KHULUMA - LET'S TALK!

2009-07-27T12:14:00.001+01:00

2009-07-20T18:10:00.003+01:00

Dear friends

This month we came across a rather interesting and pertinent article. We have taken out an extract below. If you would like to read the full article, please click on the link below.

DON'T (EVER EVER EVER EVER) TRUST MS WORD SPELLCHECK!

If you use Microsoft Word’s grammar checker, beware. This program is seriously flawed; however, in all fairness, most grammar check programs are flawed. Writing is just too complex for computers to analyse (so far), but maybe that’s a good thing. Writing is an art and creativity can’t be (and should never be) measured in formulas and algorithms.

However, unlike fine art, writing does have rules and those can be measured. Unfortunately, anything more than just a basic, simple sentence is too complicated for a grammar checker; therefore, you get a lot of erroneous suggestions. And Word’s suggestions are more often wrong than right. In addition to the incorrect responses, Word also has a tough time making up its mind on some entries. For example, with some words, the grammar checker suggests a hyphen; then after you add the hyphen, it flags (underlines in red) the word again and recommends removing the hyphen!

Word’s grammar checker also can’t seem to tell the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses (in laymen’s terms, “that” defines the necessary parts of a sentence; i.e., the restrictive clause; and “which” defines the additional, but not necessarily essential parts of a sentence, the non-restrictive clause). Word just assumes that this rule is always true. Regardless of the sentence and how these words are used, Word insists on commas after “which” and no commas after “that,” most of the time.

Even though Word’s grammar checker is flawed, it’s still a good feature to leave turned on because, if for no other reason, it alerts you to errors that may need attention. However, do not blindly accept all of Word’s recommendations. If your editing skills are not your best feature, use Word’s grammar checker to find the errors, then seek the help of an expert to determine if Word’s suggestions are correct or not.

Read the full article at http://bit.ly/24f5RC. With thanks to Examiner.com for this information.

And to illustrate the point:

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
Source unknown

Famous words

2009-06-17T19:38:00.002+01:00

Excellence is in the detail

2009-05-27T20:27:00.000+01:00

LONDON: A survey of CV blunders reveals that job applicants are blowing their chances with gaffes such as listing their interests as “cooking dogs”.

Experts found that 94% of job hunters risked missing out on vacancies through CV blunders such as poor spelling, grammar or presentation on their CVs.

Failure to use the comma led to embarrassing disclosures such as: “My interests include cooking dogs and interesting people.”

In some cases, applicants' attempts to impress potential employers failed through the odd missed word, with phrases such as: “I was responsible for dissatisfied customers.”

For others, the omission of a single letter consigned their CV to the dustbin: “I am a pubic relations officer.”

From a sample of 450 CVs, researchers found that 81% were laden with spelling and grammatical errors, while nearly half were poorly laid out.

A mere six per cent were error-free, the study by career advisers Personal Career Management (PCM) concluded.

Mistakes were not confined to applicants for menial roles either - many of the CVs riddled with errors were drafted by CEOs, professionals and recent graduates, researchers said.

Corinne Mills, managing director of PCM, said: “Many of the people whose CVs end up in the waste paper bin are perfectly capable of doing the job. However, a poor CV means they will not get the opportunity to prove it.

“Why would anyone want to employ a lawyer or a secretary who makes spelling mistakes or errors? If they can't pay attention to their own CV, why would you trust them to work on any of your documents?” – ananova.com

A little birdie told me ...

2009-05-27T19:55:00.001+01:00

Wordsmiths' 5-minute guide to Twitter

So what on earth is Twitter?
Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. In effect, it's a micro-bloging platform on the web. Twitter works in much the same way as Instant Messaging, Skype or the dozens of other tools out there, except that your message (or Tweet) goes to everyone who has chosen to follow you (your followers).

Keep it short and tweet
There are only 140 characters per Tweet, so posts must be short, snappy and to the point.

Every company should have a social media presence
Digital presence is an important part of any company's marketing strategy. Having an effective digital presence strategy translates into a dynamic business tool. In today’s fast-paced real-time environment, it is an essential part of online reputation management and establishing your brand identity in the digital world.

What's the big idea?
People follow you if you talk about stuff that interests them. The idea is to Tweet about the things that interest your followers and, importantly, the people who you WANT to follow you (customers and influencers). Although you have a commercial agenda, everything you do on Twitter needs to serve your followers. Discuss only what they’re interested in hearing, and only as often as they want to hear it. Some people Tweet dozens of times every day, others tweet only once or twice a week.

So what does the future look like?
Twitter will help your company to do the following:

- Gauge market perception – Monitor what people are saying about your brand and others
- Conduct research – Find out who your customers and potential customers are and what turns them on
- Communicate with your target publics – Educate and inform about special offers, new technologies, promotions, upgrades, improvements, etc
- Provide customer support
- Entrench your brand, and
- Ultimately, expand your customer base.

Who's tweeting?
Check out any of the following local Twitter sites:

www.twitter.com/iBurst
www.twitter.com/HomeopathySA
www.twitter.com/fhmsouthafrica
www.twitter.com/bmw_sa
http://twitter.com/akianastasiou
http://twitter.com/media24

And some international ones ...

www.twitter.com/james_blunt
www.twitter.com/coldplay
www.twitter.com/marthastewart
www.twitter.com/richardbranson

For advice on setting up and managing your Twitter presence, contact Wordsmiths South Africa on (011) 467 8630

An indispensable online reference for all who work with words.

2009-05-23T07:49:00.001+01:00

A resource for wordsmiths everywhere, the renowned Chicago Manual of Style Online incorporates the popular Chicago Style Q&A, which thousands have found as entertaining as it is informative. The Q&A content is fully searchable along with the content of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Go to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html

New books: The Subversive Copy Editor

2009-05-23T07:45:00.000+01:00

Visit:

http://rwbooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/subversive-copy-editor.html

The difference between content and copy editing

2009-05-23T07:31:00.002+01:00

There is a significant difference between content editing and copy editing. Content editing is done by a subject specialist who focuses on the sense of the subject matter, as opposed to technical details such as punctuation, spelling, grammatical correctness.

Copy editing therefore refers to proofreading, where the common spelling, grammar and punctuation errors are rectified without changing the meaning of the original text.

Why newspapers should love their copy editors

2009-05-06T08:10:00.000+01:00

By Ken Robertson, Herald Executive Editor

Reporters sometimes have a hard time believing it, but the best friend they can ever have is a sharp copy editor.

I was reminded of that again Monday when I was reading a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. A couple of folks from George Mason University were arguing for accountability as the federal stimulus money is spent across the nation.

Their article started out this way:

“President Barack Obama has promised a full accounting online of where his $787 stimulus package is spent ....”

That no one at the Wall Street Journal had noticed a key word — billion — was missing shocked me. Yes, I’ve seen both “billion” and “million” go missing in the Herald’s pages, and both of them trade places at times when they shouldn’t.

And yes, much of my job every day is to preach quality control and teach about the ways good copy editing ensures accuracy.

But I’m still shocked when I see such lapses, especially from a national newspaper with a staff of copy editors that must number in the scores.

How can it happen? Perhaps the editor’s brain knew the number so well that he or she automatically inserted billion while reading. Perhaps an editor rewrote a bit of the text for clarity and billion disappeared. Perhaps the authors never put it in to start with. And perhaps I can’t even guess what really happened.

But I know what the effect was on me. Likely I’ll soon forget the point of the authors’ argument, but I’ll long remember the lapse. And the authors will remember it even more vividly.

They finally get a shot at the Wall Street Journal’s op-ed page. And someone’s careless lapse blew it.

Ken Robertson: 582-1520; krobertson@tricityherald.com

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Who's saying what?

2009-04-20T18:34:00.003+01:00

In today’s competitive market, a company’s image depends on its communication. A website, document, proposal or announcement that is accurate and well-structured adds greatly to the credibility and professionalism of your business. Most of us get only one chance to make an impression (just look at the case of Susan Boyle on Britain's got Talent last week to see how the right delivery can change everything! If this is news to you, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY which has received 33-million hits around the world in the past week.)

At the start of election week, it is pertinent to take a look at the effectiveness of the recent communications of the political parties. The ANC is regarded as having by far the best election campaign, underpinned by a huge outdoor advertising campaign and a string of dynamic personal appearances. Helen Zille has impressed many by embracing high-tech media to reach her voters - actively tweeting on Twitter, and pulling no punches in her weekly online newsletter. COPE has run some bold outdoor advertising on the country's highways and byways, in an effort to maintain the momentum of their high-profile launch in December and establish themselves as a credible political force.

We are all witnessing the effects of the global economic slowdown, and falling demand and lower budgets across the board are making competition for business that much tougher. In these times, effective communication with your customers is critical. Internal communications are also even more crucial, with employees having to perform better with less. The two critical ingredients of high performance - motivation and morale - are both aided by good communication.

2009-04-18T18:09:00.001+01:00

When you want something done, give it to a busy person. - Lucille Ball

2009-03-13T10:35:00.000Z

Nothing is worth more than this day.

Talk to us!

2009-01-03T16:43:00.000Z

KHULUMA (v) To speak, discuss, talk, express (isiZulu, isiNdebele)

Words of wisdom

2009-01-03T16:20:00.000Z

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman

We'll light up the words on your page

2009-01-03T16:04:00.006Z

OUR SERVICE OFFERING AT A GLANCE ...

Digital & online presence
Copywriting - sparkling headlines, subheads, blurbs and pay-off lines
Website copy
Marketing and promotional material
Media releases
Technical/specialised writing (health, IT, business, etc)
Speech writing
Special projects (annual reports, feature articles, corporate and management profiling, proposals)
Proofreading
Copy-editing
Design & layout (logos, corporate identity, websites, promotional material, annual reports, etc)
Print management

CLIENTS

Standard Bank
Deloitte
Discovery Health
Business Trust
Social Housing Foundation
GCIS (Government Communication and Information Service)
the dti
Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs
Department of Social Development
DEAT (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism)
Department of Provincial and Local Government
Commission on Gender Equality
Human Rights Commission
Batswadi Pharmaceuticals
Hot Tomato Communications
Umsobomvu Youth Fund
Mindman
SSSBC
Mutloatse Arts Heritage Trust
MacMillan Publishing
Pearson Education
Jacana
Africa Insight Magazine
Independent Education Magazine
The Star newspaper (Independent Newspapers)
Manik Design
There's a remedy for that
Helene Perold and Associates
Learnthings

Let us remove your editorial headaches

2009-01-03T15:21:00.000Z

Khuluma is a cutting-edge editorial support agency established specifically for PR companies and corporate communications departments. We are not there to help you formulate your or your client’s vision, but rather to do the basic nuts and bolts stuff that, if not done properly, can trip you up at the last hurdle.

We offer a back-office operation, researching, writing, checking and/or rewriting press releases for distribution to the media and the industry at large.

Our highly experienced team of former journalists, news editors, accredited PR professionals and published authors know how to write reports and media releases that are topical, relevant, interesting, grammatically correct, and have the best chance of generating positive publicity.

We also edit and proofread work that your own staff have written; we can advise on and set up Internet and intranet sites, and we have editorial specialists to assist you with any query or problem on an ad hoc, temporary or full-time basis.

We have access to a network of specialists in the writing, design and print fields, and our team will work intimately with your staff, removing your headaches, but never compromising on quality or removing final editorial control from you.

Khuluma is not there to compete with corporate communication departments or PR companies, but rather to work with them behind the scenes, meeting deadlines and producing work that everyone is proud of.

Talk to us to find out how we can help you this year!

Kathleen Bartels
+27 (0) 82 548 9405 / +27 (0) 11 467 8630
khulumawriters@gmail.com / kathleen@wordsmiths.co.za
www.khulumawriters.blogspot.com