Proofreading: Catch mistakes before they cause a crisis
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This document provides tips and examples for proofreading documents to catch mistakes. It discusses the difference between editing and proofreading and emphasizes closely examining all aspects of a document. Common mistakes discussed include typos, punctuation errors, factual inaccuracies, bad formatting, and copyright issues. The document provides many examples of real-world mistakes and discusses the importance of proofreading various types of media like print, online, and social media. It emphasizes taking one's time and having a careful eye to catch any errors.
Proofreading: Catch mistakes before they cause a crisis
- 1. SomeCards Proofreading: Catch mistakes before they cause a crisis Sherrie Voss Matthews, The University Of Texas At San Antonio Sherri Hildebrandt, Owner, Relativity Ink John Braun, Vanguard Group 1
- 2. What is proofreading? ✤ It isn’t editing. Not exactly. It is more detail-oriented, and often you have less time to complete this task. ✤ You should take in every aspect. Give the project a closer look. That includes: • Design and crops • White space Graphics • Spelling • Punctuation • All details: Look EVERYWHERE! • 2
- 3. What do you proof? ✤ Printed copy ✤ TV screens ✤ Promotional material ✤ Social media: posts, tweets, websites, online polls ✤ Books, magazines, newspapers ✤ Others? 3
- 4. Common mistakes 4
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- 15. Sale? 15
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- 25. Check your hyphens. 25
- 26. Tom Tracy, senior vice president of Brokerage Services at Northmarq Cushman & Wakefield, said the park attracts the regional offices of Fortune 50 companies and “top-of- the-line local companies.” 26
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- 28. Where is the mistake? Can you see what might cause criticism? 28
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- 30. Be sure of your facts 30
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- 32. Burning your brand, one mistake (or more) at a time 32
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- 39. Geography issues 39
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- 45. Simple things we missed. 45
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- 51. Are your eyes playing tricks? 50
- 52. Are your eyes playing tricks? 50
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- 55. Spell check will not catch this one! 52
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- 59. Bad design = confusion. 56
- 60. Math matters ✤ Math tends to intimidate us, so it helps to learn a little about the math involved. (Danica McKellar’s books are great.) ✤ Everyone should learn basic percentages. ✤ Sports: Baseball magic numbers, more percentages (shooting, hitting) ✤ Business: Compound interest 57
- 61. What proof is your bourbon? 45% = 90 proof 45% 42% = 84 proof -42% That’s 6 proof points and 3 percentage points fewer than before 58
- 62. This is a table that purports to have four calculations. The designer imported the wrong numbers into the middle column, so they’re all wrong. 59
- 63. Do the math Compound interest at a glance The formula looks complicated … Future value = Present value times (1 + interest rate) raised to the power of the number of years or FV = PV(1 + i)n ... But really there are just two scenarios to worry about: changing the investment and changing time. 60
- 64. Do the math Compound interest at a glance If you change the amount you invest: FV = PV(1 + i)n … then (1 + i)n is just a number. So we have FV = PV (some number) 61
- 65. Do the math Compound interest at a glance FV = PV (some number) These two numbers move together. For example, if one doubles, the other doubles too. 62
- 66. Do the math Compound interest at a glance If you change the time you invest … FV = PV(1 + i)n … then future value changes exponentially. If you double the length of time you invest, future value more than doubles. 63
- 67. Do the math Compound interest at a glance It boils down to: Am I changing the money? The yield increases proportionally. Am I changing time? The yield increases more than proportionally. 64
- 68. Sometimes we get it right Compounding can make a difference when you save over the long term. For example, a $1,000 investment, growing at an average rate of 8% per year, could compound to $1,469 in five years and $2,159 in ten years! Lots of numbers, but what are we changing? … could compound to $1,469 in five years and $2,159 in ten years! 65
- 69. Sometimes we get it right Compounding can make a difference when you save over the long term. For example, a $1,000 investment, growing at an average rate of 8% per year, could compound to $1,469 in five years and $2,159 in ten years! Lots of numbers, but what are we changing? Time! … could compound to $1,469 in five years and $2,159 in ten years! 65
- 70. Sometimes we get it right Compounding can make a difference when you save over the long term. For example, a $1,000 investment, growing at an average rate of 8% per year, could compound to $1,469 in five years and $2,159 in ten years! ✤Change in first five years: $1,469 - $1,000 = $469. ✤Change in next five years: $2,159 - $1,469 = $690. Time makes things grow faster than you’d expect. 66
- 71. Sometimes we get it wrong Let’s look at Jim and Joe, both of whom earn $25,000. ✤ Jim contributes 3% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 2% for a total contribution of 5%. Over 20 years Jim would accumulate close to $100,000. ✤ Joe contributes 6% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 3.5% for a total contribution of 9.5%. Over 20 years Joe would accumulate about $150,000. This hypothetical example assumes a return of 8% and does not represent the return on any particular investment. What changes? The contribution. 67
- 72. Sometimes we get it wrong Let’s look at Jim and Joe, both of whom earn $25,000. ✤ Jim contributes 3% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 2% for a total contribution of 5%. Over 20 years Jim would accumulate close to $100,000. ✤ Joe contributes 6% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 3.5% for a total contribution of 9.5%. Over 20 years Joe would accumulate about $150,000. Joe’s contributing almost twice as much as Jim, but 68
- 73. Sometimes we get it wrong Let’s look at Jim and Joe, both of whom earn $25,000. ✤ Jim contributes 3% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 2% for a total contribution of 5%. Over 20 years Jim would accumulate close to $100,000. ✤ Joe contributes 6% to the plan and receives a company contribution of 3.5% for a total contribution of 9.5%. Over 20 years Joe would accumulate about $150,000. Joe’s contributing almost twice as much as Jim, but The real numbers should be $60,000 and $110,000. 68
- 74. Why you need a dirty mind. 69
- 75. Stare carefully. . . 70
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- 79. Nothing I do professionally today, or perhaps have done all year, is as important as what I just did: Fixed a typo in a woman's name, so that Cynthia is spelled with a “Y” and not a “U.” 74
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- 81. We’ve moved beyond print ✤ Web: Do the links work? Are there links? Did we spell the headline right? Did we spell everything else correctly? ✤ Social media: Did we link to the correct image? Did we use the correct short url? Did we spell everything correctly in the tweet or post? ✤ Video: Are the transitions smooth? Does this make sense? Does it autoplay? Should it autoplay? Did I spell everything correctly? ✤ Promotional materials: Does the item work? Will it be appropriate to the audience? Did I spell everything correctly? 76
- 82. Social Media Messes 77
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- 84. Make sure you are tweeting from the right account if you are making snarky comments about popular culture. :-) 78
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- 88. This is Typo. She was our cat. My husband, Greg, and I adopted her. She hated me. No, really. She was Satan in feline form. She died this winter. 82
- 89. And she haunted me from her grave when I announced her passing to our friends on Facebook. 83
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- 92. Horrible juxtapositions 86
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- 96. Discuss: How do you educate younger staff members? 90
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- 98. Good crop, bad crop? 92
- 99. Discuss: How do you prevent this? 93
- 100. Be careful and cautious. 94
- 101. Be consistent. 95
- 102. Tips and tricks learned over time ✤ Take nothing for granted. ✤ Designers and writers can miss the obvious as well as the subtle. ✤ Don’t trust Word’s spell and grammar check functions. ✤ Pay attention to ALL of your document (page numbers, subheads, kickers, links, urls). ✤ Don’t embarrass your publication. ✤ Don’t embarrass your sources. ✤ Have a sense of your publication’s style. 96
- 103. Tips and tricks learned over time ✤ Your co-workers have eyes. Use them. ✤ Don’t be afraid to speak up. If you see something that is outright wrong, or something that could cause a kerfuffle in the public eye, say something. Your job is to try to fix it. ✤ Read in reverse. Seye ruoy nwod swols ti. Seriously, it makes you think harder about each individual word and component. ✤ Know your weaknesses. Know where you are likely to miss something. Program big goof words into spell check, like pubic and univeristy or universtiy. ✤ Know your experts. The people in your office who are trivia geeks. The admin who catches every typo. These are your experts and they are your friends. ✤ Listen to the voice in your head. Check (and ask for help) first. 97
- 104. The devil is always in the details. Check. Always. 98
- 105. Special thanks to Charles Apple, James Benavides, John Braun, Kirsten Efird, Connor Voss, Lynn Gosnell, Sherri Hildebrandt, Carol Cummings, Greg Matthews, Rebecca Luther, Cathy Matthews, Melody Sanders, Jess Huegel, Mike Schollenberger, Jennifer Snodgrass, Tristan Davies, Sherrie Voss Matthews, Gawker Media, Poynter.org, JimRomenesko.com, and The Huffington Post for their sharp eyes and blooper contributions. 99
- 106. Save your sanity ApostropheAbuse.com or Like them on Facebook For Every Time You Misuse an Apostrophe, I’m Going to Remove a Finger - Like them on Facebook 100
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