Writing Matters

You've discovered a typo in your cover letter; now what do you do?

... after you stop hyperventilating, of course.

Here's an e-mail I received today from Heather B.:

Leslie,

Recently a friend shared her chagrin at discovering that the closure in an email she sent with her resume to a prospective employer contained an obvious typo. The closure!

What would you have advised her to do? Nothing? Apologize for the typing mistake in a second email? Or...?

Here's the answer I sent to Heather.

 Hello, Heather -

Thanks for contacting me. My heart goes out to your friend; I have made similar errors, in my resume, no less! (Thankfully, I spelled my own name right, which isn't easy.)  Actually, it's a tiny bit less embarrassing, in my opinion, to make a typo ("htat" instead of "that") than an actual misspelling ("recieve"), though either error makes the reader mumble "Ever heard of spell check??"

I've found that people fall into two categories when it comes to others' typos or misspellings. One is the "This error is a blight and an indictment" category. These folks regard a single typo in another's writing as evidence of incompetence or a character flaw. If the prospective employer is in this category, an apology will not make the situation better. The second is the "Everyone makes an occasional mistake" category. These folks would probably be open to a quick, charming apology from your friend.

So, I guess I would advise her to jump in and offer an apology and a corrected cover letter. It would be best if she could call the prospective employer to let him know she's sending an updated version, even if she has to leave a voice mail. That way, she can put a smile into her apology and maybe even turn this error into an advantage. After all, a person who goes to these lengths to remedy a typo is likely to be a tenacious worker!

Have you ever discovered a typo in your cover letter or resume? If so, how did you handle it? (Just curious - did you get the job??) Do you agree with my advice to Heather's friend? Comment here or let me know what you would do.

 

Editor surveys staff to see whether they understand their own jargon

If you're a web writer, an editor, or a plain language advocate, you've probably encountered this frustrating situation frequently. You're editing a web page or document, and it's loaded with jargon. You flag the terms you know readers won't understand and ask the authors to provide plain language substitutes. "Why simplify?" the subject matter experts ask.  "Everyone knows what that term means."

Sarah Shepard, Senior Engineering Research Editor for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), may have come up with the best strategy ever for showing her colleagues that jargon can compromise clarity. She's intent on gathering quantitative data that will show that, in fact, not "everyone" gets DEC's jargon. Sarah is testing DEC's jargon on DEC itself.

Here's how she's doing it. Sarah (and the wordsmiths in the Division of Public Affairs and Education plus other DEC divisions) read through lots of DEC documents and content to identify jargon they're pretty sure many readers don't understand. They came up with hundreds of terms --riparian, mitigation, effluent, appropriation authority -- then whittled the list down to the top 50. Then Sarah set up an anonymous online survey that asks DEC employees to choose the response that best represents their familiarity with each DEC jargon words or phrase:

• I'm not familiar with this word
• I've seen/heard this word, but don't know what it means
• I think I know what this means, but I'm not sure
• I know the meaning of this word

That's right. It's a brilliant strategy. Sarah is asking her colleagues "Do we even understand each other? Because if we don’t get it, our readers -- citizens -- probably don't get it either."

So far, Sarah is pleased and surprised by how many people have responded to the survey, which has been open for only 5 days and already has 521 respondents. (DEC has 2800 employees, so the survey's closing in on a 20% response rate!) And leading the survey as the three least familiar jargon terms: anadromous, down wood, and viewshed.  (Could someone pass me a dictionary?)

Many thanks to Sarah for letting me interview her about the DEC jargon survey. I'm looking forward to sharing the survey results, and Sarah's reflections on the survey's outcomes, at the end of this month or the beginning of March.

If you have questions about the jargon survey or DEC's plain language initiative, e-mail Sarah who told me, "I love connecting w/other Plain Language fans."

Thirteen Overused and Abused Expressions I’d Like to Outlaw

I recently came across an article about 115 forbidden words and expressions compiled by Randy Michaels, CEO of the Tribune Co.  The company owns the Chicago radio station WGN, and Michaels forbid radio anchors and reporters from using these words.  Among forbidden words and expressions are some that make me cringe as well.

• 5 a.m. in the morning
• at this point in time
• close proximity
• fatal death
• in harm’s way
• icon
• completely destroyed, completely abolished, completely finished or any other completely redundant use

Following up on Michaels' directive, WGN’s news director Charlie Meyerson circulated the list to on-air talent. He directed his staff to report co-worker infractions, noting the precise time and date on "bingo” cards.

That got me thinking about overused and misused words and expressions that I’d like to outlaw. Here are my baker's dozen.  Some of them have been around for a long time and are worn out. Others have worn out their welcome in just a short time. (None are on the WGN list.)

1. Special. You’d have thought that Dana Carey’s SNL parodies of “isn’t that special,” in the 1980s, would have put this on the endangered list. But despite The Church Lady, it's now applied to almost every person, gift, event, activity, organization, and promotion. The result: special is no longer special.
2. Awesome. The Grand Canyon and Taj Mahal are awesome.  Most everything else is not.
3. Absolutely. Perhaps the most overused expression in the English language. Explains CNN'S John Blake: "It's a verbal virus that's spreading unchecked on TV, radio and in print. Want to sound certain? Want to remove all doubt? Want to be a commentator on TV? Absolutely."
4. Issues. A nicer way of saying problems: I have issues with this plan. He has commitment issues. She has health issues. Why not just say problems?
5. Cool. This is a relic from the 1950s. Beatniks were cool.
6. Guys. You guys. Those guys. This expression jumped genders and now refers to any group of people. I particularly hate it when my waiter says, “I’ll be serving you guys.”
7. Throw under the bus. Shorthand for sacrificing a person for political gain. Among those who were or weren’t thrown under the bus by President Obama were Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. and Obama’s grandmother. Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod was thrown under the bus for an out-of-context remark then pulled out from under the bus when it became known that she was a civil rights activist. On the Republican side, Scooter Libby was thrown under the bus by Vice President Dick Cheney.
8. Not so much. Edgy satirist Lenny Bruce used this phrase in the 1960s. But the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart popularized it. When asked which Democrat he saw stepping forward to lead the party: "I like this guy John Kennedy. Since him, not so much."
9. My bad. This one grated on me from the time I first heard it, and it continues to feel like chalk on a squeaky board.  (Talk about outdated expressions! Marking pen on a white board?) While historians trace this back to Shakespeare, it came into the mainstream with the 1995 movie Clueless. Cher (Alicia Silverstone) swerves to avoid hitting a bicyclist. “Whoops, my bad.”
10. It is what it is. This bit of Zen philosophy has come to mean whatever you want it to mean. Among the meanings: screw it, that’s the way it is, nothing we can do about it, and que sera, sera. It normally puts the brakes on discussion. What can you say in response?
11. Not that I’m. . .  (prejudiced, racist, homophobic, sexist). This almost always precedes a statement that shows prejudice. Explains Rational Wiki, "These words are spoken in the mistaken belief that simply saying 'I'm not prejudiced' is enough to exempt the speaker from responsibility for the offensive comment they are about to make." 
12. Get it. He gets it. She doesn’t get it. These phrases express exasperation at someone's failure to understand something. It owes its popularity to the great communicator Ronald Reagan. In a 1980s presidential debate, then candidate Reagan chided his opponent, President Jimmy Carter: "You just don't get it, do you?"
13. Shellacking. Okay, this is a preemptive strike. President Obama used it to describe the Democrats' heavy losses in the 2010 mid-term election. But I’ve heard it enough times since then to merit its inclusion in the list.

Alas, I’m not the head of a large media conglomerate. I don’t have the power to enforce or humiliate those who use my outlawed expressions. Compliance is voluntary; I can only plead.

What's on your list of overused and abused expressions? Leave a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll compile the list and post it.

--Marilynne Rudick 

For Double the Value, Cut Your Web Content In Half

Sometimes the best solution to a problem is the simplest one. Overweight? Eat less.  Low on funds? Sell the flowery china you inherited from your great aunt.

Flabby, non-engaging web content? Cut it in half. Sometimes the best thing you can do to your web content is just make it shorter by half.

My experiment: halve the word count at consulting company's web page
Through a random Google search, I found Blue Jay Consulting's "Approach" page and decided to use it test my edit-with-machete technique. (Full disclosure: I don't know anyone at Blue Jay Consulting or anything about the company; I'm not a hater or a fan.) Here's the original content at 153 words:

Approach
Our goal is to optimize the performance of every organization with which we work. We figure out how to maximize the capability of systems and personnel alike. Our techniques are proven, our consultants are respected and our clients benefit from quantifiable results.

We base all of our efforts on the following general approach:

1. Conduct a thorough assessment of the department. What's not working, what's not making sense? Where are the problems, where are the opportunities?
2. Dive into day-to-day operations to gain insight into your organization's performance.
3. Present a set of recommendations for department-wide improvements.
4. Partner with personnel from all areas of the hospital -- including administration, physicians and front-line staff -- in problem-solving efforts.
5. Remain in place during the implementation of new process and system improvements in order to manage the change and provide support.
6. Maintain ongoing contact with clients to ensure sustainability of achieved successes.

My 50-percent-shorter version (76 words)  
 
Approach
We improve your organization’s performance by maximizing the capabilities of your systems and personnel. Our consultants employ our proven six-step approach to gain you quantifiable results:

1.  Assess the department to discover problems and opportunities.
2.  Analyze day-to-day operations to understand the department’s performance.
3.  Recommend improvements.
4.  Partner with administration, physicians, and front-line staff to solve problems.
5.  Provide support while you implement new processes.
6.  Maintain contact so you can sustain your successes.

What I learned from my cut-content-by-half experiment

• This was hard work, which I couldn't accomplish in one sitting. I had to do this word whittling in several rounds. 
• I may have inadvertently altered the meaning of this content, so if you're cutting your own content by half, be careful.
• Shorter isn't always better. I kind of liked the original sentence "Our techniques are proven, our consultants are respected and our clients benefit from quantifiable results." My version is shorter, but it doesn't have the rhythm of the original: "Our consultants employ our proven six-step approach to gain you quantifiable results..."

Are you game? Try this 50-percent-less experiment on your content and let me know whether the task was difficult and whether you like the shorter version. If you'd like, we'll link to your new, streamlined content here (especially if you'll show us the longer version too).

-- Leslie O'Flahavan

Lessons From the Insurance Industry: You Don't Need a Gecko to Set the Right Tone

We recently evaluated the correspondence of a major insurance company and its competitors. Using a benchmarking tool we developed, we rated their e-mails and letters to customers on seven Standards. One Standard that we carefully looked at was tone:  "Correspondence is written in a personal, professional tone."

While the topic of the correspondence frequently involved complex legal and regulatory issues, the insurance companies did a very good job of creating a personal and professional tone. Exactly how did they do this? We've identified the excellent strategies they used and provided some examples. We've also flagged some lapses in tone that you may find creeping into your own correspondence. 

We think these do's and don'ts provide guidance on creating the right tone in any industry or organization. 

Strategies That Create a Personal, Professional Tone

1. Do use personal pronouns.

• You will receive your ATM/Debit Card by mail within seven to ten days.
• You're automatically enrolled in our free online bill paying program. 

2. Do use active voice.

• Send your payment to the address on your billing statement.

3. Do use action verbs.

• You can pay bills, transfer funds, request your auto ID card, place stock trades, set up alerts and more.

4. Do use plain, simple language.

• We’re letting you know about those changes so you can take advantage of today’s earning levels and rewards. You will not lose points, and you have until March 31, 2010, to redeem your points at the current level.

5. Do use words that show respect for customers.

• You are a valued customer, and we thank you for banking with us.
• For more information, please call a customer service representative at XXXX. We apologize for this inconvenience and look forward to continuing to serve your financial needs. 

Tone Lapses That Make the Writing Stiff and Bureaucratic

1. Don't use passive voice.

• No action is necessary unless this activity occurred without your knowledge or permission.

2.  Don't use bureaucratic language. 

• Our records show that on 5/12/09 at 11:44 AM, you accessed your online account and established or updated the following information: Password
• The disclosed and corrected information is as follows:
• We are enclosing an "Important Information About Damage Caused by Flooding" notice, which you should also keep with the above referenced policy.

3. Don't use inflated and clichéd words and phrases.

• Rest assured that you will continue to enjoy unparalleled value from our rewards program.
• Due to the new regulations
• These are challenging economic times for everyone.

4.  Don't use caveats and legalese. 

• Based on the information you provided and certain assumptions we made (such as assumptions about the credit report information we obtained) to calculate this estimate, the estimated cost for the auto insurance we discussed with the coverages, limits and deductibles shown below is $407/6 months.

What did we learn by evaluating insurance industry correspondence? It doesn't take a gecko to communicate with customers. The right tone is not a matter of accent or species. It's choosing the right words. 

-- Marilynne Rudick

Brutal Proofreading: Your Errors Read Aloud

The most fun response to my post Proofreading Tips for Finding Errors in Your Own Writing came from fellow writing instructor and consultant Rosemary Camilleri:

“Your Mac users may not know it but they have a ‘Speech’ feature built into Mac OX 10.4, 10.5, and following. It's called Text to Speech. Their computer will read any text aloud.

Furthermore, the Mac will read text at the speed you choose, in the voice you choose (Alex? Bruce? Vicki? Victoria? Agnes? Princess? Bubbles? Bells? Boing? Bad News? Hysterical? Zarvox?).

This feature is great: I turn it on so that, as I proofread, I hear the honest truth about what I typed (computers have no mercy).”

As luck had it, I recently bought an iMac, so I took Text to Speech out for a spin, running a few paragraphs through a variety of voices: deep-and-droning Ralph, robotic Vicki, muffled Whisper, the back-from-the-dead Bahh, and the melodious Cellos. I settled on easy-listening Alex.

Rosemary was right about using Text to Speech as a proofreading tool. My ear did hear the grammar and spelling errors, a left-out word, or the wrong word. And because Alex was reading, my eyes saw punctuation and capitalization errors as I followed along. 

Want to try it out? Here are instructions for a Mac:

1. Click on the “Apple icon” in the upper-right hand corner of the screen.
2. Select “System Preferences.”
3. Select the “Speech” icon under Systems.
4. Select “Text to Speech” from the pop-up.
5. Select a “System Voice” from the drop-down list.
6. Click the “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” box.
7. Click “Set Key”
8. Enter a “Key Combination” to activate Text to Speech.

To have your computer read in the voice you’ve selected, highlight the text and press your chosen key combination. (Mine is Control+V). Sit back and listen.

I checked out the Text to Speech feature on my Windows XP computer. It has an accessibility feature that can be configured to read text, but it seemed complicated to set up and use. I don’t know whether Windows 7 has a Text to Speech feature similar to Mac. (Any Windows 7 people out there? Let me know!)

This was proofreading made fun. I found that I was making spelling errors on purpose, so I could see if Alex caught them.

Last word: All of the voices mispronounced my name. (Mar i lynn e Rud ick instead of Marilyn Ru dick). You can imagine how they mangled Leslie O’Flahavan!

-- Marilynne Rudick

Treasure Trove of Writing Resources

My Proofreading Tips for Finding Errors in Your Own Writing post keeps generating feedback. Most recently, Cate Newton sent me a link to the writing resource page  she compiled for the Guide to Online Schools website. 

Cate wrote: “We are trying to build up useful resources for students of all ages…. We’ve compiled a list of the most useful grammar, proofreading and writing style guides on the Internet into one, easy-to-navigate article.”

Her writing resources are indeed a treasure trove. Among the gems on her list:

BBC Proofreading
Proofreading tips, practice exercises, and quizzes to test your skills. I aced the Level C (Superstar) proofreading test. But I admit that the question prompts and the multiple-choice format helped me catch errors I might have missed. 

The Online Grammar Guide 
The comprehensive guide to English grammar created by Jack Lynch, associate professor at Rutgers University, provides an alphabetic listing of grammar and word choice issues. Lynch offers this consoling take on the difference between that and which.

“Many of the best writers in the language couldn't tell you the difference between them, while many of the worst think they know. If the subtle difference between the two confuses you, use whatever sounds right. Other matters are more worthy of your attention.” He then offers a clear and pithy explanation of the difference. 

The University of Ottawa 
An online grammar course that covers the parts of speech, punctuation, pronouns, verbs, modifiers, clauses, sentences and spelling. This course lets you brush up on English grammar in the privacy of your office or cubicle. 

The Ultimate Style Guide Resources for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE
A list of good Internet style guide links. If The Chicago Manual of Style is your style bible, you’ll love the CMS Crib Sheet that summarizes the manual’s most important topics and rules.

School House Rock 
And finally, if you need a break from the rigors of correct usage, head over to Grammar Rock for animated music videos that teach the rules and make you smile. Busy Prepositions makes sense of the confusing rules for prepositions. You’ll spend the day humming the tune (guaranteed!). 

--Marilynne Rudick

Proofreading Tips for Finding Errors in Your Own Writing

Reading the newspaper each day, I catch frequent errors in grammar and usage. It’s easy for me to find errors in newspapers—and, in general, in the writing of others. What’s hard is finding errors in my own writing. By the time I get to the proofreading stage, I’ve looked at the document so many times that I see what I think is on the page, not what’s actually there.

My failsafe remedies for finding errors—asking someone else to proofread or putting the document aside for a while before a final proofing—aren’t always practical, especially with tight deadlines.  

Feeling like I’ve exhausted my arsenal of proofreading techniques, I’ve looked to experts (including the Online Writing Lab at University of Arkansas, the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina, Grammar Girl)  for advice  beyond the tried-and-true (read aloud, use spell-check). Here are some new-to-me techniques for catching errors.

1. Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. For example, proof one time for punctuation (or even commas) and look for spelling errors in another read-through. 

2. Check for spelling errors by reading the document backwards. Start with the last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won’t make any sense, your focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word.

3. Print in an unfamiliar font so that the document looks different. Try a smaller font to force you to read more slowly and concentrate.

4. Make a list of your proofreading gremlins. Are there words you frequently misspell? Do you capitalize headings inconsistently? Do you forget end quotes or the closing parenthesis? Proofread one time for your common errors.

Do occasional typos and other mechanical errors really matter? In a recent Washington Post column on the increase in grammar and usage errors in the newspaper, ombudsman Andrew Alexander quotes a reader on how these errors erode credibility: “If they don’t care about basics like grammar and spelling, how much do they care about factual accuracy?” 

Add your proofreading tips to this list. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail.  

Research Report: Old Writing Rules Apply to New Social Media

While updating our web writing courses, I've been scouring usability research to find new studies that apply to web writing. The findings from two separate research studies from the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University remind me that old web writing guidelines apply to new media—social networking sites. Both studies flagged common writing issues—confusing and unfamiliar terminology, and inadequate user feedback and error messages—as problems that harm usability.

1. Usability Evaluation of Three Social Networking Sites. The study evaluated the usability of MySpace, Facebook, and Orkut. Users completed 10 tasks for each site, including adding new information to a profile, making a photo album, and changing notification options for messages. Users rated the difficulty of each task and their satisfaction with each site.
2. Trick or Tweet: How Usable is Twitter for First-Time Users? Users performed eight tasks on Twitter, including creating an account, posting a tweet, and responding to a tweet. Users rated the ease of use and their satisfaction with the site. 

Confusing and Unfamiliar Terminology
SURL researchers found that inconsistencies in link terminology resulted in users' failure to complete tasks. For example, My Space uses the Term “My Account” as a link. But clicking on the link brought up a page with the heading “Settings.” 

Users were confused by unfamiliar terms. MySpace users clicked on “Photo Cube” expecting to make a photo album. They found that “Photo Cube” is a function that allows users to print photos. Twitter users were unclear about whether to use “Profile” or “Setting” to edit their information.

Not surprisingly, most new users “had difficulty learning the ‘language’ that was unique to Twitter.” What was the difference between followers and following? Users were confused about Twitter-unique terms such as “RT” (retweet) for reposting a message from another user, the use of @symbols to indicate usernames in tweets, and the use of hashtags (#) to indicate topic tags for messages.

Twitter language proved so confusing that users had very poor success rates in some tasks: Only 15.4% were successful in sending a message and only 38.5% were successful in replying to messages. Users concluded that Twitter was “complex and felt they would need to learn quite a bit before using it.” Participants reported that "they would not use the service often.”

Poor Feedback and Unhelpful Error Messages
Poor feedback and unhelpful error messages also contributed to the failure of social network users to complete tasks. MySpace provided a poor error message to users who forgot to give their photo albums a name. Twitter users often weren’t sure whether they had successfully completed a task  such as sending a message. They were looking for feedback, a completion message or visual confirmation—an icon or a change in font color—to confirm their success.

Tips for Applying the Research to Your Writing
The studies’ usability findings are specific to social networking sites. But applying the recommendations to your writing will improve the usability and user satisfaction for both traditional and new media websites. 

• Use terms consistently. Don’t change language mid-stream. For example, is “editing” a profile the same as “updating” a profile? If so, choose one term and use it throughout the site. Consistency is especially important for links because the repetition of link language assures users that they’ve landed on the correct page. If users click “My Account,” the landing page should be labeled “My Account” not ‘Setting.”
• Use plain and intuitive language. The link “print photos” is more intuitive than “photo cube.”
• Explain new terms. You may think a term is self-explanatory, but first-time users may not know your language: tweets, followers, following, photo cube, wall. Provide a brief explanation of terms when users encounter them or link to a glossary.
• Provide helpful feedback and useful error messages. Provide confirmation messages to users: “You have successfully added photos to your album.” Write error messages that explain why the user failed. “Your user name and password do not match” is more helpful than “login failed.”

--Marilynne Rudick

There’s [Grammar] Hell to Pay If You Break These Rules

Grammar rules die hard. I learned that after my post Five Grammar Rules That Beg To Be Broken. I heard from a number of readers who, invoking the ghosts of eighth grade English teachers past, refused to break the rules. Despite my advice, they will not split infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition—ever.

The English language is changing. But some of the rules that we learned are still hard and fast.  Here’s my top five grammar and usage rules that should not be broken. Breaking these rules will land you in grammar hell, where you’ll have to diagram sentences and speak to your eighth grade English teacher in complete sentences—for eternity. 

1. Possession Is 9/10th of The Apostrophe Rule
The apostrophe doesn’t do heavy lifting. Its two main jobs are standing in for missing letters in a contraction and showing possession or ownership. Despite its slim task roster, it’s subject to more than its fair share of abuse. In its job of indicating possession, an apostrophe between the noun and the s shows singular possession. For example, “the doctor’s office” indicates that the office belongs to one doctor. Placing the apostrophe after the s with a plural noun, “the doctors’ office,” shows that the office belongs to more than one doctor.

Some misguided people feel compelled to put the apostrophe between any noun and an s. “The doctor’s have a large office.” This is incorrect. Remember, the apostrophe indicates that the noun is possessive, not plural.

2. Its or It’s? Small Words Big Difference
Confusing it’s and its is probably the grammar error I see most frequently.

• It’s is a contraction for it is. “It’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.” 
• Its is a possessive pronoun. “Remove the pizza from its box before reheating." As one of the oddities of the English language, despite indicating possession (See #1), its does not have an apostrophe.

3. “It’s Me, Not I”
For some reason, me has gotten a bad rap. People think that using I is classier or more correct. The truth is me is high class enough when used correctly. So when is that? Me is correct when it is the object of the sentence or object of the preposition—not the subject. “John went to the ballgame with me” is correct because in this sentence John is the subject and me is the object of the preposition. 

The confusion between I and me crops up when there is a compound object. “John went to the ballgame with Susan and me.” You don’t need to grapple with parts of speech to figure this out. Let your ear be the judge. Take away Susan and you are left with “John went to the ballgame with me.” “John went to the ballgame with I” sounds—and is—incorrect.

4. Subject-Verb Disagreement
Errors in subject-verb agreement are also common. The rule is simple enough. A singular subject requires a singular verb. A plural subject requires a plural verb. The problem occurs when writers incorrectly identify the subject.

• Incorrect: “A good set of tools make repairs easier.” This is incorrect because set (singular) not tools (plural) is the subject.
• Correct: “A good set of tools makes repairs easier."

(For those who have difficult identifying the subject of the sentence, try diagramming!)

5. Punctuation with Quotes: Insider’s Rules
A common conundrum: when you have quotation marks combined with other punctuation—comma, period, question mark—do these other punctuation marks go inside or outside the quotation marks? 

In American usage (Chicago Manual of Style Online), periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks. Other punctuation marks—colons, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points—all go outside the quotation marks unless a question mark or an exclamation point is part of the quoted matter.

• The boss asked all employees, “Will you take a cut in pay?” In this example, the question mark goes before the quotation marks because it is part of the quoted matter.
• Did you hear that the boss asked all employees, "Will you take a cut in pay”? In this example, the question mark goes outside of the quotation marks because it applies to the whole sentence, not just the quotation.

Does breaking any of these rules spell surefire disaster for your business or career? That depends. Lands’ End has made a small fortune despite a misplaced apostrophe.  President George W. Bush was not impeached for his subject-verb disagreement: “Is our children learning?"  And Barack Obama—President, Harvard Law Review editor, and book author—has incorrectly used I instead of me repeatedly:  “a very personal decision for Michelle and I.”

So, you may escape cataclysmic ruin in this life and even prosper if you break these rules. But then there’s the afterlife in grammar hell!

--Marilynne Rudick