Have you ever written an article, read it over multiple times, and – satisfied that it’s in tip-top shape – hit publish, only to discover that there are still a few errors throughout the piece?

How does this happen? How is it possible that you can read a piece multiple times – specifically looking for errors – and still miss something as basic as a typo or a double space?

Interestingly, this kind of inattention to detail could be a by-product of your brain’s facility for pattern recognition.

In this blog post, I’m going to explain why even the most eagle-eyed writers and editors make mistakes, and how reading your work aloud could help you catch them.

Your brain sees what it expects to see

You’ve probably seen this text – or something like it – before:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheeachr at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Despite almost every word of the text being spelled incorrectly, I’m guessing you didn’t have much trouble understanding it.

That’s because when you read, your brain isn’t processing every letter of every word in isolation. Instead, it’s synthesising information from an array of sources to construct meaning.

Those sources include:

• The letters and words on the page
• The context provided by the surrounding sentence
• Your innate knowledge of language, grammar, and syntax
• Your expectations about what should come next based on what has come previously.

That’s why your brain was able to instantly work out a “correct” version of the text:

According to a researcher at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole.

In other words, your brain works a little bit like a biological autocorrect machine.

In everyday life, this is very useful. Think about how much longer it would take to read even a short article if your brain had to process every letter individually, rather than recognising familiar words and patterns. Think about how difficult it would be to communicate if a single typo in a text message stopped you from being able to understand what the other person was trying to say.

However, when it comes to proofreading, especially if you’re checking your own work, this can be something of a hindrance – your brain already knows what you intended to write, so as you read along, it can automatically correct the mistakes without you noticing. As a result, you end up with typos and other copyediting errors in the final version.

Fortunately, there’s a pretty simple solution.

The benefits of reading aloud

In contrast with silent reading, reading aloud encourages you to process each word more deliberately. This helps you catch those annoying errors that can slip through the cracks when you’re silently scanning your work, such as:

• Repetition, including repeated words, monotonous sentence openings, and overused phrases
• Missing or duplicated words, such as omitted articles (“the”, “a”)
• Awkward or unnatural phrasing, including sentences that make sense but don’t sound conversational
• Long, complicated sentences with stacked clauses and nested conditions
• Issues with rhythm and flow, for example, abrupt transitions or paragraphs that don’t follow naturally from what precedes them.

Although reading aloud isn’t a replacement for proofreading, it’s a tool you can use to interrupt your brain’s automatic pattern recognition, complementing the proofreading process and ensuring that the clarity and flow of your sentences is on point.

Text-to-speech tools can be useful too

If reading your own writing aloud feels awkward, or you’re working somewhere where this isn’t practical, such as a busy office, there are plenty of dedicated text-to-speech tools that can do the job for you.

The Read Aloud tool is probably the most convenient option if you’re working in Microsoft Word. This tool lets you select your preferred reading speed, allowing you to work through a document thousands of words long relatively quickly. If you’re working on a Mac, macOS has a built-in Speech feature that lets you read selected text aloud, which you could use for articles written in Apple Pages.

Final word

Ultimately, reading your work aloud is just one part of the proofreading process, and proofreading is just one part of producing great content. From developing unique ideas for articles to writing, editing, and proofreading them, our team can help you create clear, compliant work that’s true to your brand.

If you’re interested in learning more about what our team can do for you, email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call us on 0115 8965 300.