M I C R O S O F T W O R D
You know how to type. You know how to bold and underline. You've figured out how to insert a table.
Microsoft Word is simple at this level, but not all documents or situations are so simple.
When you create long, complicated, or important documents, you need to use more intricate tools. Several features in Word require you to understand their technology in order to use them like a boss. Once you set up your document properly, there is less to worry about because you're using formatting and settings I call "set it and forget it."
An example will help clarify this.
Let's say your 164 page document contains 233 topics. You've introduced each topic with a heading: a word or two in 40-point font, centered and underlined. It looks great. In your document, a heading can be anywhere on the page, following the end of the preceding topic. You know that it is bad form for a heading to be at the very end of a page, separated from what it's introducing (see Indonesia in the image above), so you carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Then you delete three paragraphs on page 4. You realize this might make a heading later in the document move to the end of a page. You exhale and once again carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Then on page 6, you insert a picture that pushes the paragraphs down. You exhale and once again carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Insert eye roll and head shake here. Can you see how this is going? You're working too hard!
Word has features built in that let you avoid this recurring vexation. Create a style (a collection of formatting that has a name), in this case to include the 40-point font, centering and underlining, space before and after, and most importantly for this discussion, a paragraph format called Keep with next. By applying the style to each heading, and using it when you create a new heading anywhere in the document, you never have to worry about any of the headings being separated from the text they introduce. Set it and forget it. Let Word do the work. If you later decide to make all the headings purple, in a different font, and 38.5 points, all you have to do is modify the style definition. Done.
One of the most confounding features of Microsoft Word that is necessary for complex documents is multi-section page numbering. When I teach this subject, I include a brief explanation of Word's object model. For some students this is worth the price of admission, because they suddenly comprehend all of Word in a whole new light and things make sense in significant ways they never did before. The methodology I use when teaching this subject is one I created years ago through careful analysis and have refined through many presentations. It's a three-step process done in each visible header or footer in the document, from top to bottom. It is logical and simple, and it works like a charm every single time. I have supplied some clients with automation they run just once in each document to simplify the process; it removes the Same as Previous setting for all three headers and all three footers in every section of the document.
Let's say your 164 page document contains 233 topics. You've introduced each topic with a heading: a word or two in 40-point font, centered and underlined. It looks great. In your document, a heading can be anywhere on the page, following the end of the preceding topic. You know that it is bad form for a heading to be at the very end of a page, separated from what it's introducing (see Indonesia in the image above), so you carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Then you delete three paragraphs on page 4. You realize this might make a heading later in the document move to the end of a page. You exhale and once again carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Then on page 6, you insert a picture that pushes the paragraphs down. You exhale and once again carefully, by hand, make sure that none of the headings are at the end of a page. Insert eye roll and head shake here. Can you see how this is going? You're working too hard!
Word has features built in that let you avoid this recurring vexation. Create a style (a collection of formatting that has a name), in this case to include the 40-point font, centering and underlining, space before and after, and most importantly for this discussion, a paragraph format called Keep with next. By applying the style to each heading, and using it when you create a new heading anywhere in the document, you never have to worry about any of the headings being separated from the text they introduce. Set it and forget it. Let Word do the work. If you later decide to make all the headings purple, in a different font, and 38.5 points, all you have to do is modify the style definition. Done.
One of the most confounding features of Microsoft Word that is necessary for complex documents is multi-section page numbering. When I teach this subject, I include a brief explanation of Word's object model. For some students this is worth the price of admission, because they suddenly comprehend all of Word in a whole new light and things make sense in significant ways they never did before. The methodology I use when teaching this subject is one I created years ago through careful analysis and have refined through many presentations. It's a three-step process done in each visible header or footer in the document, from top to bottom. It is logical and simple, and it works like a charm every single time. I have supplied some clients with automation they run just once in each document to simplify the process; it removes the Same as Previous setting for all three headers and all three footers in every section of the document.
Do you face any of these challenges while working in Word?
- Your book needs an index.
- The page numbers are messed up.
- The columns are breaking unevenly.
- Your legal brief needs a table of authorities.
- You want one page in the middle of the document to go sideways.
- Your text keeps reverting to a different font. (It's time to learn Styles, my friend.)
- You want to type something in one place and have it appear in nine other places.
- You have a long list of names in First Last format.You want to sort them by last name.
- Your dissertation requires a table of contents that doesn't quite match the document text.
- You want to precisely control how the text wraps around every angle of an inserted shape.
- You want to ensure that no text in any cell in your table cell is interrupted by a page break.
- "November 28, 2019" has "November" ending one line and "28, 2019" starting the next line.
(Please do not fix this by inserting a hard return or line break before November.) - You want keyboard shortcuts for strikethrough formatting and to insert the ¶ and § symbols.
- In your mail merge, recipients without middle names have an extra space after their first name.
- You press the Tab key to insert a decimal tab in a table cell, but Word puts you into the next cell.
- You need one column to page-flow independently from the page breaks that affect another column.
- You want to suggest changes right in a colleague's document without overwriting their original text.
- You type "See ¶ 27.3 on page 15" but you're actually not sure of the target's final ¶ number or location.
- You want to type foreign characters like é and ñ without having to leave the keyboard to use the mouse.
- You hyphenate words at the right margin, but on another paper size, different words will need hyphenation.
- You insert a line break in a paragraph with full justification. The short line of text spreads across the whole page.
Here is a tip for working with multiple Word documents on a PC:
Press CTRL + F6 to switch to the next one, or CTRL + SHIFT + F6 to switch to the previous one.
Press CTRL + F6 to switch to the next one, or CTRL + SHIFT + F6 to switch to the previous one.
Do you use Word just like a typewriter in your complex documents?
If so, you're working too hard! When you understand how to work with Word, you'll experience increased flow as you get more done in less time. Without interruptions spent untangling the software, you can simply focus on writing.
I also develop customized automation templates with one-of-a-kind dialog boxes and programming in Word. These help your company zip through the menial tasks of document creation or assembly, while producing consistent results.
"I just finished my two day (6 hour) training session with Rob here in the Chicago office, along with other Intellectual Property secretaries and paralegals. It was the best training class I've ever had…thanks to Rob.
I would take any class taught by him, so bring him back!!!"
— Sarah J. Goodnight
Secretarial Lead and Assistant at McDermott Will & Emery LLP (through Encoretech)
Unsolicited email message to Firm management on a class I taught in Microsoft Word
I would take any class taught by him, so bring him back!!!"
— Sarah J. Goodnight
Secretarial Lead and Assistant at McDermott Will & Emery LLP (through Encoretech)
Unsolicited email message to Firm management on a class I taught in Microsoft Word