Provereading is Overtated

The fourstay is a piece of machinery that attaches the mast to the bough of the boat.

Say what? If you’re not a sailor, this sentence will have some terms you’re probably not familiar with. Unfortunately, even sailors may have trouble deciphering it. The reason? Poor proofreading.

The sentence should read: The forestay attaches the mast to the bow of the boat (I’m not sure a piece of wire actually qualifies as machinery).

Now you might say, “Well that’s okay, the writer obviously wasn’t a sailor. They weren’t to know.” And you’d be right. You can’t know everything about everything – you can, though, find out. As a writer that’s part of your job – yes, especially when you’re writing for your own business.

Nothing says, “I can’t be bothered” more than a series of mistakes. Here are some things to check for:

1. Any and all terminology.
If you’re interviewing an expert, ask them to clarify the term and to spell it for you. Otherwise use Google, Wikipedia or Dictionary.com to check that you’re using the right term and have spelt it correctly.

2. Word Usage
Okay, sew you’ve run a cheque over you’re work and are satisfied that their are know spelling errors. Now, read your work for word usage. Spelling check looks at spelling not whether or not you’ve used the correct word. If you’re unsure, ask someone else to read through your copy.

Trade Trick: When you’re checking for word usage / meaning, read your copy forward ie. as though you are actually reading it.

3. Spelling
There is absolutely, positively NO excuse for misspellings. The only possible reprieve is if your spell checker uses American English and you have no idea that Australians spell ‘labor’ with a ‘u’ or ‘capitalize’ with an ‘s’. Still, it is far more professional to use the language of the country of your target market. If you’re unsure buy an Australian dictionary like the Macquarie Dictionary.

Trade Trick: When you’re checking spelling, read your copy backwards ie. From the last word to the first word. So often we read what we think should be there, not what we’ve actually written. Reading last to first forces you to read the actual word.

4. Punctuation
There’s about twenty punctuation marks so punctuation can be tricky. If you’re unsure of how to use a colon, semi-colon, ellipsis or any other form of punctuation, look it up! Or, if that’s not possible, stick to what you know. I recently read a supposedly professional email that ended a sentence with a comma. That’s just plain sloppy. Sentences start with capital letters and they end with full stops. If nothing else, proofread to get the basics right!

5. Pronouns
Very basically, a pronoun replaces a noun. Words like he, she, they, our and we are all pronouns. When you’re writing copy for your business, chances are you’ll use a pronoun as a substitute for your business eg. We offer you fabulous service. A trap for young players (and we’re all young at heart) is to start referring to your business as ‘we’ and change to ‘they’. Quite simply – don’t. It’s either ‘we’ or ‘they’.

6. ‘Find and Replace’ Errors
Another trap for the uninitiated is the ‘find and replace’ function. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great tool. It is, however, extremely conscientious. If you ask it to find every ‘we’ and replace it with ‘they’, it will. ‘Wear’ will become ‘Theyar’. ‘Weeping’ will become ‘Theyeping’. So always, always, always re-read your copy after completing a ‘find and replace.

If you expect customers and potential customers to take the time to read your advertisements, emails, website and brochures, at least respect them enough to proofread your work. Nothing says, “We really value your time” like well-written, correctly punctuated, spell-checked and informative copy. Make yours shine!

Networking Opportunities

If you're looking to kickstart you business year with some networking here's a couple that might be of interest.

Breakfast

Bayside Business Network presents:

Who Moved My Cheese

Brought to you by kind permission of Matrix Plus, authorised representative of Spencer Johnson Partners Inc 

(I've read this book and it is great! . . .and not just because it has animals in it.)

It uses four little mice to show the different ways we can react to change and the consequences of the choices we make.

Date: Tuesday 6th March

Time: 7am-9am

Place: The International of Brighton, 81 Bay Street, Brighton

Lunch

Bayside Business Women's Network presents:

Sell Like a Woman!

Yes it's true. You can be your authentic female self and a successful salesperson. Sue Barret will show you how.

Date: Tuesday 20th March

Time: Noon-2pm

Place: Brighton Yacht Club, Esplanade Brighton.

While this is a Women's Network event, men are also welcome.

Book for both events at baysidebusiness.com.au or for enquires call Jo at Current Events on

9596-4333

Saying to Soar By

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Email: mandy@talkingturkey.com.au
Web: www.talkingturkey.com.au

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