Glossary
Executive Assistant Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential executive assistant terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key executive assistant vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in executive assistant training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Action item
- A task assigned in a meeting.
- Agenda
- A list of meeting topics.
- Board packet
- Materials prepared for a board meeting.
- Briefing document
- A summary prepared before a meeting.
- Calendar block
- Time reserved on a calendar for focus or travel.
- Chief of staff
- A senior role managing an executive’s priorities and team.
- Confidentiality
- Keeping sensitive information private.
- Delegate access
- Permission to manage someone’s email and calendar.
- Expense report
- A record of business expenses for reimbursement.
- Gatekeeper
- The person who manages access to an executive.
- Itinerary
- A detailed travel plan.
- Minutes
- The official record of a meeting.
- Off-site
- A meeting held away from the office.
- Stakeholder
- Anyone affected by a decision or project.
- Time zone management
- Scheduling across multiple time zones.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Executive Assistant practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Executive Assistant training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.