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These 10 top tips for proof-reading may be simple – but they will make a difference (10 Sep 18)
Have you noticed how even tiny things can make big differences when it comes to communications?
Some examples are hilarious. A little slip of the finger causes public services to become pubic services. And you only hear about it when a senior manager phones to let you know – or, even worse, it gets into the local press
Embarrassing, right? But not as expensive as the time when a misplaced decimal point changed £1.07 million to £10.7 million in a financial contract.
Not all mistakes have such consequences.
But they do point up something very simple. Attention to detail in written material is vital. And that starts with proper proof-reading.
It doesn’t take a lot of time. And it’s not expensive. But it makes the difference between you looking amateur – and professional.
The tips that follow are almost embarrassingly simple. But then, so are some of the mistakes you see.
TOP TIPS FOR PROOF READING
Print out the document in one and a half or double spacing
Have the computer file(s) available if possible
Spell check, but …
· First make sure the document is written in UK (ie not US) English
· Don’t rely on it – the spell checker will only pick up words that are not in its dictionary (ie it won’t pick up an incorrectly used word)
If the text is for publication, do a global ‘search and replace’ for:
· Double spaces (replace with single spaces)
· Dashes (-) which should be en-dashes (–)
You can search a number of Word or PDF documents at once
Consistency is important
Check for consistency in, for example:
· Hyphenation (eg ‘email’ or ‘e-mail’; ‘well-being’ or ‘wellbeing’; ‘sub-committee’ or ‘subcommittee’)
· Capitalisation (eg, ‘internet’ or ‘Internet’; ‘government’ or ‘Government’)
· Spelling (eg, ‘acknowledgment’ or ‘acknowledgement’; ‘judgment’ or ‘judgement’)
· Punctuation (eg, ‘ie’ or ‘i.e.’; ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mr’; ‘St.’ or ‘St’)
· Bullet list style (capitalisation and punctuation)
· Use of figures (eg ‘ten or 10’, ‘one million or 1 million’, 1000 or 1,000)
· Style for references
Follow the house style, if there is one. If you don’t have a house style to follow make up your own – and here’s how to do so:
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