Getting it right the first time is important, whether it’s a brief email, a white paper, a landing page or a magazine article. Taking the time to ensure the text is clear and concise, error-free, and engaging gives you a professional edge. Here are some proofreading tips that will help make you and your copy look good.
No Distractions
Proofreading requires all of your concentration. When proofing a document, get rid of any distractions – turn off the radio, close all browsers, commit to not checking email until you’re done. Try to eliminate potential interruptions: ask not to be disturbed; turn off your cell phone; or do your proofreading somewhere other than your office.
Paper Copy
Print out the text that needs proofing. If you’ve already read it over on screen, you’ll be surprised at how many errors you’ll find proofing the physical copy.
One Letter at a Time
Because the brain expects to see the whole word, often a person misses the fact that parts of a word are missing. When proofing a document, rather than reading the words, read the individual letters of each word instead. This is an excellent trick to catch errors made when vowels or consonants are left out, for example “dictonary” instead of “dictionary.”
Out Loud
Another handy proofing tip is to read the copy out loud to yourself or a volunteer listener. The process will also help you identify areas of text that don’t make sense, reveal missing words, and repeated words or ideas.
Overlooking Areas of a Document
While the body of a document might get our undivided attention, common areas that get overlooked are:
information in tables, particularly numbers
information appearing in headers and/or footers
pagination
quotations and citations
the spelling of names
The most common complaint received by print media outlets is that a person's name has been misspelled, and not, as many of us would expect, that they had been misquoted.
Spell Check Programs
The spell check function of most word processing programs only checks if the word is spelt incorrectly. Keep in mind that a spell checker doesn’t catch:
homonyms – words spelt or pronounced the same but have different meanings, e.g. compliment or complement
when an apostrophe should be used – people often mix up its (possessive) for it’s (contraction of it is)
words that are words but have been used incorrectly, e.g. form instead of from
Punctuation
Correct punctuation is also part of good grammar. Pay attention to:
words in need of capitalization
missing commas
too many commas
periods used incorrectly
using an apostrophe instead of the plural form of the word, e.g. the 90’s for the 90s
excessive use of exclamation points
Proofreading is important for a number of reasons, including eliminating factual and grammatical errors. But the two essential motivators for proofing are to ensure the text demonstrates professional competency and is as understandable and to the point as possible.