About Steve Stop Boring Us! Punctuation Junction ProFormat PowerPoint College: TWU

 

 

 

Punctuation marks are road signs that aid reading

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>  Period.

 

>  Comma,

 

>  Semicolon;

 

>  Colon:

 

>  Question?

 

>  Exclamation!

 

>  Dash—

 

>  “Quotations”

 

>  Ellipse . . . .

 

>  [Bracket]

 

 

Welcome to Punctuation Junction
Tips for American business writers

Punctuation enhances clarity and readability;
It can add impact—
or soften disappointment . . . .

Creative communication means knowing the rules,
and when to break them. The real fun in writing begins
when you can take your reader to a new level of understanding
or appreciation, simply through the choice and placement
of a punctuation mark.

But unless your reader knows the rules, always follow them.
Because those who know the rules unfavorably label those
who don't as lazy, inconsiderate—even incompetent.

Steve Toms has been teaching marketing communications
for more than 2 decades. Here are tips his students and
clients use to produce results.

> More about Steve
> Question?

 

 

 

Keep it short—period.

For optimum readability, the average sentence should be 11-17 words.

To encourage readership, vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Break up long paragraphs containing more than 6 lines of type, especially when there are 2 or more in a row.

Like this.

A period has a simple task that we learned at an early age. When your parents said:
"That's the way it is—period," we knew that was the end of the discussion.

A few words about bullet points:

 

No longer necessary to put 2 spaces
after each period. Save the key stroke.

 
 

Steve's tips on periods:

  • Place periods after bullet points that express a complete thought. Fragments don't get one. If you choose to ignore this, at least
    be consistent throughout your document or PowerPoint slides.

  • Periods make horrible bullet points. 
    — Use an emdash (see below) or double hyphen (see Dash below).
    — Or try this: turn on the Number lock key (Num Lock);
        then type Alt +0183 > Enter. You'll get a dot.

  • No periods...
    ...after contractions |
    don't
    ...ordinal numbers | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th
    ...nicknames | Barb
    ...shortened words | taxi, ad
    ...acronyms | KPRC, TV
    ...numeral after names | Henry VII

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Commatosis, it is said, is, and can be, cured.

Commas are overused.

And if you edit documents by inserting commas each time you take a breath, you're infected.

Use commas to help readers figure out intended relationships and meanings:

On short notice statements will be issued.
(Is that "short notice" or "notice statements"?)

By inserting a comma after "notice," the reader
doesn't have to stop and think about the intended meaning.

On short notice, statements will be issued.

When your reader understands the meaning of your sentence you can omit the comma
(as in this sentence, where some might insert a comma between ". . .sentence, you...").

Omitting commas works best with short sentences.

To be sure, have someone read it aloud. If there's a problem, they'll stumble or stop reading
to figure it out. Add a comma to correct the problem.

 

When in doubt, you might not
want to leave 'em out.

 

Steve's tips on commas:

  • While consistency dictates that items in a series (ex: red, white, and blue) be preceded by commas, omit the final comma only when you know that the reader understands the relationship.

According to their father's will, drawn up by the family attorney, siblings "Harriet, Bill and Eric" were to receive equal shares of their father's $4 million estate. Harriet went to court, claiming that the absence of a comma between Bill and Eric indicated that her father wanted the two brothers to get only 50% of the estate, not 33% each. The judge ruled in her favor: Harriet got $2 million; Bill and Eric each got $1 million.

  • Titles after names: Raymond Hart, Jr.

  • Separate short complementary adjectives for emphasis:
    Terry is an efficient hard-working employee.

But, to show equal weight for efficient and hard-work:
Terry is an efficient, hard-working employee.
The comma creates a pause, thus emphasis on "efficient."

  • Death to the comma splice! It's now in vogue to separate 2 complete thoughts with a comma. Even so, 2 separate and short sentences are much easier to read.

Formal: He delivered a speech; then he returned to work.

New:     He delivered a speech, then he returned to work.

Better:  He delivered a speech. He then returned to work.
or...      He delivered a speech, then returned to work.

  • Dates: American English places a comma between the day and year: April 5, 1948. British, military, and aviation usage reorder the elements: day, month, and year. No punctuation is required: 5 April 1948.
    There's no comma between a month and year: April 2008.

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Semicolons divide; semicolons join.

There's no reason to fear this mark; let's make it simple.

The semicolon is the Cleopatra of Punctuation Marks. It joins 2 complete thoughts
that share something in common.

He reads Drucker; he speaks Toffler.

The above example demonstrates the best application of semicolons in business documents.
Use them sparingly to separate short related thoughts of less than 9-12 words.
The shorter the better.

Proper use of semicolons signals a higher level of communication.
It raises your credibility in the mind of the reader.

Short; sweet.
(2 shared thoughts; same verb)

 

Steve's tips on semicolons:

  • Semicolons are stronger than commas; they signal a stronger break; suggest a longer pause; but even so, are weaker than a period. 

    Semicolons:

    — gives a feeling of expectancy;
    — hey, read on;
    — there's more to come to make it clear.

  • Semicolons bring order to strings of commas.

    Attending the morning session are Dan, Lanette, and Marianna; Andres and Shirley prefer the afternoon workshop.

    He toured Madrid, Spain; and Paris, France.

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Colons: they fulfill promises.

Colons signal what's to come and introduce long lists. 

It's a rather strong mark that tells the reader: pay attention.

Watch out:  (what follows is the "here's why")

That said:  (...and now I'll tell you what's really important)

Dear Sir Edgar:  (what's to follow is either serious, formal, or both)

The greatest misuse of colons is after prepositions or linking verbs:

NO >   Your trip is approved to: Paris, Madrid, and Milan.

YES > Your trip is approved to Paris, Madrid, and Milan.

YES > Your trip itinerary is approved: Paris, Madrid, and Milan.

NO >   The committee's choice of colors are: red, blue, and green.

YES > The committee's choice of colors are red, blue, and green.

YES > The committee chose these colors: red, blue, and green.

Ban colons after prepositions.

 

Steve's tips on colons:

  • Don't place colons after prepositions—with 1 exception:
    Use them to introduce a series of 1– or 2–word bullet lists:

    The supply cabinet is in need of:
    · pens
    · paperclips
    · tape
    · rubber bands

  • Use colons to set up long quotes (greater than 3-4 lines).

  • In letters, there's a significant difference between a colon
    and comma in the salutation:

Dear Steve: (respect; serious content to follow)

Dear Steve, (informal or friendly relationship)

  • It's okay to capitalize the first letter of the text following a colon,
    especially if it contains a quote or is a complete thought. It's also okay
    to use lower case. Just be consistent throughout your document.

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What's missing after question marks?

Effective business documents are concise and precise.

Thus, the only effective use of a question mark is to set up an answer that immediately follows
this mark. Or it can serve as a rhetorical question to which the reader already knows the answer.

When used to request action, make sure to tell your reader who, when, where, and in what form
the action should be taken.

Imagine receiving the following memo from your boss:

Here's the topic for discussion at our Tuesday staff meeting:
"How to lower office overhead?"

Does this mean:

  1. Think up some answers in your spare time?

  2. Write them down and bring them to the meeting?

  3. Submit 3 recommendations to me before the meeting?

Time and energy are wasted when requests fail to specify format and timelines.
Replace the question mark with the specific request?

Send me an office email before Monday with 3 cost-saving procedures
that we can implement immediately to lower office overhead.

To ensure efficacy, give an example of the type of response you seek.

^ top | question?

 

 

Exclamations in business documents are horrific!

When you use this mark in a business document, you're either laughing at your own joke,
or telling the reader you didn't take time to find the precise words to express your thought.

Punctuation Junctions likens the use of this mark to a long string of "very"s (a word that loses its meaning if used more than once). Both signal the reader: you're lazy.

Remember our former president's memos!
(Better to list the specifics in those memos.)

I'll make sure this never happens again!!!
(Here's the ultimate cosmic joke: what's the difference between 1 and 3 exclamation
or question marks??? Really! Really!! Really!!!))

Please!!!!
(Mere groveling. Replace this word with a good reason or benefit.)

This mark serves no purpose in business communications. Focus emphasis by placing
the emphasis in bold or by using a different color. 

Better yet, find the precise word or phrase that makes this mark unnecessary.
In Microsoft Word software, access the Thesaurus (Shift+F7).

^ top | question?

 

 

Dash—the thought.

It's a sudden interruptiona sharp break—a shift in thought. When overused, it loses impact
and conveys a gushy emotional style. 

You're bound to see all kinds of dashes in business documents. Most are incorrectly structured.

-    This is a hyphen (the key to the right of "0"). It's not a dash.
It's used to indicate a syllable break within a word. Hyphens
always appear at the end of a line.

Hyphens are also used to link 2 words that convey a new or different meaning:
"
set up" is an active verb meaning to arrange in an orderly fashion
"
set-up" is a noun, meaning the layout of the new arrangement
(just as "
lay out" is not the same as "layout")


–  This is an endash, slightly longer than a hyphen.
It's used to signal a continuing relationship, as in marking dates:
JanuaryMarch.

To insert an endash in a Word document, place your cursor where you wish the mark
to appear. Turn on the number lock key, hold ALT key, and input 0150 on the number pad.
The mark should appear.


—  This is an emdash, the longest dash.
It's used in place of 2 hyphens to indicate a pause,
or to separate phrases—like this—in a sentence.


To insert an emdash in a Word document, place your cursor where you wish the mark
to appear. Turn on the number lock key, hold ALT key, and input 0151 on the number pad.
The mark should appear.


A parenthesis is like a dash, but softer (much softer).
It's a digression or amplification in the middle of another thought.
It signals the reader that what's inside a parenthesis can be eliminated without changing
the intent or meaning of the sentence.

Use them sparingly. Try not to disrupt the flow/meaning of the sentence by placing them
between the subject and the verb.

In business documents, parentheses encourage readers to stop reading. If the information is important, either make it an introductory phrase or its own sentence. If it merely supports the information, move it to the end of the sentence or make it a short follow-up sentence. (See Bracket for more.)

A hyphen is NOT a dash.

 

Steve's tips on dashes:

  • If you can't create en- or emdashes, use a double hyphen (--).

  • Turn off the auto-hyphen feature in your Word software program.
    Try to keep words intact and on the same line. It improves readability.

  • Some technical writers abhor the use of 2 hyphens as emdashes, branding the writer as "lazy." Using the proper en- and emdash signals your reader that you know the rules and how to apply them.

  • Never use a dash and comma together—-the dash is stronger.

  • Leave no spaces before, between, or after a dash (as above).

^ top | question?

 

 

 

Quotations say “who.”

Improper placement of quotation marks diminishes your credibility.

Abandon logic on how these marks should be displayed. Learn and follow these simple rules.

There are 2 sets of rules. American placement is different from British-influenced
countries such as the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Canada tends to follow
the U.S. placement rules.

TV's Jeopardy is a strange contradiction. Though a U.S.-inspired game show,
it applies British rules when displaying quotation marks, all because the first writer
was a Brit. It's just tradition. (As told to Steve by one of the show writers)

You can avoid this mark by setting quotes in italics, a different color, or using a different typestyle.

Establish a set of rules for your document and apply them consistently.

No logic here. Follow the rules.
And be consistent.

 

Tips for American business writers:
Steve's tips on quotation marks:

  • Place quotation marks outside commas and periods,
    except for numbers and letters.

He could not spell the word "precedence."
Her flight arrives at gate
"A".

Avoid the dilemma. Reformat:
He could not spell the word precedence.
Her flight arrives at
Gate A. (different color or bold text)

  • Place them inside dashes, parentheses, semicolons, and colons
    (unless part of the quoted material).

"Happiness is the ideal"—follow your passion.
("Happiness is the ideal"); follow your passion.
"Happiness is the ideal"; follow your passion.
"Happiness is the ideal": Follow your passion.

  • For question and exclamation marks:

Place outside when the question applies only to the quoted material.

Sid asked, "When will the project be completed?"

Place them inside when the question applies to the whole
sentence in which the quote appears.

Did Sid ask, "When will the project be done"?

  • For quotes extending beyond a single paragraph,
    place them at the beginning of each new paragraph,
    and at the end of the final paragraph.

  • Same rules apply to quotes within other quotes:

Nathalie said, "I read the article 'Beyond Excellence.'"

  • Some fonts don't display true quotation marks (with curls):

>>> "Arial font double quotation marks on keyboard." <<<

To insert quotation marks: turn on the number lock key,
place your cursor before or after the text, and type:

Alt+0147, Enter >
.....Beginning set of quotation marks
Alt+0148, Enter > .... Ending set of quotation marks

Alt+0145, Enter >
....Single beginning quotation mark
Alt+0146, Enter >
....Single ending quotation mark

^ top | question?

 

 

 

An ellipse signals that something's missing. . .

Be leery when you see this mark.

Something is missing. Someone has altered the original content, or stopped
before telling you how it's going to end. Sometimes, it changes the meaning of the message.

In business, ellipses work best when the reader has a familiarity with the information
and knows what's missing. But overuse may lead the reader to question the validity of the content.

This mark also makes your text more difficult to read. Think of it as someone who doesn't finish
his thoughts or mumbles.

Ellipses are formed by placing a space before and after 3-4 periods (few follow this rule):

NO >   During the semester...students improved.

YES > During the semester . . . students improved.

Avoid caution; avoid this mark.

Don't use 'em unless your reader
knows what's missing.

 

Steve's tips on ellipses:

  • If something is missing, use 3 dots (periods):

Al was in the plant. Out of nowhere, we heard a crash.
After running there
. . . nothing seemed different.

  • To show that words have been left out at the end of a sentence
    or complete thought, use 4 periods (the period + 3 dots):

The deficit ran out of control . . . . We couldn't believe it!

  • Though a full thought should include a fourth period, use 3 to indicate
    a soft ending or trailing off
    . . .  < like this.

  • . . . if you begin a quote in the middle of a sentence, use 3 at the beginning.

  • Several credible references say to use a full line of periods when omitting portions of quotes that are longer than a paragraph. Others recommend the use of 4 periods.

Punctuation Junction says:

  • Unless you’re drafting a technical report or proposal, you’re unlikely to refer to multi-paragraph quotes. Use 4 periods.

  • A full line of periods is an old rule that few know about . . .
    or follow. Use 4 periods.

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He [Steve] says brackets impare [sic]* readability.

Brackets enclose comments, criticisms, or corrections inserted by someone other than
the original writer or speaker.

Anyone who met him [the author] respected his authority.

I think the day was the 3rd [4th] when you were last here.

* A bracketed sic [meaning "thus in the original"] indicates an error in the original quoted material
("impare is misspelled: "impair").

"i [sic] felt very bad."   < "I" should be capitalized.

"He was a nown [sic] criminal."  < misspelling of "known"

Brackets are a literary device for editing manuscripts.

From time to time you may see them in business documents, often misused
in place of parentheses or dashes. (See Dash for the proper use of parentheses.)

Avoid them by using a different font or color.

For those who wish to be creative, it's okay to use brackets for all kinds of purposes.
Just be consistent so as not to confuse your reader..

Remember, the goal of punctuation is to aid readability and comprehension.

^ top | question?

 

 

 

© 2009 by Steve Toms
    All materials posted on the webpage are for educational purposes