It’s impotent
Let’s take a few minutes to look at the forth and final stage in the writing process. (Did you catch the error?) We’ve already discussed preparing to communicate, drafting our thoughts and ideas, then rewriting and revising what we’ve written whether it is an e-mail message, a letter, a speech, or a presentation.
Now we’re tired, we’re ready to move on to the next task, and we’re already thinking ahead to a spinach salad for lunch. But in comes a nagging little thought: Is the document really final? Does it need one more read through?
The answer is always, “Yes.” If it’s a three-sentence email, the final proofing will take us 30 seconds. If it’s a 30-minute presentation with slides and handouts, we should order lunch in. There is a feeling, the hungrier, busier, and more tired we are, that this last step could be safely omitted. Again, we’d be wrong. Here’s why.
Proofreading plays two important roles. It helps us avoid miscommunication. It helps us avoid embarrassment.
When You Can’t Blame Autocorrect
Proofreading is focused on ensuring proper grammar and correct spelling as well as accuracy of language and content. Many of us will shrug this off as unimportant or irrelevant, or already accomplished in an earlier stage. Smart organizations and savvy communicators know better. Just ask the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In 1962, the U.S. space agency launched the Mariner 1 spacecraft to collect data on the planet Venus. Mariner 1 never made it; 293 seconds after it left the ground the spaceship was blown up. According to an official report released by the Mariner 1 Post-Flight Review Board an omitted hyphen in a line of computer code was the culprit that sent Mariner 1 spiraling off course. Other sources say the error was caused by a missing overbar, a line that appears above text. Some say the culprit was a decimal. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the error was overlooked.
The slip-up, says British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, is “the most expensive hyphen in history.” When the Mariner 1 went up in flames so did $18.5 million dollars ($156 million in today’s dollars).
NASA is not alone in making the annals of proofreading blunders. Lockheed Martin, the third largest aerospace company, lost $70 million in 1999 thanks to an errant comma that incorrectly tied sales price to inflation rate. The client insisted the contract be honored.
More than a decade after Lockheed Martin was licking its financial wounds, an executive at the Chilean mint signed off on the production of 1.5 million coins. Unfortunately, the pesos in question—still in circulation today—spelled the country’s name wrong: CHIIE. The executive, ahem, is no longer employed at the mint.
Even when a proofreading error is unlikely to affect the bottom line significantly, it can still affect comprehension. It can send messages we didn’t intend or messages that cannot be interpreted correctly.
I recently removed this from one of my favorite diners, with apologies and a generous tip. A group of us have been having brunch on Saturday mornings for years. Here’s what one menu item offered up:
Choose between three full strips of bacon, a full slice of ham or three breakfast sausage links. Each platter is served with two eggs, seasoned hashbrowns or baked beans and toast.
Okay, so without a comma after “ham” in the first sentence, we can still easily and correctly understand that we are being given a choice of three meats: bacon, ham, or sausage. However, without a comma in the second sentence there is no way we can know whether we are getting
two eggs, a choice of seasoned hashbrowns or baked beans, and toast
or
two eggs, seasoned hashbrowns, and a choice of baked beans or toast.
Now we can guess at which option is correct (toast usually comes with breakfast), but when we force our audiences to guess, we run the risk they will guess incorrectly. As effective communicators, we want to take the guesswork out of everything we have to say.
Saying Face
As we’ve seen, proofreading errors can be costly. Even without large price tags, overlooked grammar, punctuation, spelling, and related errors often require repeat communication and explanation. A waste of time for everyone.
Such errors are also potentially embarrassing. They can affect our credibility and reputation. They can raise questions about our competence and the care we bring to our work.
One of the all-time proofreading bloopers dates back to 1631 when royal printers in London were preparing a bible—and left out an important word in one of the 10 commandments. In that unfortunate version of the bible, sometimes called the Wicked Bible, a new decree can be found: Thou shalt commit adultery.
Then there was the 2012 University of Texas at Austin commencement program that noted on the cover the event would take place at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Pubic Affairs. Oh dear. (This error is not as uncommon as we’d think, but it is always regrettable and always embarrassing.)
In 2008, a New Hampshire newspaper misspelled its own name as the Valley Newss. Now how much confidence does that give us in the quality of the reporting. To the paper’s credit, the editor ran this apologetic note:
Readers may have noticed that the Valley News misspelled its own name on yesterday’s front page. Given that we routinely call on other institutions to hold themselves accountable for their mistakes, let us say for the record: We sure feel silly.
It’s a feeling most of us would like to avoid, especially when we are building and maintaining reputations as reliable, skilled professionals. The good news is proofreading can help us here.
There is a widespread belief that small language and grammar errors don’t matter today. We’re using technology in new and evolving ways, and grammar has gone by the wayside. Texting, emojis, even e-mail have given us a new set of rules, and it’s only old folks who eat spinach that contend otherwise.
Actually, it’s our readers, our listeners, and our employers who contend otherwise. A study conducted by the College Board, established through the National Commission on Writing to improve writing and learning in American schools, found 50 percent of the organizations that responded look at writing skill when hiring professional staff. In addition, at least 80 percent of the companies in the service and finance, insurance, and real estate sectors, those corporations with the greatest employment growth potential, assess writing during hiring. This is a critical skill, and proofreading errors raise red flags about our capability.
Test Your Skills
Take a look at the following sentence. How many Fs are there?
Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.
If you said, six, you’re correct. If you said, three or five, you’ve hit on the two reasons why proofreading can be so difficult.
Many people miss the three “Fs” in “of.” Small words like these are often overlooked as we read through a slide or other piece of text. Our brain understands what should be there, and we see what we expect to see. We glide over the small words and believe them to be correct.
The other often-missed “F” is in the final “of.” This is an issue of speed and tiredness. Proofreading requires attention and focus. It’s not unusual to rush the process or find ourselves getting tired and distracted—even when it’s only one sentence. That’s one reason so many PPTX slides and short e-mails have errors. Inevitably, those errors are noticed by our audience.
One reason we miss mistakes is because our eyes are moving at breakneck speed. The brain, in turn, rushes to keep pace. The result: the “l” is dropped in public or we dine on kinfolk. (Keep reading.) Many proofreading techniques, therefore, are intended to slow our eyes down. Here are a few:
1. If proofreading a paper version (often recommended as well to give eyes and brain a break from the same-old, same-old), use a finger or a pencil to go through the material word by word. Remember, at this stage we are not reading for content and comprehension, so it doesn’t matter if the flow is affected. (We can also do this with text on the screen.)
2. Read from the bottom up.
3. Read one line—not one sentence—at a time. Using a ruler or a piece of paper to hide the other text will help here.
4. Proofread for specific items. For example, if there is a word, title, or name that is commonly misspelled, have spell check look for incorrect variations of this word or search for the first few letters. This technique also gives your brain a rest.
5. Fact check separately from proofreading. Part of proofreading is making sure content is correct. This is fact checking. Confirm that phone numbers and website links actually work. Check the title of documents cited and the names of people mentioned.
6. Read the text aloud and word for word. (If the text is for a presentation, read what is on the slide not what will be said when the slide appears.)
7. Pay special attention to titles, subheads, footnotes, and other material that isn’t part of the main blocks of text. This is where errors occur. Just ask the Valley News.
8. Try reading on an incline. It’s actually much less tiring on the body.
Giving Your Brain a Break
Proofreading should be done separately from editing. So give yourself a break—and a fresh set of eyes—before tackling this final step. Here’s how.
1. If the text is short, stand up, breathe deep, maybe do a stretch. Then proofread.
2. Proofread differently from how you write and/or edit. For most of us, this is sitting in front of a computer screen. So print material and proofread on paper.
3. Proofread differently from where you write and edit. Is a boardroom available? A meeting room? A favorite and quiet coffee shop? This new environment will help position material in a new way. Your brain feels like this is not drudgery.
4. Get rid of distractions. Turn the phone off (or leave it in the office). Move away from mainstream traffic in the workplace.
5. After an hour, stop. Take a walk, go for lunch and indulge in a spinach-artichoke dip. Take your thong to the cleaner. Come back refreshed.
6. Ask another person to proofread the work. This needs to be someone who will read with care and not get caught up in content.
In Fine Style
For those who do a lot of writing, oversee employees who do a lot of writing, and/or write long documents, creating an in-house style guide may be useful. First, select a grammar book that will be the default reference for answering questions about everything from commas to capitalization to compound sentences. One of the best-selling and highly recommended is The Chicago Manual of Style.
But any grammar book will give only the rules and how those rules are put into practice, or not. It may not answer questions specific to your issue or your industry. That’s where a style guide comes in.
A style guide is tailor-made for a specific company, department, or topic. It details how words will be spelled, titles capitalized, acceptable abbreviations, exceptions to common usage, and more. We recently proofread an annual report for an airport authority, which oversees operation of an international airport. The style guide we developed, for example, noted that “under way” is how the organization spells the use of the term in phrases like, “The project is under way.” The word “underway” spelled as one word, however, refers specifically, and more rarely, to activities such as underway refueling.
Now, we’ll get under way discussing the importance of feedback.
You May Have Seen This T-Shirt
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Proofreading can save the life of someone you love.