Word - Introduction

Need to get started with, or freshen up on, MS Word? As Microsoft’s flagship word processor has evolved over the years, it has changed so much that you can no longer just launch it and start typing up documents. Without understanding the right way to use MS Word, you are guaranteed to unnecessarily spend many hours reformatting and tweaking documents to get them to look right. Here’s what you need:

The Basics. The first step in learning MS Word is getting around the interface. If you’ve been using an older version, you’ll probably be surprised by the new “Ribbon’ interface – but don’t worry, we’ll show you how to navigate it. Within short order you’ll be able to create, preview, print, and save documents.

Formatting Text. Beyond changing fonts and colors, you’ll learn: how Word documents are structured into paragraphs with different formats; a tab stop system for aligning text; and borders and shading. We’ll cover two of the most useful text layouts: bullets and numbered lists. You will also learn the top keyboard shortcuts and how to instantly reapply formatting from one chunk of text to another.

Images. Adding an image to a Word document is straightforward. But getting it to align properly with the text can be tricky: there are no less than 7 alignment options, not to mention features for cropping, resizing and styling. We’ll show you the most important configurations to ensure your images beautifully complement the text. 

Tables. Like images, tables are objects with widths, heights, backgrounds, and borders. They also have numerous options for alignment, text wrapping, internal paragraph styles, and even controlling how they conform to page breaks. We’ll show you the most common table layout options.

Document Prep. When you’ve finished writing your document, it’s time to get it ready for printing and distribution. To that end, we cover how to spell-check, set page margins, add headers/footers, and more.

Course Outline

Module 1:

Lesson 1: Getting Started with Word 

• Using Menus, Context Menus and the Ribbon Interface
• Creating and Saving Word Documents
• Managing your Workspace
• Previewing and Printing Documents
• Customizing the Word Environment 

Lesson 2: Formatting Text and Paragraphs

• Applying Character Formatting
• Controlling Paragraph Layout
• Aligning Text Using Tabs
• Displaying Text in Bulleted or Numbered Lists
• Applying Borders and Shading 

Lesson 3: Working More Efficiently 

• Making Repetitive Text Edits
• Applying Repetitive Formatting
• Using Styles to Streamline Repetitive Formatting Tasks 

Lesson 4: Managing Lists 

• Sorting Lists
• Formatting Lists 

Module 2:

Lesson 5: Adding Tables

• Inserting a Table
• Formatting a Table
• Converting Text to a Table 

Lesson 6: Adding Graphics 

• Inserting Symbols and Special Characters
• Adding Images to a Document
• Designating Text Wrap Options for Images

Lesson 7: Controlling Page Appearance 

• Applying a Page Border and Color
• Adding Headers and Footers
• Controlling Page Layout
• Adding a Watermark 

Lesson 8: Preparing to Save a Document 

• Checking Spelling, Grammar, and Readability
• Using Research Tools
• Checking Accessibility
• Saving a Document to Other Formats