Tweets About Typos and Proofreading

What words come to mind if a presenter has a typo in his/her presentation, if a CEO has a typo in his/her e-mail, or if a company’s brochure has a misspelling? Sloppy? Unprofessional? Others?

Corporate image and first impressions do matter.

Some of my favorite tweets include

@JohnJohnsonson (No, that isn’t a typo!)

“I’ve driven drunk and stolen over $10,000 worth of entertainment but nothing comes close to the shame of sending an email with a typo in it.” 

@ProofreadJulia

“What’s the big deal about proofreading? It gives you the edge over the competition, that’s what!”

Do you have a favorite tweet about typos or proofreading? Please share them!

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro
Founder of National Proofreading Day

You Be the Judge!

Do people judge you by your mistakes in e-mails, resumes, and presentations? You bet!

Worse than that, can spelling errors or poor grammar cause your company to lose business? Yes, it can! People may not know the cost of their mistakes or even know they have a mistake. However, the person who’s reading your resume or reading your letter of introduction may be a grammarian and reject you because of a typo. 

According to CareerBuilder, 61 percent of recruiters will automatically dismiss a resume because it contains typos. I’m surprised it’s not higher. Are you?

Charles Duncombe, former director of the Just Say Please group, says a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half.

This month we’re focusing on how errors may be scaring potential employers or customers away—from hiring you or doing business with you. I want to help you from being held back in your business goals. My goal is to highlight common pitfalls, show you how to overcome them, and improve your chances of being successful in business.

Would you hire a person who has poor grammar or a spelling mistake on his/her cover letter or resume? Would you do business with or buy from someone who had a spelling error or grammatical error in his/her presentation or letter of introduction?

 

If you think proofreading is important, please like my National Proofreading Day page on Facebook!

 

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro

Founder of National Proofreading Day

Proofreading Payback

From al.com’s blog, All Alabama, fans and newscasters criticized cheerleaders at Hoover High School for a banner with a misspelling. Please read Jon Anderson’s account of the story, “Revenge of the Bucs: Hoover students relish media misspelling – ‘Spellcheck this.’” Be sure to read the Editor’s note, too. 

What do you think? Is it proofreading payback (also known as Muphry's Law)?

Proofread to Avoid Subject Line Errors

Can you identify with this quotation by Grammar Girl in an interview she had in Failure Magazine? “A great story, message, or work history can easily be overlooked if the reader is distracted by errors.”

I agree with Grammar Girl (A.K.A. Mignon Fogarty); many people get distracted by errors.

@LBelle1 tweeted: “When reading some e-mails, I become so distracted by my proofreading that I miss the message altogether.” How true—often the distraction causes you to miss the message! And kudos to @LBelle1 for using the correct altogether. Click here to see the difference between altogether and all together.

Errors will destroy your marketing efforts if the reader doesn’t open your e-mail because the subject line has a typo. Carelessness is costly.

Be sure to read subject lines because errors are easily overlooked, especially if the incorrect word is a word. Spell check may not flag it as an error.

Some e-mails I’ve received with subject line typos include the following:

• Grief Assitance and Support
• A Role Model or All of Us!

What about you? Will you open an e-mail if the subject line has a typo?

Judy Beaver

Founder of National Proofreading Day