Brief: An overview that is usually given to an agency. For example if you wanted to change your employee magazine supplier, you would create a document describing what the work was you wanted them to pitch for (a brief), outlining information such as budget, team details, timescales and any sensitivities.

Copy: Text that is written in a story or on a page: Can you send me the copy refers to the writing. Body copy means the text in the main part of the story.

Crisis communication: Also called crisis comms or business continuity plans (bcp).Reactive information and plans that evolve due to an unplanned event or circumstance that disrupts business as usual. Covers a multitude of situations such as bad weather, IT system failures, serious incidents the list is endless. Often leads to channels such as emergency information hotlines being used.

Earned media:Customers and/or stakeholders become the channel with their content blogs, tweets, YouTube, word of mouth, viral, proactive, influencer outreach etc

Employee engagement:A workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisations goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.Plus Creating the conditions in which employees offer more of their capability and potential. These definitions are fromEngage for Success.

Focus group: A small selection of people, often employees or customers, who are asked to give honest opinions on a situation or product. Should be cross-functional (representing more than one department/location). Uses group interaction to gain insight into why certain views are held.

Ghostwriting: When something is written by someone else. E.g. An email from a CEO is actually written by an internal communicator.

HR: Human Resources.

Internal communication (IC):Also referred to as Internal Comms, Int Comms, iComms. (Im seeing it increasingly with the s removed e.g. internal communication professional). Internal communication is communication inside an organisation between a company and its audiences. This can include employees, contractors, shareholders, suppliers, stakeholders, unions, potential employees and more. Therefore not always strictly internal as audiences can include external parties. Includes both informal and formal communication and can also be called Employee communication.

Internal comms plan:How and what the company is communicating. Typically one plan per topic/campaign. You need a structured approach toconnect desired business outcomes with effective, relevant activities and tactics and it should be linked to the goals of your business. Think about the desired behaviours first (what you want employees to think/feel/do/say differently) before choosing channels. IC plans should include information such as strategy, tactics, channels/methods of communication, measurement, budget, audiences, timescales, key messages and sensitivities.

Intranet:An intranet is an internal website that employees in an organisation can access. It often contains company news, job vacancies, policies, images, employee directory, organisational charts etc.

Key message: Your key message could also be called a take-away. Its the most important piece or pieces of information that you wish to convey through your communication. Common practice is to have no more than three key messages as any more than that is difficult to remember.

Paid media:Channels you pay to leverage paid search, display ads, sponsored tweets, etc.

Pitch: A process in which decisions are made. Think of it as a presentation. For example an IC team could ask three internal communication agencies to present (pitch) their ideas to them of what they would do to change the existing employee magazine, should they successfully win the business. They take a lot of work on both sides, both in-house and agency, in order to make the right decision all round.

PR: Public Relations.

ROI: Return on investment. Phrase given to the proof that something is worth putting time, money and effort into.

Social media:Social mediais the collective of online communication channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction and collaboration.

Strategy: A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim. Includes setting the goals, choosing the most appropriate channels and identifying the method of evaluation.Internal communication strategy should be linked to your business strategy

Vlog: Video blogging

Channels youve outlined what youre trying to achieve, here you detail the communication channels/methods you will use and when. Ensure you have effective feedback mechanisms and two-way channels in place for employees to have their voices heard and views acted upon.

Timeline this is useful to ensure your strategy gets underway, it helps outlines expectations all round and is mindful of any key dates or events.

Measurement how the strategy will define and measure success.Should includewhat success looks like and what the next steps are. This can include updating the strategy at defined periods or reviewing the measurement you put in place at regular intervals.

SWOT Strenght, Weaknesses, opportunities, threats

KPI key performance indicators