How to Proofread

No matter how old you are or what kind of written project you are working on, you need to be able to proofread effectively. Turning in a paper riddled with errors can cause a significant loss of points in any class at any educational level. Careless writing mistakes in the business world can prevent you from getting promotions, keep your ideas from being taken seriously, and impair the chances of getting a job at all. Giving a presentation filled with blunders lowers your credibility as an expert, no matter what the field you are speaking or writing for. Some proofreading strategies, however, can help prevent such problems.

Before you begin, be sure you understand what you need to look for while proofreading. You should check for grammar errors like verb tense and confusing words such as then/than. But you should also look at sentence structure. Sentence structure problems include fragments, which are pieces of complete sentences, and run-ons, which are complete sentences put together incorrectly. But you should also make sure the sentences are easy for the audience to understand unless you have done so before the proofreading stage.

First, proofread by running a spell check. Many computer programs now have spell checkers in them, including much presentation software. If it doesn't have such capability, you can copy and paste into a word processor and fix any mistakes that get highlighted. Although this step may seem like a no-brainer, many people still have written projects that contain spelling errors.

Second, proofread by reading aloud. Many times our ear will catch mistakes that our eye will not. This step can be even more effective if you can get a friend or family member to listen as you read, particularly if English is not your first language. Reading aloud like this is good practice to learn the nuances of the language and help you find places that are confusing in addition to those sentences missing a word or words misused. For instance, you might accidentally leave an -ed ending off a word, and that is something a spell check program won't find.

The next step in proofreading is to read backwards. In order to find the confusing sentences or word issues discussed above, you need to read complete sentences, but this strategy forces you to focus on a single sentence at a time. That way, you don't get caught up in the context, such as if ideas flow well into each other and if you have enough detail. So start with the last sentence, and read that. Then read the sentence before that, and so on. It may be difficult to resist the temptation to start reading normally. This problem can be lessened by using a computer and scrolling a sentence at a time.

In order to do the best job proofreading, you should also look at the piece on your computer screen but also a printed copy. Just like how reading aloud often causes writers to see errors they otherwise wouldn't, sometimes errors can be seen on the printed copy that are not seen on the screen, and vice-versa.

Proofreading carefully helps create a publication that is professional, easy to read, and clearly understandable. Although we all make mistakes, even with the most careful proofreading, chances are greatly reduced that such errors will occur if these steps are followed.