Page 39 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

28 How to Write Effective Business English

complacent but always alert to the fact that mistakes inevitably
happen. And I’d be a better driver as a result, more likely to re-
spond quickly to ever-changing situations and take corrective
action. Can you see how easily the advice applies to checking for
mistakes in your English writing too?

Proofreading tips

Check everything you write before you send it out. Here are tips to
help:

● ● Allow sufficient time for your proofreading. If you rush, you
may still overlook the mistakes you are looking for.
● ● It can be easier to proofread on paper than on a computer screen
(though be eco-friendly about this).
● ● Use a standard or online dictionary or grammar book to help you,
or your computer’s spelling and grammar check (set on the correct
variant of English for your target audience). Remember this is not
fail-safe. It may let the wrong word(s) through, especially homonyms,
for example ‘brake’ for ‘break’, ‘there’ for ‘their’ and so on.
● ● Watch out for autocorrect wrongly changing your correct words
such as ‘its’ to ‘it’s’ or ‘definitely’ to ‘defiantly’.
● ● Try reading your lines backwards (people sometimes use a ruler
to read one line at a time, to avoid distraction). You don’t check
meaning this way, but you can check the words are written
correctly.

● ● Now check for meaning and logic.
● ● Make a self-help list of any words you regularly get wrong, so
that you can check them quickly and effectively next time you
write them.