Grammar and spelling

By Mark Brownlow |

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Proper grammar and spelling are part and parcel of projecting professionalism. There's no real argument to suggest otherwise.

All things being equal, published material which contains typos or similar errors conveys a less professional image than material that doesn't have such errors.

It's important to make clear what we really mean by errors, though. Errors are clear misspellings and grammar howlers, such as:

The man put on his hat and cloek
What is it's color?

In the eyes of some subscribers, these kinds of errors may indicate that the publisher/editor/writer is:

It doesn't matter whether such an interpretation is fair, it simply matters that such an interpretation inevitably affects the influence and impact of what you have to say in your publication.

While many readers do indeed take a relaxed attitude to these things, this is a serious issue with at least some of your readership.

But it's important to remember that accurate grammar and spelling does not mean you have to follow some kind of generic writing style or comply with every rule in the big book of grammar.

Many spelling and grammar choices depend on the context. And many languages, especially English, are forgiving, flexible and continually evolving.

So there really is no need to cramp your style with rigid adherence to specific rules (which often don't exist anyway). Think dialects, slang, enthusiastic copy, interview transcripts etc.

Don't sacrifice personality, impact or effect for the sake of punctuation.

If we extend that idea further, we can imagine newsletters where you might even want to deliberately commit grammatical errors.

Later, I discuss why it's important to talk with a human voice in your newsletter, to connect with your readers in a conversational tone, at their level, and give your newsletter a personality.

So bad grammar and spelling might actually work well if it fits with the above approach. Distinctive quirks of grammar might reinforce a particular personality, for example, with readers even coming to cherish the "errors".

In the right place, mistakes could actually reinforce the publisher's honesty or trustworthiness. Consider these examples:

1. A customer newsletter authored by the sales manager. If the readers are familiar with the real life persona of the sales manager, then they may become distrustful if the writing doesn't reflect this (grammar warts and all).

2. Imagine a newsletter aimed at readers belonging to a target group not known for their linguistic perfection, such as teenagers. The spelling and punctuation best suited to that audience is unlikely to win any grammar awards. Kewl.

Testing...

Whatever format you settle on, never send out a newsletter without testing it first. Always send yourself a test email to catch any glaring errors.

If you have a basic template where you just change the content each issue, test it with as many different types and versions of email software and systems as you can. Send it to friends and colleagues and get their opinion.

And if readers commonly use web-based email addresses (like hotmail.com), test how the template looks when displayed by these services, too.

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