Learn how simple mistakes can destroy your credibility in an instant. Avoid the most common and you will be rare among communicators. Get loads more hints on writing at http://www.technoledge.com.au/b2b-blog.

1. How to avoid
misstake’s
that kill,
your brand

2. Whether you’re speaking or writing,
errors in your grammar will undermine
your authority faster than you can say
OOPS!
undermine your brand
Mistakes with words

3. “If you think an apostrophe was one of the
12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work
for me.
If you think a semicolon is a regular colon
with an identity crisis, I will not hire you.
If you scatter commas into a sentence with
all the discrimination of a shotgun, you
might make it to the foyer before we
politely escort you from the building.”
Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit
can lose you a job or project
Mistakes with words

4. software company blog (we won’t name it…)
What is even more shocking is that
54% marketers consider customers
not difficult to use which begs us
to ask, “so why aren’t marketers
taking customers insight into
consideration in their content
marketing efforts?”
Sloppy copy crushes credibility

5. kill authority
Silly mistakes

6. on your website,
blog, collateral
press releases and
on social pages.
Your words are all
you have
You are what you say

7. Helps you
stand out from
competitors
(especially in
technology
markets)
Competence with words

8. shows your ignorance
The winning team made less errors
Australia have beaten the Brits again
None of them were any good
If I had have known what I know now
We ate too many pizza’s
Incompetence with words

9. We’d all feel better if we made fewer errors less often
Australia (the team) has beaten the Brits again
I never want to eat that many pizzas again
If I had only known what I know now …
None of them was any good
Fewer errors cause less distress
cause less distress

10. you need to know these differences
I’m at a loose end; I won’t lose sight of that.
I choose my own clothes; I chose all of these.
We have an effect on those around us, but may
not be sure how it affects them.
You can allude to my lack of finesse, but your
allusion may elude me.
You prosecutea legal action, you pursue a goal
Careless copy = careless writer

11. Ms
Mr
Mrs
Dr
Who and whoever are for subjects
Whom and whomever are for objects
There’s no full stop after contractions >
People who are noisy …
Things that go bump in the night …
There’s no hyphen in no-one no one
Avoid the obvious: I myself or I personally
Traps for the unwary

12. Commas are generally used to
indicate a natural breathing space.
More subtle than the full stop, which
brings a sentence to a juddering
halt, the comma is a subtle pause
and, when properly used, greatly
enhances readability and
understanding.
Melanie Silver, Words Etc.
Punctuation helps the reader

13. More than 2 commas in a sentence?
Try shorter sentences.
Shorter sentences create pace & urgency
> more likely reader will continue
Too many can be roadblocks

14. Missing words can be fatal
Pic taken before the meal?

15. or face the consequences
People who mix up their
itses ‘deserve to be
struck by lightning,
hacked up on the spot
and buried in an
unmarked grave.’
Lynn Truss “Eats Roots Shoots and Leaves”
Watch your grammar

16. University of QLD Guide to Grammar and Punctuation
http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/index.html?page=168119
English for Everyone
http://www.englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Punctuation.htm
Additional reading

17. Call us
(02) 9909 0246
info@technoledge.com.au
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