Ten Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Presentations

Fewer things take the polish off of your writing than spelling mistakes. If you do any amount of writing, having access to a good dictionary and thesaurus is essential. And with the resources available on the Internet these days, you already do.

In a post on the well-known website ProBlogger, Maeve Maddox, the editor of DailyWritingTips.com, lists 10 common spelling mistakes that haunt writer. The mistakes come from her book, 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid.

In my experience, they also haunt public speaker whose slides are frequently riddled with them. I have seen all of them in various PowerPoint presentations over the years.

10 common spelling mistakes

Here are the 10 spelling mistakes that Maddox lists:

1. accept / except

INCORRECT: Please except this gift.
CORRECT: Please accept this gift.

2. advice / advise

INCORRECT: He refused to take my advise.
CORRECT: He refused to take my advice.

3. all right / alright

INCORRECT: He’s alright after his fall.
CORRECT: He’s all right after his fall.

4. effect / affect

INCORRECT: His death really effected me.
CORRECT: His death really affected me.

5. every day / everyday

INCORRECT: Dan walks the dog everyday at six p.m.
CORRECT: Dan walks the dog every day at six p.m.

6. its / it’s

INCORRECT: Put the saw back in it’s place.
CORRECT: Put the saw back in its place.

7. passed / past

INCORRECT: The car past the train.
CORRECT: The car passed the train.

8. quiet / quite

INCORRECT: We spent a quite evening reading.
CORRECT: We spent a quiet evening reading.

9. then / than

INCORRECT: I have more eggs then you.
CORRECT: I have more eggs than you.

10. who’s / whose

INCORRECT: I don’t know who’s dog you’re talking about.
CORRECT: I don’t know whose dog you’re talking about.

For the rule behind each pair of words above, please see the post on ProBlogger.

This post fits nicely with my series about grammar. (In fact, I have previously written about two of the mistakes in his list.) So please be sure to avoid these spelling mistakes on your slides:

And, if you have a blog or are interested in starting one, you should definitely spend some time over at ProBlogger.com. It is one of the leading sites on blogging and is written by Darren Rowse of Melbourne, Australia.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
Picture of mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. John,
    It’s a great article but I was perplexed by the alright/all right part. Having been educated in English (although I make so many mistakes nowadays, all because I proof read after having emailed or posted my comments), I only recently came across “all right” (I’m 32). Darren’s article prompted me to do a search on the topic and I was quite surprised of my findings.
    British English (taught in most countries of the old British empire, including, India and Mauritius :)), ‘alright’ is used more frequently but it is Ok to use ‘all right’. However, Americans use ‘all right’ more and consider ‘alright’ to be a slang. I was astonished to find a big community of American scholars actually hating the use of ‘alright’ (with terms like ‘over your dead body, idiots, illiterate in their conversation).
    Some people tried to use Google to prove their point that “all right” is more popular (twice more) although the hits include phrases like ‘they were all right in their claims against….”. I say it is all right to use ‘alright’ just like we use ‘nowadays’, ‘always’ and ‘although’ :).
    If you use Oxford or Cambridge dictionary, then use ‘alright’. If you use Webster, then use ‘all right’. Be consistent with what you use. However, since some people hate ‘alright’ in some part of the world, be sensitive.

    1. Faisal, thanks for the article and the additional research. You prompted me to do some extra digging of my own. The sources that I found on the web basically said that “all right” is to be preferred but “alright” has been gaining traction. Then I went to Fowler’s – the bible for modern English usage. Here is an excerpt of what I found:
      “The use of all right, or inability to see that there is anything wrong with alright, reveals one’s background, upbringing, education, etc., perhaps more than any word in the language. Alright, first recorded in 1893 … is the demotic form. It is preferred, to judge form the evidence I have assembled, by popular [magazines] … popular singers … and hardly ever by writers of standing. It is commonplace in private correspondence, esp. in that of the moderately educated young. Almost all other printed works in Britain and abroad use the more traditional form (first recorded as adj. 1837, as adv. 1844) all right. … The sociological divide commands attention.”
      Now I am the first to admit that this comes across as rather harsh from old Fowler. But I have to say that I agree with him and prefer all right. But language is an elastic concept and if you grew up learning that alright was, well, all right, then by all means use it. But your advice about the sensitivity of your audience should be taken to heart, and thus I think that a presenter will always be on safer ground with all right.
      John

  2. “But your advice about the sensitivity of your audience should be taken to heart, and thus I think that a presenter will always be on safer ground with all right.

    I like it and I agree with you :).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

19 − 4 =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International