26

Apr

Correcting Kindly

http://artpetty.com/2010/12/20/smiles-sales-and-leadership/

We all make mistakes when writing. Sometimes these mistakes even make their way into final publications, presentations, blog posts or emails. When you find an error in a colleague’s writing project, treat them the way you would  like to be treated by correcting them kindly. The writing will improve, as will your relationship!

Here are a few simple tips for pointing out mistakes with kindness:

  1. If the writing can be updated (such as with a blog post or powerpoint presentation), tell the writer about the mistake as quickly as possible, so they avoid public embarrassment. If the writing can’t be updated (such as a printed brochure), tell the writer to keep the change in mind for future printings.
  2. Approach the writer privately, either in person or via email, never through a public message board.
  3. Describe everything that the writer got right in detail. For example, describe how the presentation inspired you to do something new or how you appreciate the blog’s creativity.
  4. Be specific when pointing out the error.
  5. Acknowledge their efforts in writing the document.

All of these steps help maintain the writer’s self-esteem, fix an error and–most importantly–bolster your professional relationship with a kind, sincere discussion.

Here’s an example of a kind correction:

Subject: Lone mistake in “Innovating Production” presentation

Hi Chris,

Congratulations on a wonderful presentation! The entire group was impressed by how you organized the issue so intuitively and gave us lots of practical tips for improving–and rewarding–innovative performance. I want to point out a typo I found on slide 10: aberrant is misspelled. “We must encourage abberant thinking and experimentation” should read, “We must encourage aberrant thinking and experimentation.” 

A super small mistake! Congrats, again, on this success–your hard work paid off. We’re looking forward to learning more from you in future presentations.

Cheers,

Kathleen

Do you have any examples of a kind correction? Do you associates correct mistakes kindly? I’d love other examples, so please pass along your experiences!

31 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Business Writing

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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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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...

Image via Wikipedia

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

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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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16

Sep

Better Writing in Business

Want to improve your writing? Want to raise the bar on business writing at your organization?

Sign up for my free e-zine Better Writing in Business!

Each issue is full of tips and strategies to write better and faster, along with quick quizzes to test your proofreading skills and e-mail intelligence. Write with more creativity, confidence and effectiveness!

254 days ago Short URL Comments

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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