Proofreading Tip: Proofreading Your Online Image

Have you checked your LinkedIn profile lately? Do you have the proper keywords to build your brand and visibility? When others are checking your profile, are they interested in doing business with you, in connecting with you, or in asking to meet you for an interview? Don't let a typo stand between you and opportunities. Potential clients, possible connections, and recruiters may reject you because your profile has an error.

Do you think a spelling error won't matter? Many recruiters will not consider candidates whose resumes have a mistake, and now most companies are using social media to recruit new hires.

Unfortunately, you can't rely on a spell check button in LinkedIn because there isn't one. So, what do you do? Here are some tips that may help:

Read the copy aloud. Doing this will help you find words that are missing or see the wrong word being used such as you vs. your.

Have someone review your copy. Generally, we read our documents the way we intend it to be. It's much easier for someone else to discover our errors.

Copy and paste your profile into a Word document so you can use spell check. Highlight the copy; press CTRL+C to copy. Open a new Word document, and press CTRL+V to paste. Press F7 to check for errors.

What other online errors are preventing you from connecting with others? Online dating? Facebook? Comments posted on articles and blogs? Proofread those profiles and posts, too. Be sure to project a professional image.

What suggestions do you have to help enhance your online image?

Judy Beaver, The Office Pro
Founder of National Proofreading Day
Judy@TheOfficePro.net

Proofreading Tips

The countdown to the BEE has started! The 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee website has the countdown clock displayed on its home page; the annual competition is being held June 2 -4 with 274 spellers, ranging from 8 to 15 years old. Did you see the boy who fainted during the 2004 National Spelling Bee and then stood up to successfully spell his word? If you missed it, check out the YouTube video. Amazing!

These spellers are always welcome in my classes. They would never be guilty of the misspellings I’ve seen: fananimal [phenomenal], unfourtnatly [unfortunately], and rein burst [reimbursed], just to name a few.

Didn’t they see the red zigzagged underline that tells them the word is misspelled? While phenomenal is a difficult word to spell, I’m not sure what happened with fananimal. Laziness? Unfourtnatly was handwritten. Rein and burst are words in the electronic dictionary. (Yes, it was spelled as two words because that’s the first option for AutoCorrect, if you spell reimbursed as reinburst. Too bad—the correct spelling of reimbursed is the second option in AutoCorrect.)

I’m horrified when I send a document with a typo! Proofreading seems to be a lost “art,” especially with our hurried communications—e-mail, texting, etc. So, here are some tips for proofreading:

Turn on spell checker. While spell checker may not identify all typos, it’ll help.

Read out loud. Spell checker will not find words that are mistyped if it’s a legitimate word. Reading out loud helps us to find mistakes that we typically don’t see when we silently proofread.

Assume you’ll find errors. Many of us tend to read the copy the way we intended it to be. If you’re actually looking for errors, you may find them.

Add frequently used proper nouns to the electronic dictionary. Be sure to spell the person’s name correctly; then you’ll know it’s spelled incorrectly when the red zigzagged underline appears. (Right-click the name, and select Add to Dictionary.)

Use the Find command to identify common typing errors. Some of us mistype words (form for from, you for your, etc.) can be easily spotted if you use the Find command to help you proofread.

• Press Ctrl+F

• Type the mistyped word in the Find what textbox (for example, form)

• Press Enter.

Word will find each occurrence of the word; then, you can determine if the word (form) is used properly. Continue to press Enter until the dialog box displays, Word has finished searching the document. Press Enter to close the dialog box; then click Cancel to close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Would you like to share some of the spelling errors you’ve seen?