Many students, colleagues and clients want to produce a Microsoft Word document in ways that are easy to read, access and edit. The following top-tips and short video will hopefully highlight ways to use the automatic function settings built into Microsoft Word to help you all along the way.
As an FYI, I am not a computer expert, just a friend who has formatted multiple 100+ page documents in her time and wants to offer some experienced advice.
Five top-tips:
- Take the time to understand how to use your version of Microsoft Word properly
- Format your document from the start of your project and document
- Ask a friend. Many of us have been there and done it
- Set your design and format settings from the off
- Make mistakes. It can be a faff, but using automatic formatting functions will save you time in the long run
The following (unlisted) YouTube video is 16 mins long and gives you a flavour of what I am talking about. I am more than happy to answer questions or share more experiences, please do get in contact with me.
There is a tonne of links and videos on this topic, all available via search engines, YouTube or LinkedIn etc. They all have different tutorials and hints, as there is no one size fits all approach to this. It very much depends on the purpose of your document and your confidence in using Microsoft Word. For a module and undergraduate students, I have recently used the following page as a follow up guide for them to use:
As I keep emphasising, this is not simple and can be annoying. However, if you master the art of formatting in Microsoft Word you will reap the time and energy benefits across the course of your project/writing.
Any questions or comments, do get in contact.
VPos
p.s.
Google definition of faff:
INFORMAL• BRITISH
verb
spend time in ineffectual activity.
“we can’t faff around forever”
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