Write It Well

Some e-mail clients let you mark your e-mail as “urgent” or “high-priority.” Generally, you’re better off using a descriptive subject line to get your reader’s attention. An e-mail marked “URGENT” looks loud and pushy. Every now and then, loud and pushy may be exactly what you need. But don’t let yourself get comfortable with sending urgent messages (or crying wolf, for that matter) — it doesn’t look particularly professional.

Be especially careful when you forward an “urgent” e-mail. Your forward will also be marked “urgent,” when it probably isn’t.

On his way to give a presentation about social media, a PR executive insulted his audience when he complained about their city on the social media site Twitter. David Henderson, who described the incident on his blog, added later, “The same fundamental rules and principles apply to a new form of media in today’s Internet era as with mainstream or traditional media.”

The difference is that now your mistakes can fly around the world at lightning speed. Mr. Henderson noted that two nights ago more people read his blog post about the mistake than visited most of the major news sites.

Not all of us use Twitter on a daily basis, but the vast majority of us rely on e-mail daily, if not hourly. The risks are quite similar: instant, widespread infamy. To learn more about how to minimize your chances of committing an electronic gaffe, check out E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide.

I can spend hours composing careful e-mails, and minutes deciding whether to archive an e-mail or leave it in my inbox. If e-mail takes up too much of your time, try these tricks for keeping it under control:

• Decide how often you’ll check your e-mail, and stick to it. If necessary, shut down your e-mail application so it doesn’t alert you when new e-mail arrives.
• Use e-mail as a transitional activity between meetings or other tasks. That way, you can’t spend too much time on any one e-mail task.
• Plan your schedule so you check your e-mail while having coffee, or just before lunch, when you’re hungry. This trick helps me stay alert, eager to finish, and decisive.

For more tips on managing e-mail, check out Chapter 3 in E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide.

Grammar and spelling mistakes in a job application are worse than being late or swearing during an interview, writes hip grammar maven Martha Brockenbrough in her book, Things That Make Us [Sic]. Founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), Martha takes aim at jargon, pretentious babble, and confused pop stars alike. In a recent Grammar Girl podcast, Martha writes that good grammar is important not just for job applications, but for finding love and staying out of jail, too.

Don’t let mistakes stand in the way of a good job! Check out Grammar for Grownups, a down-to-earth manual for improving your business writing skills.

At Write It Well, we often hear this from our training clients: “I read over my work, but I just don’t see my proofreading errors! What am I doing wrong?”

Well, let’s start with what they’re doing right. Making the effort to present error-free documents is the first step. As research shows, written communications that are full of typos, misspellings and usage errors leave readers with a poor impression of the writer and the organization. But proofreading well is challenging.

Before you begin proofreading, make sure your document is reader-focused–with a clearly stated main point, clear organization, easy-to-read formatting and concise language. If you or your staff are struggling with any of these issues, visit our website, where you can learn more about our books and training programs. 

If proofreading is your challenge, then don’t despair. Most workplace writers already have the knowledge they need to fix their mistakes after they find them. The trick is to find them before you send the document out. Here are some guidelines for finding errors in your own documents. Follow these and you’ll present a consistent professional image every time:

1. The best proofreading is done when you have distance from a document–take a break between writing and proofreading.

2. Use the spell-checker and grammar-checker slowly and carefully to help you catch your typos. When used mindfully, both are helpful tools. When used carelessly, they will lead you to make new errors almost as often as they help correct existing ones.

3. Whenever possible, proofread from a printed page. Errors are easier to see on paper than on a screen.

4. If you have to proofread on a screen, zoom in so that the text is very large. This will allow you to see errors you might otherwise miss.

5. Read your work aloud. By slowing down and articulating each word, you’ll catch most of your mistakes. And remember, if it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t.

6. Use your word processing program’s Find feature to catch your writing demons, those pesky little mistakes you frequently make. For example if you tend to confuse accept with except, then type those words into Find so you don’t have to hunt for them.

7. Proofread several times, taking breaks in between. You can multi-task while you proofread. Proofread once, make a phone call or get some coffee; then, proofread a second time.

8. If the document carries a lot of weight, give it to a trusted co-worker to proofread after you’ve given it your best shot.

For more information about how Write It Well can help you or your staff write more effectively at work, visit us at writeitwell.com.

A heavy dose of recession makes clients and customers more cynical than usual. MSNBC has a list of ten advertising words to avoid in 2009, including “free,” “guarantee,” and “synergy.” According to the article, consumers don’t have time for anything more than “straightforward, honest advertising messages.” Hyped-up, sales-y language not only makes consumers suspicious, but seldom survives a decent spam filter. 

Avoiding certain words isn’t going to magically fix your writing. But if you keep your eye out for jargon, inflated language, and the passive voice, you’ll have a much better chance at communicating effectively. For more tips on effective business writing, check out Write It Well’s selection of books.