I seem to have become the ‘go to’ person for any proofreading in the office and even have a mug dedicated to my efforts.
Quite often pieces of communication that we as a business distribute have been through multiple rounds of proofreading before they reach me and yet I still manage to pick up on spelling errors or make rewording suggestions. This is usually because those working on that content are too close to it and therefore it’s harder to spot issues.
We had a discussion in the office about how and why this was the case and so I decided to write a blog to help others.
This can cause misunderstandings and send the wrong message. Homophones, where words sound the same but have a different meaning, are a good example of this. When used incorrectly they can give a completely different meaning within your business communication. A classic example is confusing accept and except which in a business context, can give a very different meaning to the message you are trying to get across and could have far-reaching consequences.
You want to set the right impression to the outside world and demonstrate attention to detail, giving potential clients confidence that you are taking care in what you deliver. As an example, I recently received an invite from a prospective high school for an open evening which contained a grammatical error. That one mistake (which hundreds of parents will have now seen) certainly did not fill me with confidence and left a negative impression.
A good example is spelling names incorrectly, whether they are employees or clients, this can come across as disrespectful.
A well-written and error-free piece of copy helps promote a positive perception of the company.
Now I’m just waiting for the comments to come in, picking up errors in this blog!