Have you ever proofread a letter, leaflet or information sheet 20 times, then printed out 10,000 copies ... only for someone to look at it and point out a glaring error? Yes I guess we've all been there, done that! If you are responsible for proofreading important documents (and aren't all documents important?) then here are my tips for effective proofreading:

1. Avoid distractions. It's best to proofread in a quiet environment, with no disturbances such as phones, background conversation etc.
2. Read the work out loud. Using proper intonation will help you to spot faulty sentence construction and bad punctuation and grammar.
3. Concentrate on reading one word at a time. This takes practice. It's fairly common to skim over the words when we read normally. Try to make a conscious effort to stare at each word in turn. This isn't as slow as it sounds - it's just a different reading technique.
4. Be methodical - read one line at a time. Use a ruler to guide your eyes so that you don't miss the odd line.
5. Take a break occasionally. Especially with longer documents, you need a break now and again. Everyone loses concentration after a while, so set a time limit and then take a break.
6. Remember to look also for inconsistencies in style and presentation, such as headings that suddenly switch from capitals to lower case, or a change in font or spacing.
7. Leave a decent period of time between writing and proofreading the work. Reading with a fresh approach will help you to spot more mistakes.
8. Print out a hard copy for the final proofreading. Somehow we always manage to miss a few errors if we rely on proofreading on screen.
9. Keep your knowledge of punctuation and grammar up-to-date. Unless you know what is correct, you cannot spot mistakes.
10. Ask someone else to do a final check of important documents - we tend to be able to find other people's mistakes much more easily than our own!

In my July newsletter I gave you the first in my series of bloopers, blunders, common errors and clichés. Those of you who didn't see this can click on the link for the A's in that series. Here I'd like to present the B's.

Back
Do you use expressions like return back or exchange back? If so, you don't need the word back - it's completely redundant!

Bathe/Bath
In England I often have a bath (in the bathtub) but in Singapore I mostly take a shower (standing up underneath a shower). I often hear people saying they are going to have a bath or they are going to bathe, when really they don't even have a bathtub. So how? In this case we should use the word shower.

Because, Although, Since, Unless, If, When
When you start a sentence with any of these words, remember to attach an independent clause to it so that it becomes a complete sentence. We cannot have a sentence like "Because it is raining." This is a simple clause but it is not complete until you attach an independent clause to it. For example: "Because it is raining, I must take my umbrella." The same goes for the other words mentioned in the heading. For example: "Although it is late, I will still come over to see you." (Note that we don't need the word but when we use although - use a comma instead!)

Bored/Boring
I often hear people use boring instead of bored. One workshop participant was blatantly honest with me when she said "My boss made me come here but I didn't want to come because I think I'm going to be very boring." Hmmm.... I think she meant she thought she was going to be very bored. She could only be bored if I was boring!

Bring and Fetch
Use bring when the other person is at a different point to you and you want them to get you something. For example: "Please bring me the book when you come over to my place later."

Use fetch when the other person is at the same point as you are. For example: "Please fetch me a cup of coffee from the canteen." Now the other person will have to physically go to the canteen, get the coffee and bring it back to where you are.

NB: Fetch is commonly used with dogs when we throw a stick ...

In a recent issue of the Plain English Campaign newsletter, I read that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, recently ordered the state's workers to use plain English.

He issued an executive order after a government review condemned long-winded sentences such as "No person shall exercise the privilege or perform any act which a licensee may exercise or perform under the authority of a license unless the person is authorized to do so by a license issued pursuant to this division."

Or to put it another way, "You can't do this without a license."

In his order, Mr Schwarzenegger said, "Californians who better understand their government are more likely to trust it and feel a part of it." He recommends "the use of common everyday words, the use of personal pronouns, the active voice, easy- to-read design, short sentences, descriptive headlines and sub-headlines and avoiding jargon, technical terms, acronyms and other abbreviations."

Nice one Arnie!

Thanks to these girls from Abacus International for bringing some fun to my public business writing workshop in Singapore recently.
Nice photo girls!

I hope you've enjoyed this issue of Shirley Says. If you have any ideas about what you would like me to include in future issues, please write to me at news@shirleytaylor.com.

PS: The Queen's Counsel cartoon in The Times newspaper in UK occasionally pokes fun at the linguistic style of lawyers in a way that is stereotypical, generalised... and very funny.

In a recent edition, a client says to his solicitor, "Now, Richard, when I asked you to review my company's employment contracts, I asked you to make them shorter. But you lawyers always have to complicate everything! You've added twelve new clauses!"

"So what?" Richard replies. "It's still shorter."
"Er... how?"
"Fewer pages. I shrunk the typeface."

BOOM BOOM!! ;-)

PS: You may reprint this newsletter or forward it to your customers and colleagues. However please keep this copyright and contact information intact:

Copyright Shirley Taylor 2004. Shirley Taylor is author of several popular books on effective communication and business writing. She lives in Singapore and works as an international trainer, seminar leader, professional writer and conference speaker.