Business vocabulary plays a critical role in shaping relationships at work. The words you and your teams use can impact how your reader judges the overall company’s tone, expertise, and professionalism. Using the wrong words or phrases, employees could potentially come off as rude or difficult to a coworker, customer, or an important business partner.

The potential pitfalls of misusing words underscore the importance of training and retraining your employees on how to pick the best words to use. Here’s a complete guide on creating and improving your team’s business writing vocabulary.

What is business vocabulary?

Business vocabulary is the set of words, phrases, and terms that professionals commonly use in a business setting. It helps employees seem professional to clients, communicate effectively with coworkers, and vouch for themselves in the workplace.

Business vocabulary can be one component of a company’s style guide. A list of commonly used terms can make your business appear cohesive to the public, which in turn strengthens your company’s brand identity. It can also simplify internal collaboration by providing a clear understanding of commonly used words among colleagues.

Why is a strong business vocabulary important?

Most industries and companies rely on written materials. As such, employees need to be able to communicate clearly with one another and with customers. It allows them to more easily and efficiently accomplish tasks in the workplace, as well as to form stronger customer relationships, which can lead to more revenue. There are many benefits to developing a strong business vocabulary. A strong vocabulary can:

• Create a powerful first impression. Your team’s communication may serve as the initial impression for a new partner or client, so it’s crucial that they present your company as professional and approachable.
• Allow you to convey ideas clearly. If you’re trying to get your superiors or cross-department colleagues to sign off on a project proposal you want to spearhead, you’ll need to convince them with your clear and concise words.
• Position you as a thought leader. The words you decide to use on public channels can make it look like you know what you’re talking about—or the opposite. A strong business vocabulary is one way to build trust in the market by positioning your company as a leader in your space.
• Engage your audience. Compelling words can intrigue your customers and potential customers and make them come back for more to see what your company has to say.
• Showcase your expertise. Having command over specific industry terms can communicate, both to coworkers and clients, that you and your teams are not only capable but expert at what you do.

Without a strong business vocabulary, miscommunications can arise, which may damage relationships and make it harder for you to be productive.

Practical tips for improving business writing vocabulary

There are many ways for you to improve your English, including reading widely, watching movies, and writing more often. These same tips apply to improving vocabulary in a professional setting—just make sure that you’re reading business newspapers, watching movies about business, and practicing writing within a business context. Here are some tips:

DO use strong, illustrative words

“Good” and “nice” are bland and overused. Choose words and phrases that pack a punch. Instead of “interesting,” try “compelling.” Instead of saying the candidate was “nice,” try describing them as “inquisitive” and “hardworking.” If you’re having trouble thinking of more impactful words, you can try using Grammarly to help you brainstorm some potential word replacements.

DON’T use the passive voice

The passive voice weasels out of telling the reader who was responsible for an action and should be avoided if possible. Instead of “The executive summary was finished,” say: “Carla finished writing the executive summary.” Instead of “The decision was made to downsize the product team,” try “The chief product officer decided to downsize the team.”

DO use simple language

Everyone is busy in the workplace, so it’s safe to assume the reader of your document or email will be skimming it. Use simple, plain language to make it easier for them to do that.

DON’T be long-winded

No one wants to read a long email that asks them to focus hard in order to parse out what you’re trying to say. Don’t use long and complicated sentences, and don’t ramble.

DO tailor your tone to the intended audience

The tone of your writing conveys your attitude to the reader. Employees should maintain a confident tone when writing to superiors, express enthusiasm when writing to new hires, and be more informal when writing to immediate teammates.

DON’T simply assume you understand a term

Business vocabulary is full of jargon and technical terms such as “marketing-qualified lead” and acronyms such as “KPI.” If you’re unsure what these expressions mean, look them up online or ask someone. Don’t simply reuse expressions you hear in the workplace. You risk misusing it and creating a misunderstanding, which can be embarrassing.

DO beware of homonyms

These are words that sound like each other but mean different things. The words that tend to trip people up include there/they’re/their, bear/bare, its/it’s, two/too/to. Proofread your writing with a close eye on homonyms.

DON’T use redundant phrases

Redundant phrases are, by definition, unnecessary. They crowd a piece of writing and make it seem unnecessarily wordy. Instead of “in my personal opinion,” state simply: “in my opinion.” Instead of “a rough estimation,” try “an estimate.” Instead of “an unexpected surprise,” just say: “a surprise.”

DO use tools like a digital communication assistant

Digital communication tools such as Grammarly can help your employees write in real time. These tools offer immediate suggestions so that writers can learn along the way. They can be implemented right away, are always available, and are easy to use.

DON’T assume your team will be able to easily master business vocabulary

Your team will likely have varying degrees of writing expertise. In order to improve the overall business writing of your team, you need to develop a plan for teaching them about business vocabulary. That plan should include communicating vocabulary expectations to them, coaching them regularly on how to use the right vocabulary, and providing continuous feedback so that they can improve.

Digital tools for vocabulary enhancement

Digital tools not only help your employees enhance their business vocabulary, they can also cut down on the time and effort needed to coach them on writing. Writing assistants such as Grammarly come with built-in generative AI features that make it easier for your employees to write on-brand copy, no matter if it’s in an email, for brainstorming, or in a proposal. Because employees learn what terms are acceptable for the brand as they write, they should have fewer questions for their managers.

Create a company-wide vocabulary strategy

Creating a style guide with commonly used terms in your company is a good way to codify a company-wide vocabulary strategy. Such a document could be split into an “internal vocabulary” section—words your employees would use with one another—and an “external vocabulary” one—words that they could use on public channels.

In order to develop a style guide, take a look at the words employees are already commonly using. Be sure to include any specialized terms that may be specific to your company. Circulate the document and ask for feedback from different teams. Lastly, incorporate professional development programs to teach employees how to use the vocabulary. These should be held regularly to keep the vocabulary current and to train employees on how to use it.

Business vocabulary key points

• A strong business vocabulary improves professional communication. It helps employees accomplish tasks efficiently and form strong relationships with customers and partners.
• Employees can actively work to improve their business vocabulary by choosing illustrative words, adopting simple language, and using a digital writing assistant.
• Employees begin at varying levels in their language and writing abilities. Developing a team with a strong business vocabulary requires consistent coaching and feedback.
• A guide to commonly used words in a company is called a style guide. A style guide can contain guidelines for words and terms to communicate externally to the public as well as internally to fellow team members.
• Using the same words and tone on a company’s public channels projects a sense of company cohesion and can lead to an increase in brand affinity.
• Digital tools such as Grammarly can help employees correct writing mistakes, learn more words, and craft copy that is on-brand. It can also save managers the time it takes to coach employees because employees learn while using the tool.

Business vocabulary FAQs

How can managers effectively teach business vocabulary to their team?

Managers can effectively teach business vocabulary to their team by first setting clear expectations. This could take the form of a one-on-one meeting in which managers explain the tone the company uses when writing to internal and external stakeholders. Creating a document with terms the company often uses is also essential. Managers should also consistently coach and give feedback to their employees to help them develop their business vocabulary.

What role does industry-specific jargon play in business writing?

Using industry-specific jargon can communicate to others that you have expertise and understanding of that industry. However, the potential pitfall of using too much industry jargon is that you may appear insecure and pretentious. As such, industry-specific jargon should be kept to a minimum whenever possible.

Are there specific vocabulary elements that are more crucial in certain business areas?

Disciplines such as marketing, finance, and engineering are known to contain a lot of technical terms and acronyms. In order to demonstrate mastery of these areas, employees will often use and reiterate acronyms that others are using. These are terms that employees need to use to communicate a sense of expertise in the field.

How often should a business update its internal style guide?

A business should not update its internal style guide too often because doing so could create a sense of whiplash for employees as well as the public. Instead, editorial leaders should maintain and update the style guide as needed in order for the business to stay relevant, as language and the norms around words are ever-changing.