Grammar errors reflect badly on firm's image

Companies should start investing in qualified proofreaders

BY RIAAN GROBLER

Written communications form an integral part of many businesses' daily operations.

Apart from the countless letters and emails generated daily, annual reports, newsletters, advertisements and many other documents are being distributed to clients and board members or being printed and viewed by the public.

But very few companies bother to have these documents professionally proofread to ensure that grammar and spelling are correct.

On a daily basis, I see advertisements for CD's, as opposed to CDs. I often read reports referring to the "staff compliment", which I can only assume is a collective effort by all to praise the boss, as opposed to "staff complement", which refers to the number of staff employed.

There are a plethora of other examples: the classic mixing of British and American English (summarize v summarise), the incorrect use of homophones (there v their, stationary v stationery, etc.), the incorrect use of apostrophes (MD's, 1990's), not to mention spelling mistakes, incorrect punctuation and typing errors.

The reason for these is simple: people do not realise that they are making them. This, however, is not really their fault. Many professionals who churn out heaps of written communications have had little or no instruction in English since leaving school.

Not everybody is a linguist; they cannot be expected to write perfect sentences in perfect English, especially in a country where only 9 percent speaks English as a first language.

The fault lies with companies who do not invest in a capable, on-site proofreader, or outsource this function to a specialist contractor.

Newspapers and magazines employ teams of sub-editors, whose main purpose is to ensure flawless copy and fix (often seasoned) journalists' mistakes.

Surely big corporates, which want to be seen as competent and professional, ought to ensure that they too use correct spelling and grammar in communications?

Delegates attending Business English courses have often told me how their managers or supervisors "check" their written work, unnecessarily changing correctly used words, punctuation marks or sentence structures.

Mistakes and poor grammar affects the writer's credibility and the reader's perception of their intelligence. Companies whose advertising copy or proposals are riddled with mistakes may find themselves being avoided by sticklers and those who know better.

Here are a few useful tips to help ensure that your written communications are correct:

Plan before you write. If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to say before you start writing, you could get stuck in mid-sentence not knowing what to write next.

Avoid using big words. Using simpler, more understandable words will eliminate ambiguity and inappropriate use of certain words.

Keep your sentences short and to the point.

Invest in a dictionary and thesaurus, as well as a style guide.

Run a spell-check. When typing fast, you may make mistakes that you'll only see when it's too late. Be sure to set your PC's default language to British English, to avoid using American spelling.

When uncertain, google it. There are many websites that provide tips on correct usage.

Read your document out loud to make sure it will make sense to the reader. You may have used commas in places where no pause is needed.

Ask a colleague to read your document to check for errors, and look up any changes that are made.

These tips might ensure that day-to-day written communications are relatively free of avoidable mistakes. Companies should ideally employ the services of a proofreading firm to edit documents.

This will prevent their professional image being negatively affected by the use of poor language.

Riaan Grobler is the CEO of language services provider, Sacelt. Contact him on riaan@sacelt.com

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