A church along one of my frequent routes has a message board outside, one of those with movable letters. Such boards are often used to quote scripture, announce church events or offer up pithy messages. The church I often pass is fond of the pithy message. Recently, I saw them offer tips on communicating with the Devine [sic].
Now you might think that every dedicated churchgoer would know how to spell “divine”. Sadly, it seems, you would be wrong.
I understand that the message board job might be delegated to some undereducated underling, and I don’t mean to ridicule such people, but I do think it’s a prime example of the erosion of good communication skills, even of literacy itself.
Not too long ago, I read an electronic newsletter put out by a business consultant who was attempting to sell his service to prospective customers. His subject was interesting and what he had to say had true validity, but his composition skills were no better than those of a C+ student. I was tempted to capture his text, edit it, and send it back to him with a carefully worded message about the value of professionalism in business communication and the importance of making a good first impression. I resisted the temptation, but to this day I remember neither his subject nor his ideas, only his poor writing skills.
Public speakers will tell you that most communication is nonverbal—what you don’t say is more impressive than what you do say. The same is true in written communication. It may be that half the people in the world can’t properly choose between “its” and “it’s”, but the half that do know the difference can usually be counted on to care about the difference. If your message is poorly communicated, your message is lost on the segment of your readership that knows how to spell.
Your patriotism will never impress literate people if you write of waiving the flag. If you think that comprise is a high-class synonym of compose, you need to check your dictionary. If you’re a news anchor, you need to know the difference between cache and cachet.
If you’re writing to capture an audience, sell a service or product, or persuade others to your way of thinking, do yourself a favor. Find the most literate person you know and ask them to revise your message. If you want to make an impression on your audience, make sure it’s the right kind of impression.