Proofreading for Professional Writing

From emails to reports to blog posts, the quality of your
written communication speaks volumes. The following proofreading tips can help
make your writing sing:

Proof from
a printed copy. Before printing,
change the color, spacing, font size or font style. Make your corrections in
red (or another easy to see color) ink.

Slow your
reading speed down.
Try:

• Reading the piece aloud.
• Reading the entire piece back to front.
• Reading each page bottom to top.
• Using a screen (such as a blank sheet of paper) to keep you eyes
  and mind focused on one line at a time.
• Running your finger along the text to make it easier to read one
  word at a time.

Make a
style sheet. Include:

• People’s names and titles of books, articles, etc.
• Technical terms
• Phone numbers and addresses
• Correct form of common terms or phrases
• Preferred spelling of words that can be spelled different ways
• Preferred formatting and style of numbers, heading, urls, lists,
  etc.

Make
several passes.

• Use your computer’s spell checker and grammar checker as a first
  pass, but don’t depend on them.

• Proof the body of the text. Be alert for homonyms (words that share the same pronunciation, but have different meanings such as accept/except
  or there/their/they’re or to/two/too) and little words (such as or, of, it, is) that can be easily
  interchanged.