Referring to a person as a ‘nitpicker’ is not intended to be a compliment. The term conjures up a tiresome character who actively and relentlessly looks for tiny, unimportant faults and takes delight in showing others the error of their ways. Who wants to be around someone who gives unsolicited criticism and focusses only on what is wrong? No one.
That being said, if you did have a head full of lice sucking blood from your scalp, laying eggs and jumping from hair root to hair root, a person with a laser-like eye for detail and methodical approach to hunting out tiny annoyances might well become your new best friend.
Anyone else feeling itchy?
A proofreader is a nitpicker you want to have on your team. They read through text with the sole aim of finding the things that are wrong. Often, these are obvious like spelling or grammar mistakes, a reference that isn’t factual, the wrong name or a faulty link. Equally as common, a good proofreader will find inconsistencies that are far more subtle but just as damaging to a brand or message. These might be jumping between UK and US spelling of words, changes in tone or style, applying three formats to captioning an image. None of these things are wrong in isolation, you just don’t want them to change from one page to the next.
A long document, such as an annual report, a large tender, a brochure or a book will generally have multiple contributors who have added to it over an extended period of time. There will be different voices, styles and knowledge of language represented within the text. Some may like to capitalise job titles, others may use the American spelling of words like focussed and travelling, someone may have got it into their head that it’s Rosemary Wood who is frequently mentioned but in fact she is Rosemary Woods. These are small variations and not the focus of the document so no one notices as they dive in and out of individual sections. Fast forward to the document finished and it’s finally shared with the all-important audience with whom your team has been working so hard to communicate; that reader will start at the beginning and work their way through to the end. As they do, they will get a niggling feeling that something isn’t quite right. The text doesn’t seem whole somehow, that section didn’t fit with the previous one, “Is it programme or program?”, they will ask as they scratch their head.
Looking for inconsistencies might seem like unnecessary nitpicking, but you underestimate how disruptive the small things are to a reader. I hate to return to the lice analogy but those tiny critters can send a person mad if you don’t take care of them.
Don’t think that inconsistency in short-form text isn’t just as irritating. A social media campaign may be full of bite-sized, attention-grabbing sentences that have viewers enthusiastically clicking through to a landing page that feels nothing like the compelling advert that won them over two seconds ago. You had them at hello and then lost them when you introduced someone entirely different. Getting a consistent tone and use of language across every part of your company’s communications is crucial for building up strong relationships with your customers.
Value the comfort of your reader, look after their scalp and find the errors before they do.
