5 tips to avoid spelling mistakes

Although everyone knows since grammar school that spelling is important, it still sometimes is underestimated – as you see with this lovely decorated cake.

For consultants, producing work that is free of spelling errors is critical. Why? Because we hardly ever have tangible products or results to show our clients. The closest they get to that during a project are the things we present to them. Thus, consulting clients tend to put a disproportionately high attention on even the smallest details when they receive a something from you – the latest PowerPoint deck, for example. In the worst case, you lose credibility and trust, because your client perceives you as working inaccurately. Even if that does not occur, you might still waste crucial face time with your client trying to gloss over a stupid mistake he noticed.

Spelling correctly whilst producing your deliverables quickly and often with many revisions is a challenge. Here’s 5 tips to help you out.

1. Use the automatic spell checker:
   Basic, you mean? No-brainer, you say? Hah! If it is already your habit to a) tell the application which language your document really is in (especially if you are not working in an English speaking country, which means that you will often be switching between at least two languages and confusing the heck out of MS Office) and b) engage the spell check every time before you send out a document – kudos! You are on the straight path to becoming a KillerConsultant. If not: Start now. Saves you a lot of effort.
2. Make a list of the abbreviations and conventions used on your project:
   Agreeing on how to write “as-is” (As-is? As-Is? As is? …) within the team saves you a lot of time – just make a simple table that gets updated whenever something new comes in. Send it around as a reminder when appropriate.
3. The clients’ spelling is almost always the way to go:
   When it comes to client specific words (products, departments, project names, abbreviations), make sure that you use them in exactly the way the client does – but do not copy spelling errors that your client made (don’t necessarily rub their nose in it, either – that often has a backlash)
4. Cross-check with colleagues:
   Flight attendants do trust each other – still they always “put the doors in flight and cross-check”. Because another pair of eyes spots your mistakes much easier than you do yourself. Same goes for proofreading.
   Whenever an important delivery comes up, agree beforehand with a colleague to take the time for a full read-through. It already helps when you print out the document and go over it with a red marker yourself (I tend to spot more errors on paper than on the screen), but the magic is in having someone do it who did not write the content.
5. ALL NAMES MUST BE CORRECT, NO EXCEPTION.
   This definitely is a “last but NOT least”. People are, naturally, very sensitive about their names – it is their identity. Come hell or high water, do never ever circulate a document without making sure that you have spelled all names correctly, especially looking at the names of your client contacts. I mean it.

There surely are a lot more tips and tricks when it comes to avoiding spelling horrors – which one has saved you from major disaster? Share it in the comments!