Just Tips

MLA Style in Microsoft Word

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:11:00 -0600

Following MLA style in Microsoft Word can be challenging, especially in Word 2010. Many of the features new to that version interfere and contradict MLA style.

This style guide explains the major considerations, and how to format for them in Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010. Your professor may have more specific requirements, so remember to double check with special style requirements.

MLA Style Resources

The MLA Style Manual and Guide for Scholarly Publishing is published by the Modern Language Association of America.

You can buy the book at MLA.org

MLA Style Template from Microsoft

Word Training

Format line and paragraph spacing to MLA style

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:05:00 -0600

The Word 2007-2010 default Paragraph settings need to be formatted to MLA style standards. This includes reducing the spacing after a paragraph to zero, and changing line spacing to double spaced.

Both paragraph formatting and line spacing are controlled in the same window.

From the Home Tab in the Paragraph section

Click the Paragraph Dialog box launcher. This will open the Paragraph dialog box.
In the Spacing section, change the After: to 0 pt.
In the Line spacing: section use the drop-down menu to select Double.

Note: to permanently change the formatting to Spacing After 0 pt and Line spacing: Double for all future documents:

Select the Set As Default button in the lower right corner.
In the Microsoft Word dialog box, click All documents based on the Normal template? This will set the formatting for all future Microsoft Word documents to the paragraph settings you defined.
Click OK

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

Formatting Word Margins to MLA Style

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 -0600

The default page margin setting for Microsoft Word 2007-2010 need to be adjusted for an MLA formatted paper.

To format document margins to MLA style standards:

Click the Page Layout Tab and in the Page Setup section, click the dialog box launcher.

In the Page Setup dialog box in the Margins section apply the following settings:

Top: 1"
Bottom: 1"
Left: 1"
Right: 1"

Note: to permanently change the settings to 1" Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins:

Select the Set As Default button in the lower right corner.
In the Microsoft Word dialog box, the question will appear, Do you want to change the default settings for page setup?
Click Yes

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

MLA Style - Indenting a paragraph in Word

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:56:00 -0600

MLA Formatting requires indenting the first line of a paragraph one half-inch. The Microsoft Word First Line Indent feature will apply this MLA formatting automatically throughout your document.

To set First Line Indent to MLA standards:

Select all your text by pressing Ctrl + a.
From the Home Tab in the Paragraph section, Click the Paragraph Dialog box launcher. This will open the Paragraph dialog box.
In the Special: section click the drop down arrow next to (none) and select First line.
In the By: section change the number to 0.5".
This will automatically indent the first line of every paragraph one half-inch for the entire document.
Click OK.

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

Word Header in MLA Style

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:54:00 -0600

MLA Style require you to create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. Your instructor may ask also ask that you omit the number on your first page.

To create a Header in Microsoft Word following MLA style:

From the Insert Tab, in the Header & Footer group, click the down arrow below Header.
From the drop down menu select Edit Header. This will open the Header & Footer Tools Design Tab
Note: You can also open the Header by double clicking in the Top Margin area.
Press the Tab key twice to right align your Heading
Type in your name and press the space bar
In the Header & Footer Group, click the down arrow next to Page Number. Move down to select Current Position.
Select the first option, Plain Number.
To change the header on the first page, in the Options group, check Different First Page
Click Close Header and Footer

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

Formatting Font in Word for MLA Style

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:50:00 -0600

The 2007-2010 default font setting for Microsoft Word is Calibri 11 . MLA style requires Times New Roman 12. To format font in Word to match MLA style requirements:

From the Home Tab in the Font section

Click the Font Dialog box launcher. This will open the Font dialog box
In the Font: drop down menu scroll to select Times New Roman.
In the Size: drop down menu, scroll to select 12.

Note: to permanently change the setting to Times New Roman 12pt for all future documents:

Select the Set As Default button in the lower right corner.
In the Microsoft Word dialog box, click All documents based on the Normal template? This will set the formatting for all future Microsoft Word documents to Times New Roman 12.
Click OK

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

Formatting MLA Endnotes in Word

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:30:00 -0600

With Microsoft Word, inserting endnotes to meet MLA standards is fairly simple.

To insert MLA Endnotes in Word:

Position the curser next to the text to be annotated.
Select the References Tab and in the Footnotes group click Insert Endnote
The curser will move to the end of the document where you can type in the information needed.
Note: You can adjust the font by selecting the text and clicking the Grow Font button.

Click above the notes section and type "Notes" to title the page.
Position the curser above the "Notes" title and press Ctrl + Enter to insert a page break above the notes list. This will move your annotations to a second page.

MLA Style Topics

Word Training

Microsoft PowerPoint: Apply the Same Formatting to Multiple Items in PowerPoint

Wed, 02 May 2012 02:59:00 -0600

Apply Formatting to multiple objects in PowerPoint

Select all the items.
Apply the new formatting (for example, change the color of the object or resize) to one of the selected items. Any formatting changes will be applied to all the objects selected.

PowerPoint Training in Denver

Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010: Add a Button to the Quick Access Tool Bar

Wed, 02 May 2012 02:40:00 -0600

Using Right Click to Add a Button to the Quick Access Tool Bar

To add any button to the Quick Access Tool Bar in Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2010, right click on the button and select: Add to the Quick Access Tool Bar

Microsoft PowerPoint: Find and Replace Fonts in a Presentation

Wed, 02 May 2012 02:09:00 -0600

When working in PowerPoint you may have a need to make sure that the font(s) used in a presentation are consistent. You can easily find and replace fonts by using the Replace Fonts feature.

To use Replace Fonts:

From the Home Tab, click the down arrow adjacent to the Replace button.
Select Replace Fonts.
The Replace Font dialog box will appear.
Click the down arrow in the Replace: section to select the font you want to change.
Click the down arrow in the With: section to select the replacement font.
PowerPoint will automatically find all instances of the font you are replacing and change it to the new font.

PowerPoint Training in Denver

Microsoft Excel: Quick Sum a Data Range

Wed, 02 May 2012 01:33:00 -0600

You can quickly sum a block of data (both Rows and Columns) in Excel with just one click.

Start by selecting the data including the cells that will contain the SUM Formulas. (in our example Column E and Row 11)
On the Home Tab in the Editing Section, click the SUM button.
Excel will create a SUM function for each Row and Column.

Excel Training in Denver

5 Bad Meetings

Tue, 01 May 2012 18:14:00 -0600

Nearly everyone has endured a bad meeting at one point or another. At best, they waste hours of time. At worst, they create misunderstanding and confusion.

Bad meetings come in many forms, and are caused by a variety of problems. The following are 6 common bad meetings and how to avoid them.

The Nomad

Some meetings aimlessly wander from microscopic detail to strategy and mission statements. We call these Nomads. They can go on for hours and accomplish nothing because they have three big problems.

Nothing can be covered in any depth, so there are no tangible results.
They often lead to misunderstandings and confusion.
They tend to bring up unimportant and non-pressing topics.

Avoid the nomad by forming an agenda. Ensure that everyone in the meeting has a clear understanding of what will be covered, what will not be covered, how to prepare, what to expect as take-aways.

The Lecture

If only one person is talking, it isn't a meeting. It's an announcement or a presentation. Don't kid yourself that you want a meeting when you really just want an audience.

If the topic at hand needs to be announced or presented, that's fine, but set the right expectation with your group. Announcements are best handled by email or memo, and presentations require time at the end for discussion.

Another tactic is to assign everyone 2 minutes for their update. This encourages more reserved people to contribute, and constraints dominant personalities.

The Planner

Pre-meeting meetings are very rarely justified. They usually indicate that the scope for the meeting is far too broad, that the meeting is being called prematurely, or that there isn't a consensus on the purpose of the meeting.

Instead of planning a summit, limit the topics and invite fewer people. It is far more effective to schedule a series of small meetings, than one large behemoth.

The Open House

Meetings need firm start times and end times for everyone who is invited. Hold late people to account by pointing out the time, not giving them a chance to air their excuse, and holding them after to cover the material they missed.

Don't invite the problem by asking someone to drop in or drop by. When scheduling the meeting, give a firm start time AND a firm stop. Going late is just as bad as starting late.

The Philosopher

Bad meetings often end with vague expectations and time lines. They talk about hypothetical work that could one day be of some unknown use to somebody.

Meetings should end with a wrap up of who is doing what for whom, when and how. Everyone leaving the meeting should be very clear on what they need to do.

Host great meetings

Plan a great meeting by ensuring that everyone who is coming knows:

What to expect
How to prepare
When it starts
What's expected after the meeting.

Project Management article in CoBizMagazine.com

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:28:00 -0600

Last month, our Project Management Instructor, Chris Bart published an article with cobizmag.com on Project Management for non-project managers.

Ask trained Project Managers how they most effectively manage, and they will give you variations on the same theme: the tools of professional Project Management. Unlike any current management fad, the tools of Project Management have been around for decades. In fact, the most commonly-used tool is over 100 years old! These tools have endured because they work.

– Chris Bart
Read more...
Learn more with our Intro to Project Management Class.

Making One Color Transparent in a JPEG in Microsoft PowerPoint

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:45:00 -0600

Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to make one color in a .jpg file transparent. This is useful when you want to remove solid color backgrounds from logos or other graphics.

To set transparent color:

From the Picture Tools Section, click the Format Tab.
In the Adjust group click the drop down under Color.
Select Set Transparent Color.
Move the wand to the color you want to make transparent and click.
The color selected will be completely removed from the image.

PowerPoint Training in Denver

Advancing Slides in a PowerPoint Slide Show

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:24:00 -0600

You can quickly advance to any slide during a PowerPoint slide show by simply typing in the number of the slide you want to display and pressing enter. PowerPoint will skip any slides in-between the current slide and the target slide. Your audience will never know what they missed.