I suck at spelling- so what?

I am the worst speller in the world, at least I think. I was never supported in the education system to take a full course in grammar. I speed read everything so I just don’t have that skill to slow down and proof read my own work. I can look at a sentence I typed understand what I mean even if I know it’s wrong somehow, but I can’t really explain why.  Dear god- do not share this post with any potential employers. When I see typos and errors on other peoples stuff it glares at me like a sore thumb. Why can’t I critically read my own work?

So bad spelling and poor grammar for me – it’s like a work place hazard, everything one way or another relates to written communication in the field of PR. To people who say this is a ‘people person’ profession I say no- it’s a ‘tied to your computer person’. E-mail rules the business world even though maybe it should not, environmental scanning, media relations and monitoring, stakeholder engagement, events, web 2.0, or 3.0 or social media or whatever… it is all tied to 26 letters of the alphabet, and if they are in the right order- you suck. Or rather, I suck.

How can I be a freelancer, and a grad student, and I can’t even spell properly. The idea seems absurd but it’s so true. There is likely an average of 10 typos or spelling mistakes in my average post- does this distract people from my thoughts or ideas, so they reject me and my poor form altogether. Does sucking at spelling mean I suck at life?

I remember failing spelling tests and getting stars by my name in elementary anyway. Really? Maybe you should have hurt my feelings teachers no stars for poor spelling. Maybe at some earlier point in life, I should have become shamed into learning to spell better.

Ok so some tips for becoming better at spelling

1. Never trust spell check. (It actually just told me to write spells check- just saying)

2. Never ever hit send on anything- Facebook status, tweet, text, email without reading 3 times, at least the final time should be out load.

3. Try to use a word of the day. Learn to spell and use the word.

4. When is doubt- leave it out. Simple language spelled properly makes you sound smarter than incorrect spelling or usage or larger words.

5. Stop typing and start writing with a pen and paper- pretend like someone has to read it…it really reinforces you to think about your spelling and gives you glaring evidence or how dyslexic your chicken scratch might actually be.

That is all for today.