Best Proofreading Techniques for Business Communications

The Image is king in business communication! Imagine putting out a brochure, promotional poster, or email offering ‘excellent service’ in your hotel. Or a call to action sentence providing the ‘telephone number of our company.’

Any potential clients who notice a spelling or grammatical error would throw your brochure into the dustbin immediately. Reason?

Poor grammar, spelling mistakes, and vague expressions portray your business negatively. Mistakes can make customers think of you as a terrible, disorganized firm and no one wants to risk their money on a disorderly entrepreneur.

Proofreading Tips

Usually, it is the lack of skills that stop businesspersons from proofreading their communication well. So, below are the 7 important tips to help you proofread your business communications and avoid embarrassing errors:

Take a Break, then Focus

Your body and brain become tired after authoring a document. So, step away, take a walk, or shift to an alternative task so as to detach yourself from the draft communication. Come back to your typed content after a two-hour break to allow the mind a clear, neutral focus.

Read Aloud

Good proofreading requires you to slowly read aloud to allow the brain to absorb the meaning of each word. Remember that with a quick scan of your communication you should notice spelling and punctuation blunders with a view to fixing them. By reading each word in your written work aloud, you can easily notice any missed punctuations and awkward sentences. A text-to-voice software can help to read your work aloud.

Focus on One Mistake at a Time

Being methodical can aid in producing flawless work. Know the standards you aim to achieve from the proofreading exercise. Is it to remove typo errors, poor sentence structures, or grammar mistakes? To easily spot any issues, you can decide to focus on punctuation and spelling mistakes first and then sentence structures later.

Fact Checking

For accuracy and maximum effectiveness in your business communication, refer to grammar and style guides before posting or distributing any document. The APA Grammar Style Guide and Grammarly software can help to improve grammar, punctuation, or syntax issues. Confirm that units of price measurement, numerical information, decimals, figures, and sales distribution locations appear in the appropriate format too.

Verify Names, Time, Dates, and Telephone Details

Each name, date, and names of your company staff must appear correctly. To avoid confusion in your business communication, also check over your clients’ names, addresses, and emails. Incorrect customer details can imply disrespect.

Check the Homonyms

Homonyms are a particularly tricky area. If, for instance, when you write “accept” instead of “except”, you will not only embarrass yourself but may also create a disaster in your business communication.

Cut Excess Words Technical Jargon

Business communication is best when it is direct and brief. Remove superfluous words, such as adjectives and adverbs. Avoid wordiness and repetitious information because you will only distract your business partners and clients. Use specialized terminology sparingly. If you must include unfamiliar words, provide the meaning of the words to the recipient.

Conclusion

These seven proofreading techniques can ensure that your business communication is error-free, professional, and well formatted. Use these strategies to improve the credibility of your investment every time you send out emails, business reports, or advertisement.