We all know that proofreading is a critical skill for all business and student writing. But how many of us realise just how important it is?
According to a survey carried out by the UK’s Royal Mail, British Businesses are losing up to £41 billion per year through bad grammar and spelling alone. This is because 74% of businesses surveyed said they simply don’t trust companies that can’t proofread.
International students at UK universities, meanwhile, are controversially turning to proofreading agencies for support.
So we’ve put together our top ten tips to help you proofread like a pro. And as if to prove a point, we’ve created some deliberate mistakes. See if you can spot them in the content in the left tab below. Then click on the right hand tab and see how you got on.
- Don’t confuse editing with proofreading
The first tip is: don’t confuse editing with proofreading, Edit your document first – move text around, delete words – and only when you’ve finished that should you move onto proofreading. - Get some distance
It’s hard to proofread a document that you’ve just finsihed writing – it’s still too familiar, and you’ll skip over a lot of errors. So if time permits, put the document aside for a few hours. Go for a walk. Sleep on it. Better yet, give it to a colleague – you can’t get more distant than that. - Print it out
Proofreading a hard copy is much easier than proofreading on screen. Yes, a printout might be hundreds of pages long, but you’ll find things you wouldn’t see on a screen. - Don’t rely on spelling and grammar checkers
At number four: don’t rely entirely on spelling and grammar checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from fool-proof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as misspelled may just not be in there memory. - Beware of homophones
Now, a specific word of caution about something that spelling checkers are notoriously bad at picking up: homophones. Homophones are words which sound the same but mean different things – are and therefore spelled differently. Examples include you’re and your, who’s and whose. - Use the ‘find’ function in your word processor
If you come across a word you’ve spelled incorrectly, use the find function to search for that misspelling again. You can also use this technique to check for repetitions. If you start to notice that you use, say, the word, ‘however’ every two lines, check the hole document for ‘however’ and replace some of them with an alternative word. - Keep a personal dictionary.
If there are words you spell uncorrectly time and again, create a list that you can refer back to for each document you write. - Read out loud
When you read silently or too quickly, youre likely to skip over errors or make unconscious corrections. That’s why our eighth tip is to read your writing aloud. Read slowly and read every word. You may feel silly but it forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. - Circle every punctuation mark
This forces you to look at each 1. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct. We have plenty more useful grammar blogs, including understanding semi-colons. - Read your document backwards
And finally, the quirkiest tip of them all, is to read your document backwards. (If you felt silly reading aloud, you’ll certainly feel silly doing this one.) The point is that if you read this way you’re not trying to understand the meaning of the sentences – and therefore it becomes a lot easier to spot grammar, punctuation and spelling mitsakes.
- Don’t confuse editing with proofreading
The first tip is: don’t confuse editing with proofreading, Edit your document first – move text around, delete words – and only when you’ve finished that should you move onto proofreading. - Get some distance
It’s hard to proofread a document that you’ve just finsihed writing – it’s still too familiar, and you’ll skip over a lot of errors. So if time permits, put the document aside for a few hours. Go for a walk. Sleep on it. Better yet, give it to a colleague – you can’t get more distant than that. - Print it out
Proofreading a hard copy is much easier than proofreading on screen. Yes, a printout might be hundreds of pages long, but you’ll find things you wouldn’t see on a screen. - Don’t rely on spelling and grammar checkers
At number four: don’t rely entirely on spelling and grammar checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from fool-proof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as misspelled may just not be in there memory. - Beware of homophones
Now, a specific word of caution about something that spelling checkers are notoriously bad at picking up: homophones. Homophones are words which sound the same but mean different things – are and therefore spelled differently. Examples include you’re and your, who’s and whose. - Use the ‘find’ function in your word processor
If you come across a word you’ve spelled uncorrectly, use the find function to search for that misspelling again. You can also use this technique to check for repetitions. If you start to notice that you use, say, the word, ‘however’ every two lines, check the hole document for ‘however’ and replace some of them with an alternative word. - Keep a personal dictionary.
If there are words you spell incorrectly time and again, create a list that you can refer back to for each document you write. - Read out loud
When you read silently or too quickly, youre likely to skip over errors or make unconscious corrections. That’s why our eighth tip is to read your writing aloud. Read slowly and read every word. You may feel silly but it forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. - Circle every punctuation mark
This forces you to look at each 1. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct. We have plenty more useful grammar blogs, including understanding semi-colons. - Read your document backwards
And finally, the quirkiest tip of them all, is to read your document backwards. (If you felt silly reading aloud, you’ll certainly feel silly doing this one.) The point is that if you read this way you’re not trying to understand the meaning of the sentences – and therefore it becomes a lot easier to spot grammar, punctuation and spelling mitsakes.
Read more about reviewing documents:
All of our writing courses are based upon the Structured Writing Method™ and include separate lessons about proofreading, punctuation and grammar.
Not surprisingly, content written by Writing Machine Agency undergoes our quality control process before being sent to the client. If you would like to chat about how we create such content so that it can be used in all your sales and marketing channels, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.