13

Apr

Some Email Mistakes

Mistake

Here are a few email errors to make you smile!

~ A business friend wrote, “I enjoyed working with you and Mr. _____ on this project.” She forgot to enter our partner’s last name into the message.

~ A colleague recently asked me to ignore his previous email when his mass-communication included all his clients’ contact information. He simply entered their addresses into the “To” line instead of the “BCC” line to respect their privacy.

~ A client closed an email saying, “Hope you and your finance are doing well!” He meant to write “fiancé” instead of “finance.” Or he could have intended to write “finances.”

~ I wrote “I’ll look the presentation over one final time to check for any tpyos” to a client. I misspelled “typo” accidentally. Thankfully, we laughed about it afterwards.

We all see many email gaffes — and are even guilty of quite a few! I certainly have made my share of mistakes. Have you made any email errors? How do you prevent from sending emails with mistakes?

44 days ago Short URL Comments

Business Writing/Writing

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21

Feb

Subject Verb Agreement

Lacking subject-verb agreement is a common grammatical error, especially in business writing where we write and re-write sentences frequently. Most mistakes arise when you edit sentences and forget to change the verb or when you don’t identify the sentence’s subject correctly.

For any sentence to be correct, the verb must agree with the subject in number and person. Take a look at these examples:

1. Each of these communications supports the new brand strategy.

Subject: “Each,” not “communications”

Verb: “Supports,” not “support”

2. There are two topics that we need to address in today’s meeting.

Subject: “Topics,” not “we”

Verb:”Are,” not “is”

3. Marie shares her progress with me every day.

Subject:”Marie,” not “me”

Verb: “Shares,” not “share”

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96 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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14

Feb

Working with Critiques & Suggestions

"WE'RE LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS. WRITE ONE...

Image via Wikipedia

After finishing the first draft of any project, it’s common to ask others for their suggestions. This can be as formal as a critique session or as informal as asking a trusted colleague to glance through your work. Receiving feedback is a great way to get an outside perspective — and see if your project reaches the intended audience.

So you send along your project, listen and take notes as others comment on your work and offer suggestions. But now what? How do you incorporate their suggestions to improve the final project?

  1. Pat yourself on the back for all the compliments and successes. It’s easy to fixate on what others thought was “wrong,” so make an effort to think about all that they thought was successful. Create a list of your writing strengths so you can build upon them in future projects.
  2. Revisit the project’s central goals. Now that you’ve received feedback from others, take some time to revisit your central goal. This is your objective — not writing something that will please everyone (which is impossible, by the way).
  3. Consider ALL suggestions. Analyze each and every suggestion through the lens of the central goal. Most comments and suggestions will be ideal for improving the project and helping reach the goal more effectively. Others, however, simply need to be adjusted to help achieve the central goal.
  4. Tackle simple improvements first. Incorporate small changes, such as changing titles, reordering content or improving the syntax.
  5. Determine which large suggestions you’ll incorporate. Many suggestions will go a long way to complete a stellar project. Take those suggestions and incorporate them as best as you can.
  6. Think of creative ways to carry out other suggestions. Not all of the feedback you receive will be appropriate or even applicable. In these cases, consider creative ways to pursue their idea. For example, if someone suggests that your presentation should include in-depth research on a specific topic — but this is not possible with the time constraints — consider creating a separate handout with the research to supplement the presentation.
  7. Show your final work to those who helped you — and remember to thank them. By giving you feedback, your colleagues invested their time and energy into your project. Show them that you value their help by sending along your final project with a note of thanks.

Remember that this is your project. As the writer, you are most aware of the goals and parameters. Take the time to incorporate suggestions while staying true to your goals and writing style.

103 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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12

Dec

5 Common Punctuation Mistakes & their Easy Fixes

The punctuation mark comma

Image via Wikipedia

While more subtle than misspellings and grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes also hurt your credibility. Make sure to proofread carefully and look out for these common errors:

1. Punctuation Outside Quotes: In American English, punctuation should always be placed within quotation marks, even if it’s not part of the quotation itself.

Wrong: Jim was excited to attend the new workshop, “Social Media Strategies for HR”.

Right: Jim was excited to attend the new workshop, “Social Media Strategies for HR.”

2. Comma Splice: When a comma separates two independent clauses, they must be joined by a conjunction. Without a conjunction, it becomes a comma splice.

Wrong: Their video production package costs $8,000, we decided to hire them.

Right: Their video production package costs $8,000, and we decided to hire them.

Right: Their video production package costs $8,000. We decided to hire them.

3. Missing Comma after Introductory Elements: Introductory elements of a sentence need a comma afterwards.

Wrong: Before attending the meeting Sue proofread her presentation.

Right: Before attending the meeting, Sue proofread her presentation.

4. Misplaced Apostrophes: This mistake is especially common in internet and online writing. Use apostrophes for possessives and conjunctions where appropriate.

Wrong: Carol’s notes summarize you’re presentation.

Right: Carol’s notes summarize your presentation.

5. Incorrect use of Semicolons: Semicolons are frequently used incorrectly. They connect two independent clauses that could be distinct, separate sentences.

Wrong: The budget is tight; but we will make every effort to fund employee health initiatives.

Right: The budget is tight, but we will make every effort to fund employee health initatives.

Right: Employee health initiatives are vital; we will allocate important resources for these efforts.

Do you find any punctuation mistakes frequently in your writing? What errors drive you crazy?

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167 days ago Short URL 6 Comments

Uncategorized

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14

Oct

When You’re the Office Proofreader

Downtown LA's office skyscrapers. Including th...

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Do your colleagues and employees’ rely on your writing and editing skills? Are you frequently asked to look over others’ writing or give projects a “quick look”?

Congratulations! Your co-workers obviously respect and admire your writing skills and keen eye for small errors. You should feel flattered. However, this can quickly become frustrating. When others ask for your help, it’s hard to refuse, despite having a full work load.

Poor writing skills in business can cause larger problems, too. If employees frequently sends out poor communications or produce documents peppered with errors, you clients, customers and competitors may believe that your business isn’t concerned with details. Worse, if your emails or proposals to clients are unclear, they may think that your business doesn’t fully value the relationship.

How can you improve communications skills at your office or business? Here are a few ideas:

  1. When a co-worker approaches you to edit some of their writing, offer to sit down with them and go through the document together. Your co-worker will appreciate the opportunity to learn your editing process.
  2. Create an “editing checklist” for your office or department. List errors that you see frequently, spelling and grammar mistakes. Include other questions for the writer to ask themselves, such as “Is the tone appropriate?” or “Will this make sense for someone with no prior knowledge of the topic?”
  3. Offer writing workshops – or webinars – for your department. Workshops will offer you and your co-workers the opportunity to assess writing skills, identify areas to improve and practice new techniques.
  4. Emphasize high-quality writing as vital for your business’ success. Ask your managers and executives to do the same.
  5. Hire professional writers and editors to craft and polish high-priority projects and communications. This investment will help improve your company’ reputation and even bring in more business.
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226 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Business Writing/Writing

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12

Oct

Why it’s Difficult to Edit your Writing

09222011Xaverian_gm048

Image by Xaverian Hawks via Flickr

Why are we so much more likely to miss simple mistakes in our own writing than anyone else’s writing?

Proofreading or editing something that you’re so familiar with poses several challenges:

  1. You have a deep understanding of the information and project’s goal. This makes it harder to judge how well the writing conveys the information or reaches the goals.
  2. While crafting the project, you become immersed in the nuances of your personal writing style. As a result, you may lose sight of small errors or ways to make the writing clearer to others.
  3. Crafting great writing is hard work! You may not have the necessary energy to edit the project well.

Many people that I work with say that they are so focused on the “big picture” that they don’t see the small errors of their own writing. Not only is this frustrating, it can be embarrassing! Here are a few tips for editing and proofreading better:

  • Don’t look at the writing for at least one full day. You have to take a break to gain a fresh perspective on the writing and the details. This is the most important thing you can do to catch spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, as well as reevaluate the writing’s flow.
  • Print it out. Editing a hard copy is more effective – especially for checking grammar and punctuation. Plus, it’s easier on your eyes.
  • Read every word out loud. “Listen” to your writing to determine if it’s clear and flows smoothly. This is the best way to improve sentence structures and transitions.
  • Edit multiple times. Go through the document once to improve syntax, organization and sentence structure. Second, check the details, including spelling. Then edit once more for good measure.
  • Have a professional editor or trusted colleague proofread the project. This is the best way to ensure your writing is clear and free of any errors.

Sign up for my e-zine to practice your editing and proofreading skills with the “Error Challenge” section.

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228 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Writing

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26

Aug

5 writing errors that destroy credibility

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
~Arthur Conan Doyle

Readers read some errors as just that – small mistakes. No one’s perfect, so misspellings or incorrect uses of prepositions and other small mistakes are easy for readers to move past and absorb your content’s message.

Other mistakes immediately make the reader question not only your writing abilities, but your credibility.

Good news? These errors are easy to spot when you are aware of them and proofread carefully.

Error #1: Using incorrect homonyms.
Their / There / They’re
Its / It’s
Your / You’re
Different homonyms completely change the meaning of the sentence. Spell-check won’t find these errors, so always double-check that they’re correct.

Error #2: Inconsistent titles.
This may seem obvious, but always stick to one method of naming or separating a document. For example, if your power point presentation is divided into six “chapters,” make sure they are all titled chapters. If one is accidentally named “module” or “part,” you’ll confuse your readers. Also, if one chapter is titled “Thriving in Our Economy,” use that exact title throughout the entire chapter.

Error #3: Mixing up words with similar meanings and spellings.
Affect / Effect
Farther / Further
Prospective / Perspective
Then / Than
These words are easy to confuse with one another and, like homonyms and contractions, spell-check won’t catch your mistake.

Error #4: Passive writing.
Active writing engages your readers and gives your authorial voice greater credibility. While some scientific and business projects require the passive voice, it’s best to minimize passive verbs to create more powerful writing.

Error #5: Redundancies.
Repeating a similar sentence or point doesn’t make it any clearer. Never repeat sentences or phrases with a brochure, website or e-book. When you organize content effectively and in a straight forward manner, there’s no need to repeat sentences.

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274 days ago Short URL 4 Comments

Writing

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18

Jul

Editing & Polishing: Part 2 (aka Letter by Letter)

Once you have edited your project and feel happy with the results, it’s now time to proofread and polish the document. By checking (and double checking) each letter, you’ll allow your writing – and its message – to really shine.

Nothing distracts readers like spelling errors and grammar flaws. While a few are permissible (after all, we’re all human), several mistakes detract from your overall message and credibility.

Many people love this step – striking out unnecessary words, fixing spellings and incorrect punctuation with a red pen, almost as a form of catharsis. I’ll admit to nerd-ishly enjoying finding mistakes, but I need to be somewhat systematic to catch as many errors as possible.

I always proofread by reading backwards. By starting at the last sentence of the project and slowly moving to the first sentence, it’s easier to focus on each letter and punctuation mark, rather than the sentence’s meaning. Here’s my checklist of what to look out for:

Check spelling mistakes that spell-check doesn’t catch.

  • Homonyms and contractions are easy to type incorrectly, but change the sentence’s meaning completely. Pay close attention to these words, such as “it’s” and “its” or “there,” “their” and “they’re.”
  • Some words have similar spellings and meanings, so they’re easy to mix up. Always double check words like “complement” and “compliment”, “prospective” and “perspective”, “effect” and “affect.”
  • If you type quickly, you may omit a letters, causing spelling errors. “Your” is frequently misspelled as “you,” and “too” as “to.” Like with many other mistakes, spell-check can’t catch these.

Subjects and verbs must agree. “The dog see the cat” should be changed to “the dog sees the cat.” For complex, compound sentences, the verb form is determined by the subject closest to the verb.

Revise punctuation carefully because small mistakes can change a sentence’s meaning dramatically.

  • Make the decision to use – or not use – oxford comas, then be consistent within that document.
  • Check the placement of each coma to make sure it’s correct. They’re easy to mess up, especially after several rounds of editing!
  • Punctuation marks belong inside quotations. For example, “Thanks for your e-mail regarding Bill’s report, “Exponential Growth.” I enjoyed your input!”

Eliminate word repetition as much as possible. If one word is used too frequently, circle it every time you see it on a page. This helps visualize where synonyms should be substituted.

Revise slowly and carefully to ensure your project’s flawless. Of course, it never hurts to enlist the help of a professional for a sharp set of eyes.

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313 days ago Short URL 3 Comments

Writing

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18

Jul

Writing and Editing: Part 1 (aka the Big Picture)

Once you’ve finished a piece of writing — an important e-mail, ad, white paper or the next Great American novel — you need to revise your work to make it shine. All writers edit, no matter how brilliant and talented. Even Hemingway, who famously said, “Write drunk. Edit sober.”

When editing and polishing writing, I break the process down into two parts: 1.) The Big Picture and 2.) One letter at a time.

I like to look at the writing’s “big picture” to make sure everything makes sense, follows some sort of logical progression and has a consistent style.

Every writer has a different way of doing this for each type of writing project — for example, some like to read a hard copy, others like to edit straight on the screen. No matter your style or the project, here are a few of my (not so secret) tricks:


Take a break from the writing. An hour is enough time for smaller projects, but for longer projects give yourself at least a day. This break gives you fresh eyes to look at the writing. In the meantime, get to work on other projects!

Revisit your goal. Make sure the writing accomplishes what you set out for it to do. This is a “duh” point, but still good to keep in mind when revising something that you’ve been working on for several weeks or has a complex objective.

Read it out loud and see if it flows well. Do the transitions make sense? Are any sentences structured awkwardly? You (like me) may feel like a total dork reading out loud to yourself, but this makes it much easier to pinpoint what needs improving.

Pare down. We aren’t all going to write like Hemingway, but we can avoid repetition and redundancies. If a sentence, paragraph or section aren’t doing anything to help the writing achieve the goals, get rid of it.

Rearrange sentences and sections to see if they flow better. Once you are happy with this, add information that’s missing or needs more detail.

Activate your verbs to develop engaging, motivating and credible writing. Passive verbs have their place, but use them sparingly.

Fresh perspective is important. Have a friend, colleague, editor or proofreader look over your writing.

Editing the big picture challenges every writer and copywriter, so take your time. Enjoy the process as your writing evolves and improves, then it’s onto the details!

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313 days ago Short URL Comments

Writing

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