia
The fear of public speaking, and one of the most common social fears. It can be reduced with preparation and repeated practice in low-stakes settings.
Hedging language
Qualifiers such as "I think," "maybe" or "sort of" that soften a statement and can undercut confidence.
Impromptu speaking
Speaking without preparation, such as answering an unexpected question from a buyer or executive.
Mirroring
Repeating the last few words someone said to encourage them to keep talking and to show you're listening.
Monotone
Speaking with little variation in pitch, pace or volume, which makes it harder for listeners to stay engaged. Monotone delivery is usually perceived as boring even when the content is strong.
Nonverbal communication
Everything you communicate without words, including body language, facial expressions, eye contact, gestures and tone.
Open-ended question
A question that can't be answered with yes or no, such as "How are you handling that today?" It invites the other person to share more.
Pacing
How fast you speak, often measured in words per minute. Too fast loses listeners; too slow loses energy.
Pause
A deliberate moment of silence used to emphasize a point, let an idea land or replace a filler word. More broadly, a pause is any temporary stop or break in speech or activity.
Persuasion
Influencing someone's beliefs or actions through credibility, emotion and logic.
Pitch (voice)
How high or low your voice sounds. Varying pitch adds emphasis; ending statements on a rising pitch can make them sound like questions.
Presentation skills
The ability to structure, design and deliver a presentation that holds attention and drives a decision.
Public speaking
Delivering a message to a live or virtual audience. The same skills apply to a conference keynote, a sales pitch and a team update.
Pyramid principle
A structure for communication that leads with the conclusion, then groups supporting arguments beneath it.
Rapport
A sense of connection and trust between people in a conversation, built through listening, empathy and shared understanding.
Rule of three
The principle that ideas grouped in threes are more memorable and persuasive. Information presented in a group of three is more interesting and easier for audiences to recall than other groupings.
Signposting
Phrases that tell your audience where you are in your message, such as "First," "The second risk is" or "To wrap up." Signposting helps audiences follow the structure and remember the message more clearly.
Speaking pace
How fast you speak, usually measured in words per minute. See also rate of speech.
STAR method
A structure for telling a concise story about past experience: Situation, Task, Action and Result.
Storytelling
Using narrative (a customer, a problem, a turning point, an outcome) to make a message memorable and persuasive.
Tactical empathy
Deliberately naming and acknowledging the other side's emotions to build trust and influence the outcome of a negotiation.
Talk time
How much of a conversation each person spends speaking. In sales it is often tracked as the talk-to-listen ratio.
Uptalk
Ending statements with a rising pitch, as if asking a question, which can make a speaker sound less certain.
Vocal variety
Varying pitch, pace, volume and tone to add emphasis and keep listeners engaged. Think of it as a spice rack for your speaking voice that gives presentations, speeches and conversations extra flavor.
Weak words
Words that undercut a message, such as "just," "maybe," "sort of" and "I think," often flagged alongside hedging language.
Word choice
The specific words a speaker uses. Plain, precise words land better than jargon and vague qualifiers.