IB Terminology Reference

Casual to Professional Replacements

Casual/Informal	IB Standard
"a lot of growth"	"significant growth" or "X% growth"
"pretty good margins"	"attractive margins" or "margins of X%"
"they bought the company"	"the company was acquired"
"big deal"	"transformative transaction"
"cheap valuation"	"attractive valuation" or "valuation discount"
"expensive"	"premium valuation"
"make more money"	"enhance profitability" or "drive margin expansion"
"getting bigger"	"pursuing growth" or "expanding operations"
"cut costs"	"implement cost optimization" or "drive operational efficiencies"
"good fit"	"strategic fit" or "compelling strategic rationale"
"help with"	"support" or "facilitate"
"a bunch of"	"multiple" or "numerous"
"kind of" / "sort of"	[remove or be specific]
"really" / "very"	[remove or quantify]
"tons of"	"substantial" or quantify
"huge"	"significant" or quantify
"pretty much"	[remove or be precise]
"basically"	[remove or clarify]

Language Patterns to Avoid

Contractions: Don't → Do not, won't → will not
Exclamation points: Generally inappropriate for IB materials
First-person: "We think..." → "Management believes..." or passive voice
Superlatives without evidence: "best-in-class" requires supporting data
Vague quantifiers: "some", "many", "several" → specific numbers

Preferred Phrasing Patterns

Growth narratives:

"Demonstrated track record of X% revenue CAGR"
"Consistent margin expansion over [period]"
"Proven ability to generate organic growth"

Market position:

"#X player in [specific segment]"
"Leading provider of [specific offering]"
"Differentiated positioning through [specific attribute]"

Strategic rationale:

"Compelling strategic fit driven by..."
"Attractive value creation opportunity through..."
"Synergy potential of $Xm from [specific sources]"