In an earlier blog post, I wrote about how eLearning proofreading can sometimes get tricky.

In this post, I have included 5 time-tested tips to help you become an ace at proofreading your own eLearning content.

1. Get Into the Proofreader’s Shoes

Proofreading eLearning content is boring. Trust me, it is, especially when you are checking your own work. Writing eLearning content is a lot like squeezing the last remaining drops of toothpaste out, and proofreading the same content is like pushing the paste inside the tube again. But what if someone challenged you to it? If I were you, I would take up the challenge without thinking that the task was boring. In all probability, you would do it with more enthusiasm than ever. So, why not adopt the same attitude when proofreading your own content?

Now, tell me, did you find those 4 spelling mistakes I challenged you to find? I can’t play poker, but I sure know how to bluff but idn poker I get it. I know you didn’t, because I didn’t make any! But I bet you were busy looking for them, but surely didn’t find them.

You looked for the mistakes because I challenged you to find them and then got into the role of a proofreader while doing it.

It is plain simple human nature that we tend to find mistakes in someone else’s work. Assume your content is not yours – that it belongs to that someone else. Take up the challenge and proofread your own content the same way!

2. Read Something That You Like – Everyday

You probably write something or the other everyday; at least a few emails if nothing else.  But do you take time out to read? Chances are that you’ll be able to spot an error whenever you come across one.

3. Invest Time

Proofreading eLearning content such as a storyboard, a blog-post or any other document, needs time like any other activity. Your company not only pays you do your job; it also pays you to add value. And you add value by investing time not only on writing blog posts, but also proofreading them. A few minutes of cautious effort can go a big way in eliminating all those annoying distractions that an online reader despises.

4. Refer To The Dictionary

Nobody’s an expert. Everyone needs help at some time or the other. It’s always a good idea to refer to online dictionaries or handy dictionary apps like Wordweb which gives you the meaning of any word at the press of a button (well, three in this case), and don’t be afraid to ask.

5. Practice Reading Aloud

It may not always be possible, but practice reading your content aloud the way you want your learners to read and interpret it. This is a powerful proofreading tool that will help you to relate to your end users and connect with them. This seemingly simple activity will help you add suitable punctuations where you pause, replace tongue-twisters or heavy content with simple words, and get the flow right.

The post 5 Tips For Proofreading Your Own eLearning Content first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

What was entertaining though, in an otherwise mundane day, was the bemused look on his face. A storyboard was about to be sent to the client, and he had noticed what he thought was weird magical performance rendered by the standard spellchecker in the MS Word document.

The spellchecker thought the word Summery was perfectly fine.

Well, it was, and it is.

That’s because it’s a perfectly grammatically correct word, though rare in everyday usage. Remove the ‘y’ for a split second and you will see the obvious meaning. It simply means “Belonging to or characteristic of or occurring in summer”.

Sometimes, this is the way the importance of good old manual labour is highlighted while proofreading content in eLearning storyboards. What is not underlined in red often goes unnoticed. And F7 does not notice it either. Many content developers and proofreaders tend to miss this and end up wondering, mostly after the client feedback, how did such a simple thing slip through? It is because they relied too much on automation and ignored the old word-by-word manual check.

So next time you check your content, do not forget to honour the good old manual labour. Proofreading eLearning content is not rocket science, but it can be tricky as the curious case of my confused colleague shows.

Read each word both for its individual meaning and in the context of the content-and use the spellchecker only for the finishing touches. That is the rule by which I live by. Do you?

The post eLearning Content Proofreading: Don’t Trust Anything first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.