Proofreading is an important component of business communications. Proofreading eliminates or minimizes the chances of mistakes, removes imperfections, punctuation marks and looks for grammatical mistakes which makes a bad impact to the reputation & credibility of the organization. Mistakes in the document make it hard to read and often leaves a negative impression to whoever is referring the document. Incorporating some proofreading techniques keeps your piece of information in good shape and improves readability and precision.

Below are some proofreading techniques which can be implemented to improve business communications.

1) Identify your target audience

Writing the document which serves the purpose keeps the writing stay in the right direction. When writing business documents it should format standard formats ex: email should be to the point and informal, while some formal documents have to follow some guidelines for clarity and conciseness purposes. Writing the document should be inline with the target audiences in mind, the style of writing, the tone and the language used must be in accordance to the intended audience and the context. Doing so adds effectiveness and can reach different audience hence we can instantly connect to greater wavelengths.

2) Focus on Content and Style

Keep your language Simple

It’s always better to stick to simplicity. The simpler the better. Always use the active voice and avoid using long sentences, rather make it short which conveys the crisp meaning. Your intention is only to convey the message which minimal efforts in the shortest span. Avoid using jargons and unnecessary words to keep it readable and avoid confusion. Hence it sounds more effective and reaches the target audience with the intended message.

Keep your language Simple- Crisp Information

Business writing should be clear and precise. Target audience look for the direct message rather than refer dictionary or other sources to understand the meaning. Respect the valuable time of the target audience and make the information graspable in the quickest possible time. To achieve this you have to focus on the subject line and must not deviate, use quick words, avoid usage of jargons to avoid confusion.

3) Proper Formatting

Every piece of information must be formatted properly to increase readability and maintain uniformity across the document. Use bullet points, and sub headings and use bold fonts and color in the right place which highlights the information thus making it easy to skim. The above elements applied to all style of writing ex: email, business document , a report etc.Use images where required thus it becomes user friendly document.