The Problem with Random Capitalization

The Problem with Random Capitalization

by | Nov 12, 2025 | Blog

This is an Important Post. You know that because it includes Unnecessary Capital Letters.

This is the curse of random capitalization, the misuse of capital letters to make things appear more important and official looking. It’s one of the most common problems with business writing.

Some things are meant to be random, such as acts of kindness and winning lottery numbers. But capitalization should never be random. It’s distracting, pretentious and wrong.

Grammar has strict rules about when and what to capitalize, but these rules are frequently ignored in bad business writing. The result is text that looks like the Declaration of Independence (“. . . that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”) or a Winnie-the-Pooh book (“‘If I know anything about anything, that hole means Rabbit,’ he said, ‘and Rabbit means Company,’ he said, ‘and Company means Food and Listening-to-Me-Humming and such like’.”)

Neither style is a good fit for the quarterly report.

Why do people do it? Because they think capital letters equal Importance. Others, in doubt and unsure of the rules, default to capitalization. They would be correct more often if they defaulted to lowercase.

So, a quick recap of the basics of when and what to capitalize (with the usual caveats that there are exceptions to every rule and that I’m not addressing every situation, just the ones that arise most frequently in business writing.):

  1. Proper nouns — In general, capitalize the proper names of people, places and things.

 Incorrect: Michael Scott is an Executive with Dunder Mifflin in Scranton. He is a Regional Manager.

Correct: Michael Scott is an executive with Dunder Mifflin in Scranton. He is a regional manager.

Michael Scott, Scranton and Dunder Mifflin are always capitalized because they are proper names of a person, place and thing, respectively. The words “executive” and “regional manager” are lowercase because they are improper or common nouns, which describe general things.

Incorrect: The new Campaign should result in greater Market Share.

Correct: The new campaign should result in greater market share.

Campaign and market share are common nouns and don’t require capitalization.

Also, capitalize adjectives derived from proper nouns, such as “a Shakespearean tragedy” and “a Freudian slip.”     

  1. Titles — Capitalize titles when they come before a name, but not after: Regional Manager Michael Scott, not Michael Scott, Regional Manager. And occupations are not titles, so don’t capitalize them. Don’t write, I was greeted by Receptionist Pam Beesly; write, I was greeted by receptionist Pam Beesly.

Don’t capitalize a title if it’s not used with the titleholder’s name, such as chairman, president or professor. Most executive bios are full of bad examples: From 2008 to 2011, Michael Scott was Regional Manager of the Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin.

 Tricky exception I — Don’t capitalize a title before a name if there is a comma in between, e.g. December’s salesman of the month, Dwight Schrute, refuses to surrender his reserved parking space to this month’s winner.

 Tricky exception II — Capitalize titles that replace someone’s first name: General Grant, Chairman Mao.

  1. Departments etc. — It’s OK to capitalize when referring to a specific department or official entity, e.g. Human Resources has ordered Sales to stop instigating water gun fights with other departments. The capital letters signify that the writer is referring to specific departments. Don’t capitalize sales when referring to it in a general sense, e.g. If sales rebound this year we can afford new Super Soakers.
  2. Quotations — Capitalize the first word of a quotation if it begins a complete sentence, but not if the quoted words are only part of a sentence.

Correct: Vice President Hamilton said, “One more Super Soaker attack and I will bring the hammer down on Sales.”

 Also correct: Vice President Hamilton said one more Super Soaker attack and he will “bring the hammer down” on Sales.

Keep in mind that it’s perfectly fine to write a sentence that has a single capital letter at its beginning and nowhere else in the sentence. There’s no prize for additional capital letters and a message does not gain in importance proportionate to the number of capitalized words.

The First Rule of Professional Writing: Don’t Bury the Lede

The First Rule of Professional Writing: Don’t Bury the Lede

by | Apr 3, 2024 | Blog

If you’re a content creator, it’s essential to also be a heavy consumer of content.

To write authoritatively and informatively, you need to stay current with what thought leaders, influencers, and industry experts are talking about, and that means consuming content – whether in the form of news articles, industry journals, social media, videos, or whatever channel you prefer.

As an avid content consumer, one of the most common, easily correctable mistakes I see is known as “burying the lede.” (The term began being spelled as “lede” at mid-20th century newspapers to avoid confusion with references to the printing press, which was made of “lead” metal. It doesn’t seem all that complicated to me, and it makes you wonder how often the two terms were used interchangeably that it really became that much of a problem, but we’ll move on.)

Stated succinctly, the “lede” is the most important, newsworthy part of the story. It answers two critical questions that every reader asks themselves, whether consciously or subconsciously, when beginning to engage with any piece of content: What is this about, and why should I care?

When writers bury the lede, they test their readers’ patience and increase the likelihood that readers will bail out before reaching the end.

The MLA Style Center offers this example of a buried lede: Say that two people died in a house fire, but the article mentions the location, time, or cause of the fire prior to the occurrence of the deaths.

The lesson is just as applicable to health IT thought leadership as it is to basic journalism. Maybe you believe Medicare Advantage needs to be expanded because it offers seniors a low-cost way to access non-traditional medical benefits that can improve health outcomes. Alternatively, maybe you think Medicare Advantage is a government-sponsored corporate giveaway that large insurers have exploited to fraudulently inflate their profits by billions.

Either position is defensible. Simply stake your position out, concisely explain why you feel that way, and do it while you’ve still got the reader’s attention.

In other words, say it clearly, and say it early. (This is also known in writing circles as the “nut graf” and if you’re sensing an unfortunate trend in these naming conventions, you’re not alone.)

“Burying the lede” isn’t a topic that lends itself to the blog or listicle format of “X Helpful Tips.” Just be aware that the problem is real and rampant, remain conscious of it, and don’t do it.

Simply answer the two magic clarifying questions – “What is this article talking about and why should anyone care?” – at or near the top of anything you write, and the problem is solved.