Dec
18
Computers make it so easy to simply dash off documents and publish them straight to the internet - the words can end up on a website or in an email faster than you can think.
...and that's the problem.
...and that's the problem.
The busier we get, the less attention we pay to the words we use and the copy we publish.
It happens to me when I write these blog articles (you'll see the odd typo slips through from time to time).
But that is no excuse for sloppy publishing. The words you publish represent your organisation and are an indication of the way your business will behave towards customers - whether you like it or not. Those of us who think we can spell are unlikely to want to do business with people who, on the evidence of their published word, cannot.
Of course, it's not just spelling. For example, inappropriate apostrophes are everywhere. There is, however an even more sinister cause of bad spelling and poorly constructed grammar: The spelling and grammar checkers in your word processing software.
Here is an example of something that landed in a colleagues' inbox this morning. It's written by a BIG recruitment agency and as such is an indication of the level of attention and professionalism one might expect from them...
Our client is seeking and experienced Operations Manager who demon state’s strong customer focuses, building and maintaining long lasting relationships. You will lead and direct the quality of project delivery with profit centre.
Not only is it written in that strange language known only to recruitment companies (which the rest of us recognise as complete boll... pardon me, "rubbish"), but it suggests that this might be a devil of a job.
How could this have happened? Well, someone might have typed it like this OR they relied on a piece of software to fix it for them. Spell check software can only do so much for you - if you can't use the English language properly in the first place, spell check isn't going to be of much use. Note the inappropriate apostrophe.
How do you avoid these errors?
Read the thing before you publish it.
It happens to me when I write these blog articles (you'll see the odd typo slips through from time to time).
But that is no excuse for sloppy publishing. The words you publish represent your organisation and are an indication of the way your business will behave towards customers - whether you like it or not. Those of us who think we can spell are unlikely to want to do business with people who, on the evidence of their published word, cannot.
Of course, it's not just spelling. For example, inappropriate apostrophes are everywhere. There is, however an even more sinister cause of bad spelling and poorly constructed grammar: The spelling and grammar checkers in your word processing software.
Here is an example of something that landed in a colleagues' inbox this morning. It's written by a BIG recruitment agency and as such is an indication of the level of attention and professionalism one might expect from them...
Our client is seeking and experienced Operations Manager who demon state’s strong customer focuses, building and maintaining long lasting relationships. You will lead and direct the quality of project delivery with profit centre.
Not only is it written in that strange language known only to recruitment companies (which the rest of us recognise as complete boll... pardon me, "rubbish"), but it suggests that this might be a devil of a job.
How could this have happened? Well, someone might have typed it like this OR they relied on a piece of software to fix it for them. Spell check software can only do so much for you - if you can't use the English language properly in the first place, spell check isn't going to be of much use. Note the inappropriate apostrophe.
How do you avoid these errors?
Read the thing before you publish it.
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