If part of your personal brand strategy involves blogging, you’ve probably run into publishing regret once or twice.
I’m not talking about the publishing regret that comes from writing something snarky online and having it come back to bite you when you’re applying for your next job. I’m talking about the embarrassing typo mistakes that are really easy to overlook when you’re in a hurry to get a post out the door.
With the miracle of spell-check, it’s all too easy to miss silly mistakes that either corrupt your words entirely, or make you look like a complete idiot.
In my case, my spell check wake-up call arrived when I was in sixth grade. That was the year our school district was trying to get tax payers to pass a small tax increase we desperately needed. As a student, I was frustrated by how close our school was coming to cutting the very programs and classes I liked most, and so I wrote a heartfelt letter to my neighbors urging them to vote for the levy.
After printing out over 100 letters, signing them all and tri-folding them (no easy feat for a clumsy 12 year old), I convinced my mother to come with me while I personally delivered each letter to my neighbors. About halfway through the trip, my mother took a peek at my letter–and realized (to her horror) that a major typo had slipped through.
That’s right. I had accidentally forgotten the first “L” each time I referred to the “public school system!”
Mercifully, my mother kept me in the dark about this mistake for several years. And potentially, it may have worked in my district’s favor. Several neighbors called to say that after reading my letter, they completely understood how important it was to educate students properly.
Still, I was absolutely mortified when I found out my typo – especially since the neighbors all knew who I was and regularly waved at me on the street.
If you’re typing madly away, it’s really easy to miss a letter. And if you’re unlucky, you’ll forget a letter in a word that the spell check won’t see. One expert I know consistently says “mangers” (the wooden feeding troughs for barn animals) when she means “managers”. Another has been embarrassed by writing “assets” without the “T” in serious documents.
Luckily, most errors that slip through spell checks aren’t that bad. Usually, the mistakes result from confusing grammar. Some of the biggest culprits:
It’s vs Its. It’s comes from “It is” and doesn’t mean that something belongs to it. If you want to show possession, you need to use “its”.
They’re vs Their. “Their” means something belongs to ‘them” while “They’re” comes from “they are”.
(A quick way to check: Replace Its/It’s or Their/They’re with “It is” or “They are…” If the sentence works, it’s correct.)
Those spell check defeating mistakes are all really easy to make – and it’s even easier for them to slip through a quick proofread if you put too much trust in the spell check.
The only real way to spot them is to take the time to read over your material closely – and to learn which words are dangerous for you. Then, whenever you type the dangerous words, stop for a moment and check for a mistake.
Of course, one typo in a document is probably not going to sink your personal brand. But it could hurt it if you’re consistently making the same mistakes. People do notice if you’re constantly writing “their” instead of “they’re.”
And, if you’re trying to impress someone and show how competent/wonderful/intelligent you are, a missed letter in the wrong word could be very embarrassing! (Trust me!)
Author:
Katie Konrath writes about “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped” at getFreshMinds.com, a top innovation blog.
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The great thing about spellcheck is that it gives you multiple options instead of going to the closest word. If you take the time to go through your document and choose the proper spelling, then spellcheck is a really handy tool. However, it’s the grammar that kills most people.
Still, proofreading is essential when writing anything, and I agree that some things should definitely be done manually. For large writing projects, I sometimes print out the article and scan the hard copy, so it’s easier to read and see errors.
Very nice post!
I’m happy that my Mac does live spell checking in the text windows (and even my BlackBerry has spell check for when I do mobile posts) but I still catch myself making mistakes. It also hurts when Google Reader takes cache’s of your page so you can’t even go back to fix your mistakes! You have to be REALLY careful!
BTW, loved your story about the letter! ROFL!
Katie, absolutely loved this post. I got a good laugh about your typo. Although typos may just be overlooked, they portray carelessness.
I recently have decided to make my blog a video blog on Ustream just because I like to post quickly.
Katie, great post, before I release anything I do one of two things these days, I print it out and leave the room to proof read it, or I get up leave the room and come back. This helps me with not only typos but clarity in writing.
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One of the most common errors I see is the misuse of the words “affect” and “effect”. This kind of error can definitely affect how people think of you.
Your story reminds me of a time when I worked in a call center. Our supervisor sent an email to the whole department saying “Make sure to log off at the end of your shift.” He forgot the “f” in the last word.
Great post Katie, rereading your material closely definitely helps raise the quality bar. What also works for me is having some else read your article out loud, so you can hear the ‘flow’ in your article. (Especially if you’re not a native English, like me
). It also helps finding typos; two pairs of eyes see more than one.
About missing letters: people tend to scan online content more (instead of fully reading it) and your mind can do a wonderful trick: undrstnd contnt wthout hving all th ncssary lttrs. So a typo or missed letters is not always noticed
But I agree, your material should be perfect to support your personal brand.
Is Spellcheck Giving your Brand a Bad Rep?…
With the advent of the spell check tool in Microsoft Word and now in most blog applications online, it seems that more typos are turning up than when copywriters had to edit the old-fashioned way. Today, we see writers relying too much on spell-checkin…
English mistakes are rampant in the blogosphere. Thanks to my upbringing, I know English, and a mistake (e.g. “your” instead of “you’re”) instantly stops my eye and makes me question the writer’s expertise.
If he or she can’t get it right on a piece that is to be seen by ANYONE in the world, how careful is the writer’s thinking overall? How careful is he or she in her business doings?
I make mistakes, too, but I thoroughly ditto this post. If YOU’RE not the greatest in English, have someone else proof YOUR blog. That goes for the personalbrandingblog, by the way! Mistakes a-plenty here.
Why give anyone a reason to doubt your “personal brand”?