1.

Bandwidth
2. Touchbase
3. Pivot
4. Take it offline
5. Circle Back
6. Low-Hanging Fruit
7. Think Outside the Box
8. Just Checking In/Following Up
9. Monday-morning quarterback

30,000-foot view

What it means: Consider the big picture of a situation or problem rather than getting hung up on the
details.

How it’s used: “Let’s take a 30,000-foot view on our customer acquisition strategy.”

Try this instead: Overview

2. Alignment

What it means: A shared understanding of a goal or purpose and how to work toward it together.

How it’s used: “I want to make sure we’re all in alignment on the project goals.”

Try this instead: Agreement

3. Bandwidth

What it means: How much time and energy a person has available for a task or responsibility.

How it’s used: “Do you have the bandwidth to take over this monthly report?”

Try this instead: Availability

4. Circle back

What it means: Reconnect about a topic at a later time.

How it’s used: “I’ll circle back on this next month.”

Try this instead: Follow up

5. Close the loop

What it means: Wrap up a topic or process with a firm conclusion.

How it’s used: “Can you reach out to the client to close the loop on that proposal?”

Try this instead: Finish

6. Deliverable

What it means: Something (either tangible or intangible) that’s produced as part of a project

How it’s used: “That’s a crucial deliverable for the upcoming product launch.”

Try this instead: Outcome

7. Disrupt

What it means: Innovate or introduce something new.

How it’s used: “We’re poised to disrupt the healthcare technology market.”

Try this instead: Change

8. Double-click

What it means: Dig deeper into a topic or issue.

How it’s used: “I want to double-click on your feedback about engagement surveys.”

Try this instead: Explore

9. Download

What it means: Give information to other team members.

How it’s used: “We’re here to download last week’s investor call.”
Try this instead: Share

10. EOD

What it means: End of day (which can mean something different to everyone, especially on distributed
teams).

How it’s used: “Can you get this back by EOD?”

Try this instead: List the exact date and time (for example, “by 4pm PST on Monday”)

11. Full disclosure

What it means: Complete admission of information related to a situation or decision.

How it’s used: “Full disclosure: I know that candidate personally.”

Try this instead: Nothing (simply state the fact without qualifying it)

12. Hard stop

What it means: Firm end time for a meeting or other commitment.

How it’s used: “I have a hard stop at 3pm for another meeting.”

Try this instead: End

13. Ideate

What it means: Generate new ideas, usually through brainstorming

How it’s used: “Let’s pull the team together and ideate ways to improve retention.”

Try this instead: Brainstorm

14. Leverage

What it means: Use strategies, relationships, or resources to their maximum benefit.

How it’s used: “We should leverage the customer support team’s knowledge for this project.”
Try this instead: Make the most of

15. Mind meld

What it means: Come together to share ideas and perspectives.

How it’s used: “Let’s have a quick mind meld before the client meeting tomorrow.”

Try this instead: Discussion

16. Mission critical

What it means: Tasks, strategies, or other components that are essential for achieving a goal.

How it’s used: “The graphics are mission critical for getting this ebook launched on time.”

Try this instead: Crucial

PSA: English idioms can be confusing for non-native speakers

Turns of phrase don’t always translate. So, when it comes to communicating with non-native English
speakers (and non-American-English speakers, for that matter) try asking this simple question: How do
you say this in your language? This tactic prevents a potential misunderstanding while also teaching you
something new.

17. Move the needle

What it means: Make significant progress.

How it’s used: “We’re looking for sales strategies that will move the needle on our revenue numbers.”

Try this instead: Effective

18. Offline

What it means: Discuss something outside of the current meeting or conversation.

How it’s used: “We’ll chat about that offline.”

Try this instead: Later

19. Out of pocket

What it means: To be unreachable.

How it’s used: “I’ll be out of pocket tomorrow afternoon for my daughter’s dance recital.”

Try this instead: Unavailable

20. Piggyback

What it means: Take inspiration from an existing idea or initiative, rather than start from scratch

How it’s used: “To piggyback off of this customer’s feature request…”

Try this instead: Build

21. Ping

What it means: Send a brief message or notification to someone.

How it’s used: “I’ll ping Sean to check in.”

Try this instead: Contact

22. Pivot

What it means: Strategically shift direction or focus in response to changes.

How it’s used: “We’re going to pivot our approach to product development.”

Try this instead: Switch

23. Punt

What it means: Postpone a decision or task to a later time.

How it’s used: “Let’s punt that to next week’s meeting.”

Try this instead: Delay

24. Put a pin in it

What it means: Temporarily set aside a topic or decision.

How it’s used: “We’ll put a pin in this until we can get more information.”

Try this instead: Pause

25. Scale

What it means: Expand a team, product, service, or business.

How it’s used: “We need this process to scale along with our team.”

Try this instead: Grow

26. Seamless

What it means: Process or experience that is smooth and efficient.

How it’s used: “Our checkout experience should be seamless.”

Try this instead: Easy

27. Synergy

What it means: Combined effort that leads to better results than individual efforts.

How it’s used: “Bringing together our marketing and sales team will create synergy.”

Try this instead: Teamwork

28. Table this

What it means: Postpone or set aside a topic or decision for a later date.

How it’s used: “Let’s table this for now.”

Try this instead: Move on

29. Utilize

What it means: Make use of something

How it’s used: “How can we better utilize the team’s talents?”

Try this instead: Use

30. Value add

What it means: Improvement that increases the worth of a product, service, or process

How it’s used: “This feature is a real value add for our customers.”

Try this instead: Benefit

31. Wheelhouse

What it means: Area of expertise or skill

How it’s used: “Excel formulas aren’t really in my wheelhouse.”

Try this instead: Strength

1. Above my paygrade. Outside the scope of your responsibility and/or needs to be addressed by
someone higher up.

2. Action item. A task that needs to be completed. Workers may frequently come away from
meetings with a list of action items that need to happen in a set time frame.

3. Back burner. A task or responsibility that you will revisit at a later date.

4. Bandwidth. Related to workload and the ability and/or time to address a situation. "I don't have
the bandwidth to complete that task."

5. Brain dump. Taking all of the thoughts in your head and putting them on paper.

6. Break down silos. Removing barriers between teams and/or departments to improve efficiency.

7. Bring it to the table. Used in HR circles to describe what skills and experience a job candidate
can provide to a company.

8. Buy-in. Persuading employees and other stakeholders to willingly accept and support something,
such as a new business plan or policy.

9. Churn. Also known as churn rate, the number of employees or customers who leave a business
in a given time frame.

10. Clock watcher. An employee who continually looks at the time waiting for the workday to be
over.

11. Core competencies. An organization's or person's strengths, including skills, knowledge and
capabilities.

12. Deep dive. A thorough analysis of something.

13. Deliverable. An item that must be produced at the end of a project.

14. Drill down. Analyzing something more in depth.

15. Drink the Kool-Aid. Blindly believe in and follow questionable principles or ideas.

16. Ducks in a row. Organizing everything, getting it under control.

17. Dumpster fire. A catastrophically bad situation.

18. Fire drill. An unexpected event or task that needs to be done quickly.

19. Flesh out. Providing more information about something.

20. Game changer. A newly introduced element that significantly affects an existing situation.
21. Go to market. Often referring to a go-to-market strategy , this spells out how a company delivers
products and services to customers.

22. Hard stop. A specific end time for something because you have something scheduled
immediately behind it.

23. Herding cats. A negative phrase used by managers to describe a team that is difficult to deal
with.

24. Hot desking. Sharing desks in an office that aren't assigned to anyone. Desks are available on a
first-come, first-serve basis.

25. In the weeds. Overwhelmed by work.

26. Let's circle back on that. To suggest talking about something again later.

27. Let's take this offline. To suggest discussing something in private.

28. Low-hanging fruit. Low-effort tasks with high-yield results.

29. Make hay. Taking advantage of an opportunity.

30. Micromanager. A boss who excessively observes and controls team members.

31. Move the goal posts. Changing the rules to gain an advantage for yourself and make it more
difficult for others.

32. Move the needle. Making a noticeable change.

33. Office drone. A white-collar worker who does the same mundane tasks from day to day.

34. One-on-one. A regularly scheduled meeting or check-in between two people -- usually, a
manager and employee.

35. Pain point. Problem business customers and employees face.

36. Per my last email. A polite way of telling someone you've already addressed their question in a
previous email.

37. Ping. Sound heard when a message or text is received on a computer or phone.

38. Pivot. In the business world, changing direction when something is not working.

39. Punt. Delay or postpone, such as moving a meeting to another day.

40. Put a pin in it. Putting something on hold, intending to come back to it later.

41. Put out a fire. Addressing an expected problem.

42. Reinvent the wheel. Recreating something that already exists, often unnecessarily.

43. Run it up the flagpole. Testing the popularity of a new idea or proposal.

44. Run the numbers. Performing numerical calculations -- often used in accounting and other
financial departments.

45. Sidebar. An unplanned discussion -- often off-topic -- during a meeting.

46. Slide deck. A slideshow presentation -- usually refers to a PowerPoint presentation.

47. Stand-up. A brief daily meeting to discuss goals and plans for the day.

48. Think outside the box. Pondering or brainstorming unusual and off-the-beaten-path ideas.

49. Throw under the bus. Blaming someone else to avoid negative consequences or gain an
advantage.

50. Top-down. A management approach where business leaders make companywide decisions that
then filter down to the employees.

51. Touch base. Talking to someone quickly for an update on something.

52. Touchpoint. An interaction between a business and its customers.

53. Trim the fat. When a business reduces unnecessary expenditures to save money.

54. Voluntold. A play on volunteer and told, being told to volunteer.

55. Watercooler. A type of conversation where employees take a break to socialize with one
another. Previously, it would take place next to the watercooler.

56. Wheelhouse. Area of expertise.

57. Whiteboarding. The process of brainstorming using a physical or virtual whiteboard.

58. You're crushing it. Doing something extremely well and/or exceeding goals.

59. 110% - Isn’t that just bad math? Exaggeration brings

questions to your other numbers.

60. Actionable

61. Agile - Are you using the Agile methodology? If not,

you’re using a buzzword.

62. A-ha moment

63. All-hands meeting

64. ASAP - But, when? Specific dates and times create action.

65. At this point in time - Simplicity is bliss. Try: At this

point or Now

66. Authentic

67. Back of the envelope - Try: initial estimate or rough

calculation

68. Balls in the air

69. Bandwidth - Try: capacity or time

70. Bang for the buck - Easy to promise, but what does it
really mean?

71. Banner year

72. Beat the bushes

73. Beef up - Try: reinforce or intensify

74. Best in class

75. Best practices

76. Big bang for the buck

77. Bleeding edge

78. Boil the ocean

79. Boondoggle - Using a cute word for a mistake won’t make

the explanation easier.

80. Boots on the ground

81. Brain dump

82. Bring to the table

83. Buck the trend

84. Build capacity

85. Buzzworthy

86. Cast a wider net

87. Change agent

88. Circle back - Try: revisit or discuss later

89. Core competency

90. Corporate values

91. Cradle to grave

92. Crowdsource

93. Crushing it - It may be Gary Vaynerchuk’s favorite phrase,

but what does it really mean?

94. Culture fit

95. Deep dive

96. Dialogue

97. Do more with less

98. Drill down - Try: analyze or scrutinize

99. Drink the kool-aid

100. Due diligence

101. Empower

102. End of week

103. Fire fighting

104. First and foremost - You can drop the ‘and foremost’ for a
stronger, simpler sentence.

105. Food chain

106. Forward planning - Can one plan backward?

107. Frictionless

108. Game changer

109. Growth hacking

110. Guesstimate

111. Hand holding

112. Hard stop

113. Headwinds - Try: challenges or constraints

114. Hyperlocal

115. Ideation

116. Impact - Everyone loves impact, but it can easily be a fluff

word. Give it real meaning.

117. In the black

118. In the loop

119. In today’s world - What other world are we in?

120. Irregardless - Most believe this word is not a word.

121. It's a paradigm shift

122. It is what it is - Why not add “...and I don’t care.”

123. Kick the tires - Try: test or trial

124. Knee deep

125. Land and expand

126. Let's be honest - What is the other option?

127. Leverage

128. Lipstick on a pig

129. Lots of moving parts

130. Low hanging fruit

131. Magic bullet

132. Make it pop

133. Mission-critical

134. Move the needle - This phrase calls for statistics. Do you
have them?

135. New normal

136. On the runway

137. Open the kimono

138. Organic growth

139. Special projects

140. Peel the onion

141. Perfect storm

142. Personal brand

143. Pre-think - Does ‘pre’ add any value here?

144. Productize - Does your audience see this verb as a word?

145. Pull the trigger - Try: initiate or kick-off

146. Raise the bar

147. Reinvent the wheel

148. Reach out

149. Resource intensive

150. Results-oriented - This should be a given.

151. Revolutionize - A rare occurrence stated commonly.

152. Robust

153. Run it up the flagpole

154. Scalability

155. Secret sauce

156. Shovel ready - Try: prepared or simple ready

157. Silver bullet

158. Solutioneering - Be careful of words that didn’t exist last

year.

159. Stopgap

160. Strategic partnership - Which partnerships

are not strategic?

161. Straw man

162. Summit

163. Survival strategy

164. Sweetheart deal

165. Swimlane

166. Synergy - Perhaps the most infamous jargon term.

 167. Table the conversation

168. Tailwinds

169. Take offline

170. Take it to the next level

171. Tee up

172. Test the water - Try: trial or investigate

173. Thought leader - Today, everyone is a thought leader. Use

the term thoughtfully.

174. Tiger team

175. Top of mind

176. Touch base - Try: contact or chat

177. Transparent

178. Triage

179. Trim the fat

180. Upstream

181. Value add - value implicitly adds value. If there is no add,

there is no value.

182. Vertical

183. Viral

184. War room

185. Where the rubber meets the road

BUSINESS TERMS
ROI

Return on investment (ROI) refers to all the benefits — monetary or otherwise — received from an
investment.

2) Incentivize

Provide an incentive (a motivation) for using a product or service.

3) Monetize

Make money from a product or activity.

4) Deliverable

A product or service developed by a business.

5) Margin

Profit from a product or service after all expenses have been covered. Often referred to as a percentage.

6) Accounts Payable

A record of the money you owe to the people and businesses that helped you create your product
or service.

7) Accounts Receivable

A record of the money that other people and businesses owe to you.

8) Capital

Capital often refers to money, but it can also be used to refer to everything your business owns and uses
to function (e.g., equipment, vehicles, buildings, land, etc.).

9) Fixed Costs

Costs you must pay whether your business is doing well or not. Expenses such as utilities, rent, and
employee salaries are considered fixed costs.

10) Variable Costs

Variable costs are expenses that fluctuate based on your volume of business. They include:

 Shipping

 Commissions

 Supplies
  Hourly wages

11) Gross

Gross refers to the total amount or quantity BEFORE deductions or expenses.

12) Net

Net refers to the amount or quantity AFTER deductions or expenses.

3) Benchmarking

The process by which you measure various aspects of your systems (e.g., speed, efficiency, cost, amount
of product).

14) SWOT

SWOT is an acronym that refers to a form of analysis that examines your:

 Strengths

 Weaknesses

 Opportunities

 Threats

15) KPI

KPI is an acronym that stands for Key Performance Indicators. KPIs are usually numbers that tell you how
effective your business is in a specific area.

16) Metrics

Any quantifiable (countable) measurement your business uses to assess performance.

17) Performance Review

A performance review is a process by which a manager evaluates each member of his or her team.
During the performance review, the manager provides feedback and helps the employee see how they
can improve.

18) R&D

Short for research and development.

19) B2B

B2B is short for business-to-business and describes a business transaction with another business.
20) B2C

Short for business-to-consumer and describes transactions with individual consumers.

21) B2G

Short for business-to-government and describes transactions with government entities.

22) Scalable

23) Responsive Design

This term refers to a website that changes based on the type of device (tablet, phone, laptop, desktop)
used to view it.

24) Core Competency

A core competency is a defining capability or advantage that distinguishes you from your competitors.

Sales & Marketing Business Terms

25) Unique Selling Proposition

A specific factor that differentiates your product or service from your direct competitor (e.g., cost,
quality, added use).

25) Niche Market

A very specific segment of a larger market.

26) Marketing

The action or business of promoting and selling products or services.

27) Market Research

The action or activity of gathering information about consumers’ needs and preferences so you can
provide just the right product or service.

28) Market Penetration

A measure of the extent of a product’s sales volume relative to the total sales volume of all competing
products.

29) Inbound Marketing

Digital (i.e., internet-based) marketing that includes podcasts, video, email broadcasts, social media,
ebooks, and SEO.
30) Buyer Persona

The characteristics of your ideal buyer.

31) A/B Testing

Testing two versions (an A version and a B version) to see which one performs better.

32) Analytics

Data from a variety of sources used to inform marketing efforts.

33) Brand

A product, identity, or image that generates awareness and separates your business from others.

34) Bounce Rate

How often people visit your website and leave without clicking on anything.

35) CTR

Click Through Rate tells you how many people are moving through your website toward purchasing your
product or service.

36) CMS

Short for Content Management System and refers to a program (usually software) that manages all
aspects of creating digital content.

37) Conversion Rate

Percentage of people who take a desired action (usually on your website).

38) CRM

Short for Customer Relationship Management. Refers to software that helps you organize your marketing
activity.

39) CPL

Short for Cost Per Lead and refers to the total marketing cost necessary to acquire a lead (potential
buyer).

40) Demographics

Demographics are data points that apply to your target market, such as age, sex, income, and family
status.
41) Digital Marketing

Marketing conducted solely on the internet.

42) Evergreen

Content that is valuable to a consumer regardless of when it is read.

43) Friction

Any aspect of your image, brand, product, or website that is hard to understand (causes friction between
it and the consumer).

44) Infographic

Content that combines words and images to make complex information easy to understand.

45) PPC

Pay Per Click — advertising on the internet where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

46) SEO

Search Engine Optimization — optimizing your website so that it ranks higher on the results page of a
search engine.

47) Sales Funnel

The entire sales process as a whole.

48) TOFU

Top Of The Funnel — refers to the initial stages of the sales funnel, where the consumer is looking for
answers to a problem that may involve your product or service.

49) MOFU

Middle Of The Funnel — refers to the middle stages of the sales funnel, where your business positions
itself as the solution to the consumer’s problem.

50) BOFU

Bottom Of The Funnel — refers to the end stages of the sales funnel, where a consumer is ready to buy.

51) User Experience

The total experience — from purchase and beyond — a user has with your brand.

General Business Terms

52) Run With It

Take an idea and investigate it further.

53) Loop You In

Include in the discussion.

54) Live And Breathe It 24/7/365

Work at something all the time to the exclusion of everything else.

55) Be Proactive

Take the initiative.

56) Don’t Go There

We’re not discussing that right now.

57) A Walk In The Park

Used to refer to a simple task.

58) Take It To The Next Level

Step up your efforts.

59) Aggressive Timeline

A timeline that is too short and doesn’t provide enough room to get everything finished.

60) 4th And Inches

Football metaphor that means you’re close to the end and you need to put everything you have into
reaching completion.

61) Manage The Optics

Move the facts around in your favor.

62) Circle Back

We’ll get back to that if we have time.

63) Ballpark

Estimate something.

64) Think Outside The Box

Get creative.

65) Go Back And Sharpen Your Pencils

Come up with some new ideas.

66) Not Enough Boots On The Ground

Not enough people working on a task.

67) Housekeeping

Mundane organization and project issues.

68) Clean House

Fire a large group of people.

69) Square The Circle

Do things differently.

70) Cash Cow

Someone or something that brings in a lot of money.