When you’re writing for business, you only have a few seconds to make a powerful impression.
Whether you’re trying to get your boss to agree to a plan or trying to entice a potential customer to take action, your communications need to quickly and clearly convey both your message and your competency. You want to be taken seriously, so you need to ensure your writing is effective.
If you’re not a writer by trade (or even if you are), you may feel frustrated or intimidated trying to convey your message in business communications. Fortunately, you don’t need years of training or a natural affinity for written communication to communicate effectively in business situations. Using a tool like a grammar checker can save you from costly mistakes and help you capture your audience right from your first words.
In this post, we examine three reasons why grammar checking is so important for business communications and offer suggestions to streamline grammar checking as part of your daily writing process.
Let’s dive in.
#1: Grammar Checking Makes Your Communications Look More Professional
Nothing makes a business communication look more unprofessional than a spelling or grammar error.
Imagine receiving this email in your inbox:
John, thanks so much for getting back to me. Their are many ways our company can help support your efforts. Can we schedule a time to chat next week?
Will you believe this representative can really help you if they can’t even use the correct form of “there” in their communications? Probably not.
Grammar, style, and spelling errors make your work look sloppy and unprofessional. At best, these issues look like casual mistakes. At worst, errors make your work look like you either a.) don’t know what you’re talking about or b.) don’t care about the quality of your communications.
Customers want to do business with companies that care. Employers want to reward employees that care. The simplest mistake can reduce your credibility and make people less likely to take you seriously.
If you struggle with spelling, grammar, or punctuation, a tool like ProWritingAid can help you catch errors before you send them. ProWritingAid integrates directly into common tools like Gmail, so you can review every email and fix any mistakes with the touch of a button.
#2: Grammar Checking Ensures Your Audience Can Understand Your Work
English is a challenging language. There are thousands of rules and spellings to keep straight. Beyond the specific mechanics of the language, there are also issues of context. Certain words might mean one thing in one context and mean something very different in another.
If you use a term in the incorrect context, your writing can become confusing. Your prospects might misinterpret your communications and think you mean something different than you actually intend.
Similarly, jargon and other specialized terms may be hard for your audience to understand and potentially alienating to different groups. Using a grammar checker can find these types of mistakes and suggest replacements to make your writing more readable.
There are two types of business jargon: industry-specific and “business speak.”
“Industry-specific” jargon is technical terms that may seem familiar to an audience with special industry knowledge but are confusing for wider prospects.
For example, say you’re pitching a marketing package to a local small business. You say that your services include “SEO optimization.” The business owner might not understand what that means. They may not think your services are important, because they don’t understand what your work entails.
“Business speak” which is the use of overly complicated phrases for very simple concepts, like “paradigm shift” or “bandwidth.” These terms add nothing to your writing and can actually distract readers from your real message.
#3: Grammar Checking Can Make Your Writing Stronger
Not a trained writer? Don’t worry. Grammar checkers do more than just find spelling and grammar errors. They can also improve your writing across a number of important categories that make your communications more effective.
Every type of writing has certain conventions and characteristics that readers expect. A good grammar checker, like ProWritingAid, can help you not only find mistakes but also assess how your writing measures up to these expectations.
For example, most cover letters should have bullet points to make them easier for recruiters to skim. Skipping bullet points doesn’t mean your writing is bad, but adding them will make it much more effective. ProWritingAid offers custom suggestions for each document type so you can ensure you measure up to best practices.
A good grammar checker does far more than just find mistakes: it also suggests improvements and helps your writing become more effective.
Using a grammar checker in this way is almost like having a writing coach peer over your shoulder: they’ll fix mistakes and improve your writing, all within your existing document and processes.
Grammar Checkers Support Business Writing
Investing in an effective grammar checker like ProWritingAid is the best way to improve your business communications.
Not only can a grammar checker save you from embarrassing errors like spelling mistakes or misplaced commas, it can also remind you about potential improvements that are customized to the type of writing you’re doing.
Hayley Milliman
As Head of Education at ProWritingAid, Hayley focuses on building engaging, helpful learning content for the millions of users who rely on ProWritingAid to make their writing clear and effective. Hayley has a robust writing portfolio and has written for dozens of publications on topics related to education, marketing strategy, history, entrepreneurship, and more.