I often tell people that I’m not a bad speller; I’m just a bad typer. And it’s true; I create more typos when I type than write by hand. I bet you are the same way. We get in a rush and start pounding away at the keyboard. If we’re in a hurry, we likely won’t take time to run it through spell check or have someone review it. Unfortunately, the consequences of these oversights can range from mildly amusing to downright embarrassing.
Take, for instance, a recent visit I made to a local event space. I looked at the electronic calendar, and four events were scheduled for the day. To my dismay, two of them had significant, can’t-miss-them typos. It was evening when I was reading this, and management had not noticed the mistakes all day. All it would have taken was a quick trip to the computer to make the change, yet there they were, proudly displayed for all to see.
Typos aren’t just a problem for event spaces. A local sports team recently aired a television commercial to sell tickets to upcoming games. One of the first screens spelled out “TICKES.” It was in a script-type font, so I could see how someone might miss it, but this was too important to overlook. Imagine the embarrassment and potential loss of credibility! It doesn’t matter how the typo got there; the impression it leaves on your audience matters.
Some typos can be innocent, but others can change your meaning entirely. Consider the case of one corporation that will go unnamed. Instead of writing “public relations,” they dropped the “L,” and it became “pubic relations.” Completely different meanings, right? A single letter can make all the difference.
Even in my neighborhood, I’ve seen the impact of typos. The city recently marked an old and cracked sidewalk to be replaced at the corner of La Prado Place and Poinciana Drive. Years ago, a contractor stamped the street name into the sidewalk facing the intersection. They spelled the street “Poniciana Drive,” moving the “i” to the other side of the “n.” This mistake was there for decades, only recently removed, a reminder of how important attention to detail is.
Missing one letter can turn “shirt” into something you don’t want to step into. It’s not just about embarrassment; it’s about professionalism and the impression you leave on others.
It wasn’t always this bad. Back in the day, editors and writers looked for these types of mistakes. When a job was being printed, a team of designers, writers, and usually the client would be at the print shop, looking over the proofs as they came off the press. Too often, a pressman would call late at night because they noticed a typo that needed to be corrected.
It seems that the more people want to create projects for themselves, the more typos we see. It’s easy to brush off the typo if it was yours instead of someone you hired to do the job. That is not a criticism. People should do more things for themselves, such as updating the website, adding events to the electronic marquee, and producing a quick flyer or social media post in Canva. Somewhere along the line, we lost that second or third person who would do a quick read-through and find the typo.
So, what can we do to avoid these pitfalls? Here are a few tips:
- Take Your Time: Rushing leads to mistakes. Slow down and take the time to review your work.
- Use Spell Check: Most word processors have built-in spell-check. Use it!
- Have Someone Else Review It: A fresh pair of eyes can catch mistakes you might have missed.
- Read It Aloud: This can help you catch errors your eyes might skim over.
- Print It Out: Sometimes, seeing your work on paper can help you catch mistakes you missed on the screen.
Remember, if someone gets upset about your typo, reply, “there, their, they’re.” And then, of course, fix it. Typos are a part of life, but with a bit of extra care, we can minimize them and ensure our communication remains clear and professional.
Let me know if you find a typo on any of my different channels. I want to change it quickly before everyone points to this article.