Common pitfalls such as the many different spellings of “there,” when to use an apostrophe, and the ever-mysterious Oxford comma can slow you down and make a poor impression that undermines sales. As you promote your brand through various channels and websites, be sure to stay clear of common grammar mistakes. Grammatical mistakes in your writing can sink the otherwise best pitch decks, emails, and social posts. Thus, why you might not be getting the traffic that you currently want for your business. You never have to worry about how to spell “its” again. We are here to help! This session, with an experienced editor and English professor will help you understand the most common grammatical pitfalls, and how you can avoid them. By the end of this session you will be able to: Understand common grammatical pitfalls Be able to recognize these pitfalls in your writing Know how to avoid them Alex Salachi’s relaxed style will help you address all those challenges in your writing in a friendly, fun atmosphere.

1. The Oxford or Serial Comma

2. Link to Slide 1 Screenshot
• http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/426960/we-need-oxford-comma-
michael-r-strain

3. Oxford Comma, part 2
It is never wrong to include the Oxford comma, but it can
sometimes be wrong to omit it.

4. The Appositive Phrase---an appositive is a phrase
that further identifies the word it follows.
Joe Schmoe, the co-chair of the Emergence 2017 Task Force announced the replacement
for the law firm of Grifter, Scamme, and Chase.
OR
Joe Schmoe, the co-chair of the Emergence 2017 Task Force, announced the replacement
for the law firm of Grifter, Scamme, and Chase.
Why does the second comma change the meaning?

5. Avoid Wordiness
Use strong, vivid verbs instead of excessively wordy statements. Avoid overusing words
ending in -tion.
The committee looked at several options and then agreed to use the Emergence 2017 plan
to shut down six plants.
OR
The committee opted to use the Emergence 2017 plan to shut down six plants.

6. End an introductory element with a comma.
Punctuation Rule #1. (see attachment for words that ordinarily start sentences in this
category)
If a sentence includes one of the following words as the first word in the sentence, then it
is almost always the case that a comma is necessary at the end of the group of words
initiated by that word.
Whenever I see this mistake, I will deduct points from your assignment.
As the course progresses, the deduction for making the same mistake over and over again
will increase.

7. Words that usually begin introductory word groups
• Subordinating Conjunctions:
• http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/subordinateconjunction.htm
• Prepositions:
• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/preposition_list.htm

8. Coordinating Conjunctions
Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction when the coordinating conjunction is
separating groups of words that can exist as complete sentences. There are seven
coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.
The time is right, so you should ask them now.

9. Their . . . they’re . . . there
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/there_their_theyre.htm

10. Its . . . it’s
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/its_its.htm

11. Possessive apostrophes
bird house’s for sale
Bird houses for sale
Bird’s house is for sale
Birds house is for sale

12. Microsoft Word Readability Statistics

13. Readability Statistics in
Microsoft Word

14. Grammarly

15. Link to Review Excercise
• Use this link to access and complete the sample quiz on today’s presentation.
If the link does not work for you, email me at asalachi@gmail.com, and I
will forward a link to you.
• https://goo.gl/forms/Ru2ZOpLLJonSMAlJ3