Life's Little Ironies

It's always a pleasant surprise when I stumble across a new link to my website. Today, I found that an academic newsletter reprinted an old piece of mine in its entirety and even included a link to its page on my website. But there's more to the story.

The short article both explains and demonstrates why spell checkers don't work and why it is so important to proofread before publishing. The problem with spell checkers is that if a piece of text uses a legitimate word in the wrong context, the spell checker won't notice. This often happens when someone happens to make a typo that results in a correctly spelled word. It could also happen if a writer doesn't know which homonym to choose. Should it be there or their, it's or its, then or than? The spell checker will accept any correctly spelled word, even if it's the wrong one.

So why am I writing about this? After all, as a publication of a reputable academic institution, the newsletter provided the appropriate acknowledgement of the source of the piece: "Complements of http://www.cmiiw.com/mistakes.htm"

Ironic, right? The author added only two words and the spell checker missed the error.

I wrote the editors to let them know that they should have written "Compliments of ..." instead of "Complements of ..." After all, why should I let such nice people look bad? They were a bit red-faced but gracious and grateful. And they corrected the spelling immediately.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

Today, I heard a very sad story about a start-up that was trying to save money. The principals were non-native English speakers. They decided to do without anyone's help in writing an introductory letter to a potential strategic partner. They got a Dear John form letter instead of the appointment they wanted. Why? Because they wrote to a Christian outlet about the New Testimony instead of the New Testament.

Everything with your signature on it is a reflection of you.

Whether you’re sending a thank you note or a proposal to the EEC, the way it is written will say whether you are trustworthy, credible, considerate, thorough, and careful – or not.

Who checks your writing before it goes out?

Do you leave that job to the printer who makes you sign that you’ve checked it? Do you give it to your secretary whose favorite reading material is Cosmo? Do you ask the tech writer to look it over – after all, his experience should qualify him to check what you wrote on that prospectus, shouldn’t it? Or, do you just wing it and hope for the best?

No one to turn to?

Sometimes there really is no one close by to turn to. No one to make sure that you’ve said what you intended to say... In the tone you intended... In the appropriate format… Sometimes you’re working on something confidential that can’t be known within the company. Sometimes…

But why beat a dead horse? You know the problem all too well. To get your writing checked, you have to hunt all over the office to find someone whose expertise you actually trust and then you have to ask for a favor. It’s time-consuming. And a little humiliating. But what choice do you have? Let your customers or Board of Directors or colleagues see you at less than your best?

Do yourself a favor. If your signature or the name of your company is on material about to make its way into the world, get a qualified reviewer to look it over BEFORE it leaves the premises. It may even cost you a little. But better to put your hand in your pocket than your foot in your mouth.

Solid Research: Spelling Counts for Credibility

For years I've been looking for solid proof that spelling mistakes truly reduce a site's credibility. Now I've got it.

The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab together with Makovsky & Company conducted a study called "Investigating what makes Web sites credible today."

Here's what they found:

"It’s clear from the data that Web users do not overlook simple cosmetic
mistakes, such as spelling or grammatical errors. In fact, the findings
suggested that typographical errors have roughly the same negative impact on
a Web site's credibility as a company's legal or financial troubles."

Wow, that's strong stuff.

So if you've ever thought that spellchecking and editing were simply fluff that you could ignore and that only content counted, think again.

Would you do business with a company that had legal or financial troubles?

Enough said. To read the whole report, click on the title of this blog.