Dr. Doc
 The Document Doctor

Editing and strategic review of publications and key documents.
Insightful, objective critique to achieve your goals in print and electronic text.

To improve your:

  • Articles, publications, books
  • Magazines, newsletters
  • Brochures, marketing materials
  • Query and sales letters
  • Proposals
  • Annual reports
  • Speeches
  • Press Releases
  • Mass e-mails
  • Web content
  • Forms and form letters

Dr. Doc will:

  • Strategically review your document and finetune it to best achieve your goals
  • Edit for clarity, tone, format
  • Tell you What to cut and What's missing
  • Optimize your title
  • Suggest active language, visual imagery, metaphors
  • Review for grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice
  • Discuss timing, media, materials, delivery
  • Suggest features: glossary, response mechanism ...
  • Offer technology tips
  • Help you think outside the box

How can Dr. Doc help you?

Dr. Doc recently remedied these document ills:

  • Reviewed the premiere issue of an international magazine to suggest an e-mail feedback mechanism.
  • Fixed a book proposal that referred to the authors by first name, diminishing their credentials.
  • Edited headlines to identify politically-sensitive language.
  • Improved a book's title to make it easier for readers to find it.

Document Diagnosis
Dr. Doc remedies media malfunctions

  • Hotel - Echo - Lima - Lima - Oscar ?
    Telephone operators sometimes confirm key words by spelling them back using the military phonetic alphabet, Alpha - Bravo - Charlie - Delta, etc. Please stop! Rushed delivery often leaves the operator tongue-tied and the listener confused. Communication is rarely improved.
    Telephone technique: Slow down and speak clearly.

  • You Only Get One Shot at the Prize
    My writing group complained recently that I hold them to a very high writing standard. And I do, because it's the writing that first colors the reader's opinion, not the story. Within minutes a reader learns much about the writer; it takes longer to learn much about the plot. Both are important. Good writing highlights story beats, but mostly stays out of the way to allow the story to flow. Bad writing obstructs flow and wakes the reader from the spell.
    Writing recommendation: Once the story is down, re-read to kill bugs that interrupt the flow. Then spell check and have someone else proofread.

  • Don't Use Video Without a Reason
    I recently reviewed a video posted on a non-profit's web site and recommended that it be removed because the information it presented was insubstantial. You risk tainting your credibility if you present simplistic arguments or hokey visuals. Viewers may resent being asked to take action based on a superficial argument. The choice of a complex medium for an insubstantial message is often perceived as manipulative.
    Strategy recommendation: Use video for purposes that text cannot achieve: faces, action, motivation, emotional appeals.

  • Deadlines Add Urgency
    It is human nature to be lazy. And there are logical reasons to delay action to the last convenient moment. So, whenever urging readers to act — the goal of almost every marketing communication — include a deadline. In reviewing a recent mass e-mailing, an ad for writing classes included workshop dates, but no deadlines for signup or payment. One wonders if they'll get a spate of calls the day before the class.
    Strategy recommendation: Include a deadline in every call to action.

  • The Importance of Proofreading
    Even lawmakers make mistakes. The Arkansas legislature recently inserted an accidental "not" into the language of a new bill: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage." Apparently this makes legal the marriage of children who are not pregnant, if their parents approve. Oops. To fix the complication may require a special legislative session. — "Arkansas accidentally OKs child weddings," San Francisco Chronicle, Aug 18, 2007.
    Strategy recommendation: For key documents, use more than one proofreader.

  • Use the Vocabulary Your Audience Expects
    Recent interaction with a satellite TV company offered a good example of speaking the wrong language. Their phone operators and literature refer to the "receiver." I thought this meant the satellite dish, but I finally determined that they use the term to refer to the black box which is imprinted with the label “DVR” (Digital Video Recorder). I advised them to refer to the box by using the name printed on it.
    Training recommendation: Train your troops to speak a standardized vocabulary and use the terms with which your audience is familiar.

  • Speaking Internet Addresses
    I recently advised TruSource to change the way they speak the name of their website, www.TruSource.com. Telephone operators were telling customers to “Access our website at W-W-W dot true S-O-U-R-C-E dot com.” I couldn't believe their spelling myopia. I recommended simply “Visit us at T-R-U source dot com.”
    Training recommendation: Think through exactly how to speak your firm's web address, then tell your people, don't leave it to their imagination.

  • Printing Internet Addresses
    The paper publication of e-mail and web addresses is fraught with peril, especially in column-constrained magazine and newspaper formats: "Last week I included a link to a Web site ..." apologized weekly columnist David Einstein, and "the Chronicle's type-setting computer inserted an extra hyphen in the link ..." — Computing Q&A, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 18, 2006.
    Typesetting recommendation: Begin URLs on a new line. Don't insert hyphens in web addresses that continue to the next line.

  • Change Is Good, But You Go First
    A 2006 revamp went awry for California magazine, the monthly UC Berkeley alumni magazine. An editorial shift to cover "ideas from the leading edge" led to reader revolt. To illustrate the publication's new thrust, the January 2006 issue showed the title "California" rushing off the cover. The last letter "A" was halfway off the page, presumably as it led the other letters off the edge. In the February issue, the aggressive cover graphic was toned down. "We went a little too far over the edge for some of our board members and readers," says editor Kerry Tremain. "So we pulled it back."
    Strategy recommendation: Review significant changes in advance with all stakeholders.

Ask Dr. Doc:


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About Dr. Doc:

The Doctor's qualifications as an editor:
  • Monthly columnist for over 10 years
  • Screenplay author
  • Computer trainer and author of training materials, 'cheatsheets', and magazine articles for over 20 years
  • B.S. Business from UC Berkeley, plus graduate training in finance
  • Started and operated a résumé service
  • Son of an English teacher (more of a credential than you might think!)

Kendall Callas
microCounsel
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