So, you’ve written a speech, a short story or a novel, and are rightly proud of it. But before you deliver it to an audience or a publisher, stop and ask yourself: "How much better is this likely to be if a professional casts a keen eye over every word I’ve written?"
There is seldom a speech or story that cannot be improved by an experienced editor. It might need to be cut to a specific length. Perhaps things need to be put in a different order. The text might need to be sharpened up generally to make it brighter and more appealing to the reader.
And even if little editing is needed, any work should be proof-read. It’s a vital inspection to check for those humiliating howlers of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary which will scream out at any literary agent or publisher.
A polished presentation guarantees a piece can be read without distraction.