2022 Microsoft Word Enlightenment for Legal Professionals

Barron Henley, Affinity Consulting, will teach you how to control Word, instead of Word controlling you!

When legal instruments require complex formatting, most Word users struggle to get the document to look the way they want. Users often describe it as a “wrestling match” or having to “outsmart the program.” Some advanced features like automatic paragraph numbering, table of contents, and tables of authority seem inaccessible or broke. The good news is that once you understand how Word works, it is completely controllable. Barron can get you to that place. Learn the techniques you need to help you quickly create content and avoid costly time spent beating the text into submission.

This course is designed with the daily Microsoft Word user in mind. If you can think of something you wish Word could do when it comes to generating complicated or lengthy documents, it can be done. Learn to avoid the “how do I fix this mess?” issues before they occur.

In addition, attendees will have access to a Microsoft Word manual with class registration.

You are encouraged to follow along with the exercises, however, this class is taught using Word 365 for Windows.  The Mac version of Word is cosmetically different, but a full Word for Mac manual is available as part of this class. Word for iPad, Android, Chromebooks, and the online version of Word are ALL inappropriate versions for this class.

Have a question after the course is over?

Barron will offer all attendees a week of Microsoft Word tech support (by email) to make sure your frustrations are resolved.

9:00 – 10:00 AM | Fixing Word’s Default Settings and Basic Editing

• Word’s formatting and programmatically default settings
• Document review and navigation tools
• Advanced cut, copy, paste, find, and replace techniques
• Proofing–spellcheck, auto correct, grammar check, and thesaurus

10:00 – 10:30 AM | Conquering Advanced Font and Paragraph Formatting

• Word’s formatting methodology explained in plain English
• How to strip formatting from wayward text
• Inserting symbols, non-breaking spaces, and hyphens
• Automatic paragraph spacing
• Holding headings, text, and paragraphs together
• Tabs – types, how they are used, and best practices for signature lines
• Indents – shifting text left or right while maintaining proper alignment

10:30 – 10:45 AM | Break

10:45 – 11:15 AM | Mastering Page Numbering and Whole Document Formatting

• Controlling headers and footers
• How to set up simple to complex page numbering schemes

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM | Styles: Word’s Most Important Feature Explained
A Style is a set of formatting characteristics, applied to text in a Word document to quickly change its appearance. When you apply a Style, you apply a whole group of formatting attributes at once. What most users don’t realize is that Word applies Styles to every paragraph in every document without their consent. If you want to control Word’s formatting, this is the feature you must master.

12:00 – 1:00 PM | Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 PM | The How-To’s of Auto Paragraph Numbering and Benefits of Advanced Styles

• Attaching paragraph numbers to styles
• Building multi-level numbering schemes
• Paragraph cross-references which automatically update

2:30 – 3:00 PM | Table of Contents and Tables of Authorities — How to Get Them to Reliably Generate and Update

3:00 – 3:15 PM | Break

3:15 – 3:45 PM | The Secrets of Automation

• Macros
• Auto text and quick parts

3:45 – 4:30 PM | Protecting Work Product

• Redlining, track changes, and comments
• Protecting documents with encryption

4:30 PM | Adjourn

Speaker: Barron Henley, Affinity Consulting Group, Columbus, OH