![Even after 30 years as a key app many use Word like a typewriter. But it can be coaxed to perform all sorts of tricks.](/content/dam/images/1/3/9/f/e/e/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gss5oz.png/1479428604894.jpg)
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Oddly, the more familiar we become with some software, the less cleverly we use it. Word processing is a prime example. After 30 years as a key business technology, so many use it like a plain old typewriter. It's a pity, because a few smarts can deliver big dividends.
One of our favourite tricks is the self-generating executive summary.
In our standard memo template, there's a table of contents, but we've told Word to omit the page numbers and we've titled it 'Executive Summary'.
Every topic within the memo starts with a one-line summary of what's coming, in a heading style that's picked up by the repurposed table of contents. Finish the memo, update the table of contents and there are your key ideas, summarised at the start of the document.
Most people know that copying and pasting text into a Word document can send its formatting into meltdown if the incoming material has its own styles that conflict with your document.
The antidote is to use a "special" paste that inserts the new text without any associated formatting, so your document controls how it looks. We do that so often that a keyboard shortcut for the function saves us plenty of time.
First, we save the document in "docm" format, which is able to store recorded keystroke and mouse command sequences called macros. Then we do an unformatted paste using the mouse and toolbar, recording it as we go.
Making macros
And Word gives us the option to assign a key combo to play the recording back, so we can copy text from anywhere we like, tap control-shift-v and it neatly pastes into our document without any messy, unintended styles.
Learn to record these mini-programs yourself and you'll find lots of handy uses that speed up your work.
We use a lot of footnotes, which ordinarily means shifting a hand to the mouse, a trip to the ribbon, switching to the references tab and clicking to insert a footnote.
Thanks to another little macro, simply tapping control-shift-f does the job instantly, without taking our fingers off the keyboard.
It also pays to learn how to change Word's styles.
One way we use footnotes is to annotate documents with notes of advice, so a reader can read the document and instantly see our comments in context.
But Word's standard footnote references are in tiny type, often hard to spot on a crowded page. So we choose the footnote style and change it so the references are bolded, a little larger and bright red. Immediately, they stand out like beacons and make it much easier to see what each footnote at the base of the page refers to.
Take a look at a document's properties in Word and you'll see several that you can fill in yourself, like the document's subject.
Well, you can create more of these, and you can insert them into your text using the Quick Parts feature on the ribbon. We have a standard suite of documents for a trust asset rollover, with just a few variables required to customise it for a particular case.
Turbo-charged document
By entering the trust and trustee names, the name of the rollover vehicle and a couple of dates into the document properties, those details are replicated throughout the master deed, a short asset transfer agreement, a pile of board minutes, share transfers and new certificates.
After a quick Google search on how to create and insert custom properties, anyone can turbo-charge a Word document.
Word processing also involves a little psychology. Here's a tip that few ever tweak to. For some reason, if you take the same contract and propose it to one group in normal layout, and a second group in two column format, you'll typically get fewer requests for amendments from the two column group than the single column set.
Who knows why, but empirically a multi-column layout suppresses the urge to seek so many changes. It's a strong argument against those organisations that insist on a single house style for all documentation. It may look impressive, but it might not always deliver the smartest paperwork for use in a particular context.
Just one alert if you decide to use the "docm" format to take advantage of Word's macros feature. Some virus filters block them because they are mini programs. Saving into the standard "docx" format before emailing omits the macros and ensures safe passage for your file.
Peter Moon is a technology lawyer with Cooper Mills. peter.moon@coopermills.com.au