Small errors can cause big fails

It’s amazing how such small errors can cause such big fails

Call them stop signs, speed bumps, or potholes, these seemingly small errors can interrupt the flow of your messages, rendering them useless.

Readers who had been nodding their heads in agreement or thinking “I didn’t know that,” will suddenly stop reading.

They might re-read the last sentence or two to try to decide what you meant. Or, depending upon the problem, they might read them again and think “There’s something off about this, but what is it?”

What small things can cause this abrupt halt?

The three most common culprits are:

• Misused words
• Misplaced modifiers
• Non-parallel structure

Misused words

These could be grammar errors, such as using “myself” when the sentence calls for “I” or “me.” Statements such as please join Jerry and myself” or “Jerry and myself will be glad to answer your questions” are common, cringe-worthy, errors.

The misuse could also be use of the wrong form of a word, such as substituting advise for advice. “Thank you for your advise,” is a common error.

And then of course there are those instances where the writer mixes up there/their/they’re; here/hear; or your/you’re. Referring to “there new house” can stop a sentence in its tracks.

Misplaced modifiers

I’ve written about misplaced modifiers many times, just because the problem is such a common one. Our local newspaper, for instance, is full of these. They make readers stop, look again, and try to determine what the writer meant.

They read something like: “Mr. Jones received a citation from Officer Davis who was caught speeding in a school zone.”  A similar example would be: “George bought a horse for his sister called Blaze.”

Mistakes like those can make you chuckle, but they are interruptions. They do nothing to promote flowing communication!

Here are 2 more ways that misplaced modifiers can interfere with your message.

Consider the following 2 sentences, and what each of them means.

• I almost failed every design class I took.
• I failed almost every design class I took.

The first sentence says the writer almost failed – but passed. The second says they failed almost every one.

This next one is also more common that you would expect. It’s written in two ways that are equally confusing to the reader. It happens when the writer confuses himself or herself with the customer.

“As a mortgage lender, customers sometimes try to hide some of their financial obligations.” This one would be easy to fix, just add “I find that customers…”

“As a real estate professional, you need to have your home staged and ready before the photographer shows up.” This one is a little more difficult. The writer needs to take himself/herself out and go straight to the homeowner. “As a homeowner interested in selling quickly and for top dollar, you need…”

Non-parallel language

This is one that leaves the reader wondering “What’s wrong here” without immediately recognizing the problem. It happens when a writer uses a series of items in a sentence, or in bullet points, and they don’t match up. When the items in a list are not all the same part of speech, the result is jarring.

Here’s a for-instance:

“Consumers expect a real estate agent to return calls promptly, answer their questions, and honesty.”

Here’s another, taken from an email I received this week:

“They want to be able to trust you, transparency, and to feel like you’re minimizing the headaches they might experience during the process.”

Why does it matter?

Because effective communication is a transfer of thoughts and ideas directly from your brain, through your words, and into your readers’ brains. When the words flow smoothly, the reader doesn’t think about them – they only absorb their meaning.

When you want your reader to agree with you, trust you, and choose you to represent them, that kind of communication is important.

When something happens to interrupt that flow, then the momentum is lost. The focus shifts from the message to the words themselves, and all that good communication is halted.  At that point, you‘ve lost their attention, and you may not get it back.

So be careful – check the small things.

Re-read what you wrote – not just as a proofreader looking for typos, but also as a potential client. Check for these three common culprits:

• Misused words
• Misplaced modifiers
• Non-parallel structure

One more thing…

So you can avoid one of my common mistakes – remember to proofread your headings and sub-headings as well as your body text. This is something I often fail to do, and last week I published a blog post with a typo in a sub head. Thanks to an alert reader, I fixed it right away. But… it shouldn’t have been there!

If you know you need a refresher course in grammar…

Get my Grammar Guide for Real Estate Agents.

Grammar errors cost you money because they interrupt communication and mark you as unprofessional. A Grammar Guide for Real Estate Agents will teach you recognize and correct those errors.

As a bonus, when you order the grammar guide, you’ll also get my special report: Pro Copywriting Tips for Writing Effective Marketing Copy.

If you know your written words need some help, don’t hesitate. Get the Grammar Guide for Real Estate Agents today.