How to Edit & Proofread Effectively – Training Course Outline

In most organisations, editing or proofreading is carried out by people who have other responsibilities and not by professional editors. Sometimes they are chosen because they have an instinctive understanding of English grammar, but often they just happen to have some time available and an understanding of the topic.

However editing isn’t just about checking grammar and punctuation, it’s also about making sure that your document is clear and concise and creates the maximum impact. The document may be going out to some of your most important customers or contacts, so it is important that it creates the right impression.

If you want to learn proofreading and editing skills that will add value to your documents, then this course is for you.

What you will learn on this course

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Understand the value of editing and proofreading a document before it goes out
• Identify and correct errors
• Edit text to create the maximum impact
• Ensure your documents are clear and effective

What our customers say

“Many thanks – course was very useful and Giulia impressed me too. I have to say the level of quality your trainers have is something I haven’t seen before. Will be recommending Plain Words.”

LD, Halcrow

Course Duration

This can be run as an intensive half-day course or as a one-day interactive workshop. The workshop includes a case study. You also practise editing and proofreading documents and learn the techniques through group discussion, exercises and working on real documents you bring on the day.

Follow up session

Get the most from a staff training day and make sure valuable ideas aren't forgotten by booking a follow-up session. Our trainer will visit you again a month to six weeks after your course to give delegates the chance to:

• discuss how they implemented what they learnt
• go over points from the course
• practise their skills by working on their own writing with the trainer’s help

Editing & Proofreading Service

Would you rather have your writing checked and polished by experts in the field? – use our editing and proofreading service for professional documents every time.

Course Contents

1. Thinking about your writers

• The difference between proofreading and editing
• Incorporating editing and proofreading as part of your document production process
• Ensuring both you and the writer have the same reader and objective in mind
• Handling the writer tactfully

2. Proofreading methods

• Top tips for proofreading
• Methods for proofreading effectively – using a three-step process
• Standard mark-up symbols – which ones are in common use

3. Effective editing

• Applying eight principles of good writing to get big improvements with small changes
• Ironing out differences in writers’ styles
• Helping your reader to get information quickly, or skim-read, by improving layout
• Making sure your reader ‘gets’ the key messages

4. Spelling

• Common spelling errors
• Regularly misspelt words

5. Punctuation and grammar

• Avoiding the most common errors
• How to use the grammar checker in Word™
• How to find out what is common usage

6. Formatting

• Why is formatting so important?
• Good and bad formatting
• Creating a formatting checklist

7. Case study (one-day workshop only)

• Practice all the principles using our case study, or work on your own documents

Book Now!

You can book a private course or call us on +44 (0)844 445 7743.