Editing for Marketing: Style and Presentation

Name: Editing for Marketing: Style and Presentation
Author: Rhonda Tenenbaum

Learn how to edit for style and presentation.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 6 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

(rapid upbeat music) Let's talk about how to edit for style and presentation. Here, We'll go over the additional responsibilities of the copy editor. You'll learn how to edit using the house or professional editing style, How to assess content structure and how to proofread. House style refers to the writing styles and conventions used by writers and editors at a particular company to maintain consistency. The copy editor must follow their company's style guidelines and consistency is key because it helps to strengthen a brand's reputation. For example, imagine you have a daily newspaper subscription and read each edition faithfully. One day, you notice that the newspaper spells a politician's name a certain way, and the next day it's spelled differently. You might wonder which spelling is the correct one, and you may lose some respect for that newspaper because it didn't take the time to verify and revise. Most companies have their own style guides that contain their rules for abbreviations, letters, dates, and so on, to ensure that the writing is consistent. The New York Times Manual of is a popular newsroom style guide that indicates how the publication expects its new stories to be written. Using your house style guide as part of the process of mechanical editing. Per The Copyeditor's Handbook by Amy Einsohn and Marilyn Schwartz, this practice includes reviewing for: spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, punctuation, treatment of numbers and numerals, treatment of quotations, use of initials, acronyms, and other abbreviations, use of italics and bold type, treatment of special elements: headings, lists, tables, charts, graphs, and the format of footnotes and notes and other documentation. Aside from the house style guide, in most large organizations, you'll probably be required to use the same dictionary, as well as standard style manuals, like the The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook. Beyond the process of mechanical editing, copy editors are expected to possess a sharp eye and common sense. It's important to catch errors that the copywriter may not notice. And to use your common sense when editing a particular element that isn't covered in the house style guide or either of the standard style manuals. Using a house style guide, along with the Chicago Manual of Style, and the AP Stylebook is an essential copy editors tool for making sure that copy is clear, coherent, consistent, and correct.

Beginner Provider : Rhonda Tenenbaum 6 Lessons · 14m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

In these lessons, we’ll look at how to edit for style and presentation. You’ll discover the difference between house and professional styles and how to organize your content. You’ll also learn how to assess your content’s internal flow, review its beginning and ending, and proofread your text.

What You'll Learn

Apply house and professional styles when editing content
Assess and refine the organization of your content
Evaluate your content's internal flow
Review the introduction and conclusion of your text
Proofread your text like a professional

Key Takeaways

Editing for style and presentation involves distinguishing between house style and professional style.
Strong content depends on assessing and refining how it is organized.
Internal flow is an important factor when reviewing content.
Reviewing the beginning and ending of a piece, along with proofreading, is part of polished editing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

It covers editing for style and presentation, including the difference between house and professional styles, organizing content, assessing internal flow, reviewing the introduction and conclusion, and proofreading your text.

What skills will I gain from this course?

The course builds skills in editing, content editing, digital content editing, learning styles, presentation design, and working with style guides.

What is the difference between house and professional style addressed in this course?

The course explains what it means to edit in a house style versus a professional style as part of editing for style and presentation.

How is the course structured?

It is delivered through lessons on applying house/professional style, assessing and refining organization, assessing internal flow, reviewing the introduction and conclusion, and proofreading the text, followed by a Test Your Knowledge section.