I created this GPT on my work account, so I can’t provide a direct link. However, I’ll share the exact steps I took to create it, which you can use as a prompt or to create your own GPT.
I enjoy writing, but I find it challenging because I agonize over every word choice and phrasing. This makes it hard to form coherent thoughts that satisfy me, leading to long writing sessions that eventually drain my interest. As a result, my website’s blog has very few entries. I often have a good idea but spend months trying to make it sound perfect. Even after finishing, I doubt myself and rewrite everything.
I work in marketing sales and have to write emails every day. I used to waste so much time perfecting an email, but it would end up so long and convoluted that my main point—getting the person to schedule a meeting with me—would get lost in a sea of sales jargon. While my strength lies in explaining complex concepts to people with little marketing experience, I can’t afford to spend hours doing that. I need to get my thoughts written clearly and quickly.
ChatGPT changed my life. Now, my inner perfectionist can dump all my thoughts without worrying about grammar or spelling, put them into ChatGPT, and have something I’m ready to send to a prospect within minutes (with a few minor tweaks).
This is why I created the “Ultimate Business Proofreader GPT.” This entire post was written using this GPT. Its purpose is to take any text—regardless of how nonsensical, casual, or crass—and transform it into something polished enough for a professional setting.
Ultimate Business Proofreader GPT
Fixing A Reddit Post
Reddit is a great place to find writing that’s casual and conversational, often with little attention to grammar. I decided to test this GPT on a random Reddit post.
I chose it because the post had incorrect grammar, overly casual language, run-on sentences, and one paragraph much longer than the others. Given the length of that paragraph, I assumed it contained repeated ideas and redundant language throughout. This is exactly what my GPT was designed to address.
The Revised Post
Additional Knowledge
Providing only edited text isn’t enough. Plenty of proofreading tools already exist, so it’s a missed opportunity to limit yourself to that when ChatGPT can offer deeper insights into your writing.
Word Count:
I dislike verbose writing. I blame grade school for forcing us to meet arbitrary length requirements to make our essays seem “smart”. In the corporate world, verbosity is incredibly annoying and suggests a lack of intelligence. GPT shows the before and after word counts, so you can see how much it has been consolidated.
Displaying Modifications:
As much as I love ChatGPT, I’ll be the first to admit it’s not perfect, and I often catch it making mistakes. It’s up to you to review what the chatbot provides, so I wanted to make it easier than combing through the old and new text to find what has changed.
Catching Repetition:
As an additional safeguard, I want to ensure ChatGPT has done its due diligence in catching any redundancies. However, I don’t want to waste time on something that merely appears repetitive but isn’t.
Making It Better:
Proofreading your own work is challenging because you’re limited by your own knowledge, experience, and biases. The GPT analyzes the writing and offers suggestions on what to elaborate on, clarify, or add to improve the content. It’s an effective way to challenge your pre-existing beliefs, especially in persuasive writing, and address any blind spots in your logic.
Prompting Language
ChatGPT works best when provided with clear, detailed instructions. For example, asking it to “Write a five-paragraph essay on the causes of the American Revolution” is too vague and may result in a subpar response.
Instead, offer more specific directions, such as: “Write a five-paragraph essay on the causes of the American Revolution, including an introduction and conclusion. Use taxation without representation, British military presence, and Enlightenment values as supporting points.”
For this GPT, I asked it to fix my input text according to the “CHANGES” section instructions. The information must then be displayed according to the “OUTPUT” section instructions. This division into two sections makes it easier to edit this chatbot because I know where specific instructions are located.
Everything I am telling ChatGPT to do goes into the Instructions section:
GPT Instructions
These are my instructions for Ultimate Business Proofreader GPT:
Act as an expert business proofreader and fix the text I give you. Do not remove any ideas in the original text. When I input text, fix it according to the “CHANGES” section. Then present everything to me as directed in the “OUTPUT” section.
Additional Things to Remember:
- Preserve the original meaning and intent of the text while making these changes.
- Ensure that any industry-specific terms or jargon remain accurate and appropriate for the context.
- Consider the target audience’s familiarity with the subject matter, and adjust the complexity of language accordingly.
- Avoid over-editing to the point where the original voice or style of the author is lost.
- Respect the structure and format of the original text (e.g., bullet points, headings) while making improvements.
1. CHANGES:
- Fix grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.
- Cut redundant and superfluous words.
- Remove adverbs whenever possible.
- Employ active voice. Example: Replace “The book was written by Mike” with “Mike wrote the book.”
- Shorten sentences while preserving meaning.
- Eliminate slang, profanity, and internet abbreviations (e.g., “lol,” “TLDR”).
- Enhance flow through logical idea arrangement.
- Adopt a relaxed but professional style.
- Adjust content to suit high school reading levels.
- Steer clear of colloquialisms, clichés, and idioms.
- Utilize synonyms to avoid word repetition within paragraphs.
- Improve transitions between sentences and paragraphs to ensure a cohesive and logical progression of ideas.
- Ensure consistency in tone, tense, and style throughout the document.
- Clarify ambiguous statements and enhance the precision of language.
- Verify and standardize the use of technical terms and jargon to align with the target audience’s understanding.
- Highlight and correct any logical inconsistencies or contradictory statements.
2. OUTPUT:
- Present the edited text under the heading “Revised Text.”
- Show the word count before and after editing.
- Provide a detailed list of modifications made to the original text (as specific as possible), including:
- Grammar and punctuation corrections.
- Word and sentence restructuring.
- Content removal or addition, and the reasoning behind it.
- List out anything that might still sound repetitive after editing.
- Highlight any areas where additional clarification or expansion might be necessary.
- Offer 3-5 recommendations for further improvement, including:
- Suggestions for clearer explanations & identification of potential factual inaccuracies or areas that require further evidence or citation.