Proofreading: a forgotten art

I’ve noticed that in today’s business world, which can best be described by the adjective “now!” (exclamation mark and all), it’s easier than ever to make typographical errors—or worse: missing words, spelling errors, improper subject-verb tense agreement and more. The pressure to respond instantaneously causes our brains to move faster than our fingers can comply.

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That’s odd

The Wes Anderson movie, “Moonrise Kingdom,” is in theaters now, experiencing generally great reviews. But is the fact that a movie is good enough to get consumers out to the megaplex, make them cough up double digits for a ticket and sit behind a really tall guy, when nearly everyone’s home is a Netflix-powered home

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How much is enough?

Today’s journalists have access to several tools to perform their craft. These include a digital recorder, maybe a camera, and of course a computer and word processing software. Replace the computer and word processing software with a typewriter and the recorder with a pencil and reporter’s notebook, and little has changed for more than 100

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Tell a Good Story

One of Trade Press Services’ writers once worked for the editor of a small east coast business publication that enjoyed considerable success despite a tough marketplace for magazines. Why did the magazine, which was started at the peak of the recent economic downturn, fare so well? Because of stories. The editor made sure that he

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Capitalize this!

In her business writing blog, Lynn Gaertner-Johnston wrote a recent entry about capitalization errors: A friend sent me an excerpt from a brief professional bio she had read online. The bio said the individual is a consultant for a china inspection service… It turns out that the consultant inspects sites and operations in China for

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Power verbs

In our last blog post, we wrote about being honest on a resume and matching your skills with what an employer is looking for, using their own job description’s language verbatim. When this isn’t possible, it’s best to use action words that convey power, leadership and mastery of skills. Sometimes the proper choice of words

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The two secrets to a better resume and cover letter

Job seeking can be frustrating and challenging activity. When submitting a resume and cover letter to a prospective employer, applicants engage in a grueling game of mind-reading that they can’t win, asking themselves what the employer is looking for when only the employer can reveal that. In an ideal world, employers would produce a detailed

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How to edit

Every business writer is also an editor, whether it is to edit their own work or someone else’s. And editing is not easy. First, there is given a set of constraints to consider, including word count, prescribed style, format and expected content, which are editorial lines that can’t be crossed. First edits are often straightforward.

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Google’s circle is complete

Google, the search engine content aggregator online office application company cell-phone OS manufacturer Supreme Ruler of the Interwebs, has done the unthinkable—it’s relying on human beings to help edit its news. This is remarkable, considering that when Google began offering news as one of its many services about ten years ago, it made great hoopla

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Five reasons why articles fail

Eric Gelb published a memorable piece in 2008 in Writer’s Digest titled “8 Reasons Books Fail.” Many of his reasons are applicable to writing articles for business publications. Consider the following mistakes and how to avoid them. Muddled title: This is especially important when considering an article in a trade journal. Authors may not have

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To emote, or not to emote?

The word “emoticon” didn’t exist before e-mail, and we were probably better off for it. You know what an emoticon is: a portmanteau of “emotion” and “icon,” an emoticon is a two or three-character grouping that expresses emotion. For example, 🙂 is a happy face, and 🙁 is a frown. Used in a sentence, an

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Case Studies: Just the Facts, Ma’am

Most of us don’t remember when Detective Joe Friday from television’s Dragnet series in the 1950s said, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” This phrase, and its truncated version, “Just the facts, ma’am”, are pop culture buzz-phrases, surviving for more than a half-century. Ironically, the early days of television (and radio) were a time

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Foot in mouth disease

We’ve all seen it before—TV news anchors who curse on air. Just a few days ago, a news anchor at a Virginia CBS affiliate, reporting on the summer vacation employment prospects for local high schoolers, meant to say “More teens are having luck finding summer jobs.” However, in an unfortunate slip of the tongue, she

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Tease them a little

Catching a flounder is one of the hardest things to do in the world of saltwater fishing. That’s because flounders, like many consumers, are noncommittal. Oh, they’ll take the bait. That’s easy. But they won’t take the bait enthusiastically. They’ll swallow it casually. They’ll hold it in their mouths, gum it a little, allow it

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