Introduction

Over the past few years, the use of Microsoft Office Word to create long and complex documents has grown dramatically. Today’s individual worker uses Word to create every type of business document from the basic interoffice memo to complex reports and presentations. This course offers an intermediate\advanced introduction to the key concepts and core elements of working effectively with complex Word documents. The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the best practices that will enable them to spend less time working on their Word documents and achieve better results in the process.

Audience

This course is designed for those experienced in Microsoft Office who work in Word regularly and create a variety of document types ranging from marketing proposals or presentations to research reports, business proposals, and legal documents. These students’ documents often require significant formatting, use tables and graphics, and may requiring substantial editing, collaboration, and usage over a long period of time. It’s also likely these students use Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and upon occasion, Visio.

At Course Completion

After completing this course, students will be able to:

•	Create or edit complex documents more effectively, in less time.
•	Create documents that are more professional-looking as well as being easier to manage for long-term collaboration and editing needs.
•	Understand the underlying concepts of Word, in order to take on unfamiliar Word tasks more confidently and more efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before attending this course, students must have:

•	Word experience, including entering text and basic text formatting; saving, accessing, and printing documents; familiarity with the most common document views including Normal view, Print Layout, and Print Preview.
•	Knowledge on how to navigate in a document and at least some experience with basic tools such as Find and Replace, Comments, Bookmarks, Track Changes, AutoText, and AutoCorrect options; be aware of the Options dialog box on the Tools menu.
•	Additional experience in Word, such as:
•	formatting paragraph styles and applying them in a document.
•	creating tables using Word, and some familiarity with the basics of formatting a table’s structure and text within a table.
•	using graphics in a Word document, and some familiarity copying content between Word and other Office applications—such as pasting charts or tables into Word from Excel or diagrams into Word from PowerPoint.

Course Outline

Module 1: Introduction to the Core Concepts of Microsoft Word

This module will examine how you currently use Word, and introduce the underlying concepts of Word that can make creating every document easier. You will also be introduced to the key components of complex Word documents—providing a framework for what you can expect from the rest of this course.

Topics and Activities

•	Walkthrough 1: Introducing the Core Concepts of Microsoft Word
•	Walkthrough 2: The Three Levels of Formatting
•	Walkthrough 3: The Third Level—Understanding Sections
•	Introduction to the Key Components of Complex Word Documents

After completing this module, students will be able to:

•	Understand the approach of this course.
•	Understand how content is organized in a Word document.
•	Understand how to identify the best practices for accomplishing tasks in Word.

Module 2: Using Styles Effectively

This module will provide essential techniques for making the most of Word styles and letting them do more of the work for you. Styles are the most basic of the five document components you will explore in this class, as well as the feature you are likely to use most often.

Topics and Activities

•	Walkthrough 1: The Benefits of Word Styles
•	Walkthrough 2: Create and Manage Paragraph Styles
•	Exercise: Building a Better Document—Using Styles Effectively
•	Best Practices for Working with Styles

After completing this module, students will be able to:

•	Understand the importance of styles to Word documents.
•	Create and use paragraph styles effectively.

Module 3: Simplifying Your Document with Tables

This module will show you how to make use of tables for saving time and work on almost any type of document. You will see several examples of how tables can be used in Word, learn techniques for creating and editing tables with ease, and learn best practices for managing tables.

Topics and Activities

•	Walkthrough 1: Using Tables to Simplify Your Documents
•	Walkthrough 2: Timesaving Techniques for Creating and Managing Tables
•	Exercise: Building a Better Document—Mastering Complex Layouts
•	Best Practices for Working with Tables

After completing this module, students will be able to:

•	Understand the many uses of tables.
•	Create and manage tables more easily and more effectively.

Module 4: Managing Graphics Successfully

This module will provide key best practices for easily and effectively managing graphics in your documents. You will also learn how using other Microsoft Office programs along with Word can save you time and help you get more professional and effective graphics every time.

Topics and Activities

•	Walkthrough 1: Understand Picture and Object Types in Word
•	Walkthrough 2: Placing Graphics Securely in Word
•	Exercise: Building a Better Document—Managing Graphics with Ease
•	Best Practices for Working with Graphics

After completing this module, students will be able to:

•	Understand the differences in picture and object types and how they affect documents.
•	Understand the benefits of using other Office programs to create some types of document graphics.
•	Place and manage graphics in Word more easily and with better results.

Module 5: Maximizing the Benefits of Fields

This module will demonstrate the benefits that fields can provide to your Word document along with best practices for quickly and easily creating and editing any type of field you need.

Topics and Activities

•	Walkthrough 1: Simplify Your Work with Fields
•	Walkthrough 2: Create and Edit Field Codes
•	Exercise: Building a Better Document—Adding a Table of Contents

After completing this module, students will be able to:

•	Understand what fields are and how they can be used.
•	Create and edit fields directly on screen, as both a timesaver and for added formatting flexibility.
•	Access additional resources for help in creating and managing Word documents as well as to learn more about document production using Word and other Microsoft Office programs.

About the Author

Stephanie Krieger is a document production expert with more than a decade of experience as a consultant specializing in Microsoft Office documents, and she is the author of the recently released book, Microsoft Office Document Designer. She has helped many global companies develop enterprise solutions for their Office products and taught hundreds of professionals and dozens of professional software trainers to build great documents by understanding the way that Office applications “think.” Stephanie frequently delivers popular Office webcasts for Microsoft and writes for several sites across the Microsoft Web site, including Microsoft At Work and Office Online Training. She publishes a blog at www.arouet.net, where you can find regularly updated tips on working with Office.