The art of proofreading

Well, we’re all taught to read from a young age, but being able to proofread is a whole different story. You need to pick up on factual errors, grammatical errors, spelling errors, design errors and inconsistencies, to name a few.

Proofreading is an integral part of Marketing, as what we publish reflects the brand and we want to ensure that copy is accurate and well written in a way that positively reflects the brand and speaks to our target audiences.

I recently went on a one day CIM proofreading course in London. The two main reasons I wanted to attend the course after almost five years of working in marketing was to get some useful tips on how to proofread in the most effective and productive way, but also to build my confidence in proofreading, as I work on our large publications, which are by far the biggest publications I have worked on to date. So getting the proofing right is essential and it can be nerve-wracking when you approve the final copy of something and you’re about to hit the ‘print’ button!

We covered a lot of things in one day and the course was really helpful. There were people form numerous different organisations and all with different job roles; some were marketers; some were copy writers; some were a mixture of both. I left feeling I’d learned (and remembered) a lot!

So here’s a little run through:

Common errors

As you may expect there are common errors that tend to slip through the net more often than others when people talk about proofreading such as page numbers, missing punctuation, typefaces etc. It’s important to ensure that these are given as much focus as spelling and punctuation. Don’t assume that the obvious things like page numbering are correct.

Logging errors

When proofreading more often than not it’s the same issues that get spotted time and time again, if errors are logged from the beginning in order of greatest impact then you can significantly reduce the errors next time around and therefore save time then next time you work on a project.

Know your grammar

The basics of writing! When to use a comma, when to add a colon, hyphen vs. a dash; what does it all mean? Well without the correct punctuation a sentence may not read correctly or the meaning may change. Make sure grammar is perfect to reduce confusion or misinterpretation.

Think of the reader

What is the purpose of the communication? Who is the audience? What motivates them? These are just some of the questions you need to think about when writing copy or proofreading copy, so you can ensure it makes sense to the target audience and it will transpire to an action from this audience. And remember to use active rather than passive language.

Think about structure

Avoid long sentences; use plenty of paragraphs; make sentences short and snappy where possible; avoid circumlocution and tautology which can confuse people.

Remember your house style guide

It’s important to have a house-style guide and be aware of what is in it. This ensures everyone is adhering to the same directions when proofing items and minimises inaccuracies and imposes uniformity across the brand.

Tips for proofreading

The two most useful tips I got from the day were- 1) Read text backwards so your mind doesn’t know what to expect next and you are less likely to miss errors and 2) Proof in sections- First read through checking numbers, then dates, then headings, then text, and so on. This means your mind isn’t always skipping from one thing to the next as it reads through pages and pages of text and trying to look at all of the possible errors all at the same time.

Now I’ll stop there before I run the risk of reiterating the full course. Hope you’ve found it useful; I certainly did! And if you work in Marketing I’d definitely recommend the course.

Speak soon,

K