Mistake-Free Grammar & Proofreading

A grammar and proofreading seminar that is fun? Is that possible? You bet. This program is based on the latest research on how adults learn. It's fast-moving, so you stay interested. It's engaging, so you learn by doing. And it's fun, so you happily give it your all. Mistake-Free Grammar & Proofreading is nothing like the grammar classes you took in school. This workshop is exciting, engaging and truly effective in refreshing you on the basics of business English.

In one fast-moving day, you'll learn:

• The grammar rules every professional must know
• All about capitalization and punctuation
• Painless proofreading
• Techniques for finding errors in numbers, prices, codes, dates, etc.
• Commonly misused words and how to use them correctly
• Six key rules for subject-verb agreement
• And more!

Who should attend?

This training is critical for people who want their written communication to be letter-perfect.

It's ideal for managers, secretaries, technical writers, editors and proofreaders who:

• Have never received formal training in these core skills
• Have been out of school for a while and need to brush up
• Utilize English as a second language

Memorable training with unforgettable results …

In this high-energy training, you'll try your luck with Blue Ribbon Bingo, polish your usage skills with Grammar Bull's Eye and "question the answers" with Punctuation Jeopardy.

The result? The information comes alive for you. You easily see the practical applications. And it sticks with you in a way that pure "book learning" never can.

Basics of proofreading

• How to increase your proofreading speed — without sacrificing accuracy
• Are you an editor or a proofreader? How to determine which skill your job really requires
• Ways to spot common typographical errors
• How to correct writing without changing the meaning
• Tricks for finding duplicate words and left-out letters
• Secrets for overcoming monotony and staying alert when proofreading
• How to create distance from your work so you can catch your own errors
• Why proofreading with a partner increases your accuracy
• An ingenious way to proofread numbers

Grammar rules to remember

• A review of basic grammar skills
• Do you remember the parts of speech and their uses? A quick refresher will remind you
• How to fix run-on sentences
• The rules of subject-verb agreement
• How to avoid sexist language
• Noun-pronoun agreement (Choose the right pronoun: “The company supports [its/their] employees.”)
• Active vs. passive voice: how to increase your writing’s impact
• Who vs. whom; me vs. myself — never be confused again

Punctuation

• The six most frequently missed rules for using commas
• How to use semicolons to improve the flow of your sentences
• How and when to use colons
• When you should use quotation marks — and when you shouldn’t (By the way, does the period go inside or outside the quotation marks?)
• Where to place apostrophes in words ending in “s”
• Dashes and parentheses (Did you know they are opposites?)

Usage and form

• When to use further/farther; affect/effect; pore/pour; and other frequently misused words
• How to use spellcheck correctly — and when you can’t rely on it
• 150 commonly misspelled words (a take-home list you’ll use often!)
• Capitalization rules (Accounting Department or accounting department?
• The Marketing Director or the marketing director?)
• When to use numbers and when to use words (50 or fifty?)
• A final quiz that will show how much more skilled and confident you are