Bullet Mania For Microsoft Word

You’ve seen them. Bullets. Little characters that appear before a list of paragraphs that are designed to draw attention to the following text. Maybe you have used the arrow or the basic black dot, but have you ever wanted to expand your selection to something that may follow a theme? For example, using a gun for a proposal for a gun manufacturer? Or perhaps using a heart for a cardiac surgeon?

If you use Microsoft Word95, 97 or 2000, the AutoFormat feature allows you to convert symbols to bullets as you type.

First, select Tools/AutoCorrect from the menu bar to open the AutoCorrect dialog box, then click
on the AutoFormat As You Type tab. (In Word 95, select Tools/Options from the menu bar and click on the AutoFormat tab.)

In the Apply As You Type section, select the Automatic Bulleted Listscheck box and then click OK. To convert a symbol to a bullet, select Insert/Symbol from the menu bar. In the Symbol
dialog box, locate and select the symbol you'd like to use, and then click Insert. Click Close to dismiss the Symbol dialog box.

Now, type two or more spaces after the symbol you inserted, followed by the text you want to accompany the bullet. Finally, press [Enter]. Word automatically converts the symbol to a bullet and continues the bulleting on the next line. It’s that simple!

Tips like this can be found in the publication Inside Microsoft Word. Get your FREE issue [1]. Free issue is available only inside the United States.