Highlight Text without a Mouse in MS Word

When you're working on a document in Microsoft Word, every time you lift your fingers from the keyboard to operate with the mouse, you're losing time.

You might be surprised at some of the things you can perform without touching your mouse, including highlighting text.

This handy website will show you the way.

The Efficient Secretary: 1916 vs. 2009

Richard's Grammar and Composition Blog, by Richard Nordquist, is worthy of your Favorites list. But his latest post is particularly entertaining, as he cracks open a copy of "The Efficient Secretary: Practical Suggestions, Information, Helps to Stenographers and Others Wishing to Become Secretaries, Ideas, Economy, Loyalty, Typing, Filing, Getting a Position" by Ellen Lane Spencer, published in 1916.

The author asserts, among other things, that, "It is but natural and right for a business man to want a good-looking, healthy secretary."

Find out how you're doing by 1916 standards -- read it here.

Software Troubles? Carol to the Rescue!

We'd like to introduce you to Carol Bratt. Carol is a certified Microsoft Office specialist, and her mission is to provide a life raft to workers like you, navigating the sometimes rocky seas of Microsoft Office. She offers various educational products to help you learn more about Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point or Publisher.

Due to firms trimming their staffs, some of you may find yourselves having to take on responsibilities that once belonged to someone recently departed -- responsibilities that require software know-how you don't have. Do you find yourself suddenly plopped in front of Excel spreadsheets, and you have no idea how to use them? Or do you now need to understand mail merges, when you never had a call to use them before? Investing in some learning tools can reduce your panic and boost your confidence more quickly than you may have imagined.

Visit Carol's Corner Office for more information. And be sure to sign up for her free monthly Word Bytes Newsletter!

Automatic Back-Up Copies of Your Work in MS Word

You're working on a big, important document. Then by some computer glitch from hell, you lose the whole thing.

If you're using MS Word 2003 or 2007, there's a simple setting that can prevent this all-too-common disaster. Find out how it works.

Quicker Accented Letters -- Á, Ñ, É, Ü, -- in MS Word

Sure, you can insert characters with accents and other punctuation in Microsoft Word. For example, Á, Ñ, É, Ü. But it takes time going into the "Symbols" menu and breaks your stride.

Is there a faster way?

Yep. And believe it or not, the answer comes from the New York Times.

Online Games that are Easier to Play at Work

Wish you could play some online games at work, ay? But you know those flashy game screens will inevitably draw attention to themselves. That's all that busybody brown-noser around the corner needs to see -- she'll be reporting you for playing games at work before you can say "Pogo".

This blogger knows a way to play that's much less conspicuous.

TIP: "Enclosure" Notations in Your Letters

Are you doing this right?

When a letter contains enclosures, type one of the following abbreviations...

Enc.
Encl.
Encs.

...flush with the left margin, one or two spaces under the combination of initials identifying first the writer of the letter, then the typist. Here's an example:

JRS/rh

Enc.

If there's more than one enclosure, indicate the number, like this:

Encs. 2

If the enclosures are especially important, identify them, like this:

Enc. Certified check $2,350
Mortgage -- Smith to Jones

If an enclosure is to be returned, make a note to that effect, like this:

Enc. Assignment (to be returned)

This and many other helpful topics are covered in the Legal Secretary's Complete Handbook, Fourth Edition, by Mary A. DeVries.

Work Faster!: Keyboard Shortcuts in Word

We're big fans of keyboard shortcuts. If you've never used them before, or only used one or two, how 'bout giving a new shortcut a try today? Get to know these shortcuts and we promise, working in those Microsoft Word documents will feel a little less like drudgery.

What is a shortcut? It's a combination of keys on your computer keyboard that you press at the same time to make something happen. Try these:

"Oops, I didn't mean to do that." Want to undo what you just did? Press CTRL + Z.

Make selected text bold with CTRL + B

Make selected text italicized with CTRL + I

Underline selected text with CTRL + U

Want to make the font size smaller? Press CTRL + SHIFT + < and each time you do, your selected text will get smaller and smaller.

Want to make the font size bigger? Press CTRL + SHIFT + > and each time you do, your selected text will get bigger and bigger.

To copy selected text, press CTRL + C

To paste the text you just copied someplace else in a document, put your cursor where you want to insert the text and press CTRL + V

To close the document you're in, press CTRL + W

Here's another idea: print this page, then cut out the key below and tape it to the side of your monitor. Here ya go:

Undo -- CTRL + Z
Bold -- CTRL + B
Italics -- CTRL + I
Underline -- CTRL + U
Font smaller -- CTRL + SHIFT + <
Font bigger -- CTRL + SHIFT + >
Copy -- CTRL + C
Paste -- CTRL + V
Close -- CTRL + W
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Microsoft Word -- FREE Online Help!

Wow, what a great site! We recently discovered Allen Wyatt's Word Tips, a well-organized, valuable site that gives you quick help with Microsoft Word. Help topics offered include:

- Bullets and Numbering
- Fields
- Find and Replace
- Footnotes and Endnotes
- Headers and Footers
- Macros
- Styles
- Tables

...and a whole lot more.

Next time you're ready to throw your monitor out the 53rd story window, reign in your frustration and check out Allen Wyatt's Word Tips!

Get Around Faster & Easier in Microsoft Word

Here are some tricks for navigating inside your Microsoft Word documents faster and more easily. You'll save a lot of time -- your boss will think you're a wizard and you can go back to IMing your cousin Sharon a lot sooner.

Selecting ALL the Text in an Entire Document

- Place your cursor in the left margin of your document
- Click the Control key (Ctrl) while pressing your left mouse button once.

Scrolling

See how your scroll bar has some space to move inside its skinny column over there? If you leave some space under the scroll bar and click inside that empty space, you will automatically scroll to the bottom of the screen. Or, if you want to go to the top of the screen in a big hurry, leave some space above the scroll bar and click there.

End of The Line

Take the express to the end of any line in Word. Just click the End key.

View Two Sections of Your Document at Once

- Click on the Window pull-down menu
- Click on Split
- A line will appear on your screen. When you move your mouse up and down, you'll also move the line. Left-click on your mouse when the line is where you want to divide the page. Presto! Your document will appear in two separate sections on-screen!
- To un-split the page, go back under Windows and choose Remove Split.

TIP: In Letters, Getting the Addressee's Title Right

Are you doing this right?

Here are some tips for addressing letters to individuals with specific titles or positions.

When you're typing the name of the person you're writing to with their address at the beginning of a letter, always precede a name with a title (like Mr., Ms., Dr., etc.) EXCEPT when the name is followed by:

-- initials indicating an educational degree (like Ph.D.)
OR
-- the abbreviation Esq.

So in other words, if you're writing to an attorney (which makes him or her an "Esquire" or "Esq."), the name should look like this:

John A. Smith, Esq.

NOT

Mr. John A. Smith, Esq.
(You shouldn't use both "Mr." and "Esq." -- just "Esq." by itself.)


If you're writing to someone with a name that incorporates initials indicating an educational degree, the name should look like this:

Anne B. Jones, Ph.D.

NOT

Ms. Anne B. Jones, Ph.D.
(You shouldn't use both "Ms." and "Ph.D." -- just "Ph.D." by itself.)


If the addressee has no special initials representing a degree and is not an "Esquire", you WOULD use an ordinary title, like these:

Mr. John A. Smith
Ms. Anne B. Jones


What if the addressee's name includes "Jr." or "Sr."?

You should still use a title like "Mr. or Ms.", like this:

Mr. John A. Smith, Jr.


What if the addressee is an "Esquire" and a "Jr." or "Sr."?

Then you would drop the title like "Mr." or "Ms.", like this:

John A. Smith, Jr., Esq.


What if the addressee has a business title, like "Vice President"?

You should still use a title like "Mr. or Ms.", like this:

Mr. John A. Smith, Vice President

Do not abbreviate a business title, like this:

Mr. John A. Smith, V.P.

These tips and many more are available in The Legal Secretary's Complete Handbook by Mary A. DeVries.

International Phone & Fax Numbers Driving You CRAZY?

Ugh. Those international phone and fax numbers with their 8,000,000 digits, multiple prefixes and zeroes stuck in at weird places. Half the time they never work. Sometimes the way the phone numbers are printed on the company's letterhead don't work -- you need to add digits when dialing from inside the United States. What do they think you are, some kind of psychic switchboard operator?

Listen -- save yourself a lot of aggravation. Use the handy Country Calling Codes widget at the bottom of the JAS blog site BEFORE you dial, every time.

Go ahead, scroll down and give it a try! It looks like this:




This fun widget is created by Country Calling Codes and it gives you EXACTLY the right prefixes you need to reach the country and city you're dialing. Select the country you're calling from, the country you're dialing, and see what happens.

Voila! Secretarial Bliss.