Improve your document creation skills with advanced techniques and tips for using Microsoft Word efficiently.
The Secret to High Performing Teams: Do I have a High Performing Team? The aim of any manager should be to create an effective team, also known as an HPT (High Performing Team). After all, the performance of a team reflects upon whom? Technically, everyone, but the manager or leader of the team in particular! […]
The 2016 version of Office is available to preview now and this look at what’s new in Word 2016 focuses on two main features: Insights Real-time collaboration Word has been around for many years so much of its functionality is already established. New releases of Office tend to focus on expanding Excel’s repertoire – but this time the […]
It’s easy to see why Office 365 is now the most popular MS suite to date. With over 1 million subscribers during its 2013 launch, it’s packed with all the great features that we know and love about Office, with the added bonus of online storage, file sharing and collaboration. With new save and share […]
Previous versions of Word came with useful layout options optimised for printing and web viewing. Print layout and webpage layout were particularly useful in years gone by. The recent addition to Word 2013 sees the introduction of a new Read Mode. Optimised for tablets and touch, your document will adjust according to screen size and […]
A great way of preserving the look and feel of the original source document when sending to multiple devices, the PDF is a much loved office favourite. Compressing large file sizes into much reduced versions is one of the PDFs best features. However, up until recently, making changes to a PDF file in Word was […]
In a commercial environment you’re probably aware of the ever-deepening sea of paperwork that lands in your inbox or on your desk. Over time we develop skills in picking out key points from the entire document, but over time we also become passive viewers of content both at work and in our personal lives. How […]
Outline View I didn’t use this at all in 2003, but in 2010, this view can help me to plan the structure of my document. The Outline View allows me to insert headings for each section, including sub-headings, and even paragraph headings. This acts as the map of my document. Outline View is a great tool […]
Learning to use more shortcuts in Word can be a bit playing Top Trumps. Person 1: “Control + Y , redo, time-saving value of 6.5” Person 2: “Control + Z, undo, time-saving value of 9″, I win, hand over the card!” Ok, so I don’t actually play top trumps with shortcuts (it’s generally Ben 10 […]
I have proofread and copy edited a lot of different documents. Everything from policy documents, to articles and committee papers. They all had different content and specialist language, but all of them needed thorough and systematic proofreading and it can take ages. It’s one of the reasons I drink so much coffee. My old method […]
If you often scroll through large Word documents to edit text, you could save yourself time by splitting the screen instead of scrolling backwards and forwards. This way, you can see two sections of your Word document on one screen – which can be useful, for example, if you are comparing your introduction to your […]
Here is a quick skill to add to your Word repertoire – a little touch of Basildon Bond to your paperwork. Watermarks aren’t just to look fancy, they do perform a useful function of reminding the reader that a document is in draft, or it is confidential. To add a watermark to your Word document, you […]
Either you love them or hate them, but Christmas newsletters can be great fun to create and a good way of sharing news with colleagues or family and friends. If you volunteer for a charity or help out with your local school, you may be asked to sort out the newsletter. You can save […]
Documents evolve over time and with the input of others. Tracking changes is a perfect for editing Word documents as you can see any sections that have been deleted, had format changes or include new content. With tracking tools you can control the changes by accepting or rejecting suggestions and approve the final version. To […]
In a previous job, I compiled meeting agendas and papers, which were subject to changes right up to the moment the meeting papers were sent out. This would mess up bullet point numbering in the agenda and in the meeting papers. With many people working on the same agenda, I could have saved a lot […]
Sometimes the spell check function can work to your disadvantage. A typo may still make a recognisable word, (like form and from) and so mistakes can slip through the net. Usually spell check will do a red underline to highlight typos, but your spell checker setting may not be customised to your needs. For example, […]
Here’s a quick way to create a check list to print out. Type your list in Word, then select all the text. Now you can add the bullet points. In the Home tab, select the down arrow next to the bullet point (located in the paragraph section of the ribbon). You can roll over the […]
Here’s another quick trick from Microsoft Office. It’s an alternative way to open Word, complete with a new blank document. It has the added bonus of helping those “IT challenged” of us to feel a bit techy. This involves the Windows key…a key I have never used… By holding down the Windows key and the […]
You may be proofreading a huge document, and half way through, you spot a spelling error. This error may be repeated in many places in the report but you need to email the report to your manager in five minutes. You could proof read the report and try to spot each error and replacing it […]
A colleague taught me this…took all of ten seconds to learn and I use it all the time. You can quickly zoom in or out of a document, part of a document, or even an object in a document…without using the ribbon. by using your mouse…. To zoom in Hold down on the control button, […]
I like to draft Word documents and I tend to have a few on the go at any one time. Now this kind of multi-tasking is a bit of a risk, as I don’t always remember to save the document. I often close a file and then have the forehead slapping moment (mine, not someone […]
You can easily add a professional look to a long document by adding different headers and footers on odd and even pages. Go to Page Layout tab then select Page Set Up options. Choose the Layout tab, and tick the Different Odd & Even box and make sure you have selected to Apply to whole […]
This question is not quite eligible for to be a QI question but still worth knowing. A document can look a bit bland without diagrams, and if you can’t get your point across quickly and easily, it can affect a business decision, project plan or sales analysis. A graphic or diagram can be much easier […]
I’m getting used to the Ribbon in Word 2010. I started spotting something happening when I clicked on a piece of text or image in my document. Not one to keep these things to myself, I will share them with you. The “ghost toolbar” Word 2010 has this little helper, so when I double click […]
One of the “wow” moments on my recent Microsoft Word Course was learning how to add a diagram to Word 2010. (Alright, I know, I’m easily pleased). I was worried that I’d have to try and figure out how to create boxes, get them to fit, then get the text to fit…I wasn’t looking forward to […]
Document themes are a quick way of adding a professional edge to your Word document. It saves time so you don’t have to spend time choosing the individual elements of colours, headings, fonts, and other effects. This is a bit more of an advanced word skill but it is very easy to do. You […]
I want to write a letter with a visual reminder not to send it to soon…what I need is a watermark with the word “draft”. It is no mystery and ridiculously easy… Here is a plain letter. The tab I need to use is Page Layout. I click on the watermark button and it gives me […]
I still have 2003 Word documents and I want to be able to view and edit them in Word 2010. Word 2010 is a clever little thing, and knows that I need to do this. It also has a fancy name for this, are you ready? Today’s new term is “compatibility mode”. How do you […]
Adding a screenshot to a Word 2010 document is easier than I thought and gives my work a professional edge. Here’s how to do it. Go to the screen you want take the screenshot from. Press the Print Screen button on they keyboard. (Word 2010 will save this into the gallery…) Go back to the […]
KeyTip? 5 minutes ago I had no idea what that was. So much so, that I thought, well, it can’t be that important if I haven’t heard of them before…such a little thing, but oh-so-useful. What is a KeyTip? Well, it’s another name for a keyboard shortcut using your Ribbon. In Word 2010, I can […]
Converting a list into a table for a better looking Word document I make a lot of lists. They are useful for quick references within a text, and often I used to type a list and spend too much time making it all fit. This often left the list looking a bit scrappy, almost like […]
I’ve been using Word 2003 for longer than I care to admit, but after seeing 2010 in action, and being a bit jaded with 2003, I recently upgraded. It’s still early days, but I love it…no really, I do – it has got a certain something that works for me. I like the new ribbon […]