Creating an Executive Summary

Word includes a special tool that creates automatic summaries of your documents for you. This tool is called AutoSummarize, appropriately enough. The summary can be any length you specify, and you can save it to a new document, add it to the beginning of your document, or simply highlighted it in place. This feature allows you to quickly create a starting point for an executive summary.

Notice that I said AutoSummarize creates a "starting point." This is because the summary is based on what Word can figure out about your document. This means that there are probably some finishing touches you need to manually put on the summary. As with most other computer-based tools, you should not rely completely on the AutoSummarize tool for your work.

To use the AutoSummarize feature, follow these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

1. Load and display the document you want to summarize.
2. Choose AutoSummarize from the Tools menu. Word performs an analysis of the document and displays the AutoSummarize dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. In the Type of Summary area, specify which of the four summary types you want to create.
4. In the Length of Summary area, indicate by using the Percent of Original drop-down list exactly how long you want the summary to be.
5. Click on the OK button. Word creates the summary, as you directed.

If you chose to create a summary that simply highlights text in your document, then Word displays a small AutoSummarize dialog box on the screen. You can use this dialog box to adjust the percentage of the original document that Word should include in the highlighted summary. When you are done, you can click on the Close button.

In Word 2007, the AutoSummarize feature is still available, but Microsoft decided to remove all references to it from the various ribbon tabs that make up the new interface. You can make the tool available by following these steps:

1. Click the Office button and choose Word Options. Word displays the Word Options dialog box.
2. Click Customize at the left side of the dialog box.
3. Using the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose Commands Not In the Ribbon. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. In the list of available commands, locate and select AutoSummary Tools.
5. Click the Add button. The command is copied to the right side of the dialog box.
6. Click OK to close the dialog box.

The AutoSummary tool now appears on the Quick Access toolbar. You can utilize this tool to provide a summary by following these steps:

1. Load and display the document you want to summarize.
2. Click the AutoSummary tool on the Quick Access toolbar. Word displays a submenu.
3. Choose Auto Summarize from the submenu. Word performs an analysis of the document and displays the AutoSummarize dialog box.
4. In the Type of Summary area, specify which of the four summary types you want to create.
5. In the Length of Summary area, indicate by using the Percent of Original drop-down list exactly how long you want the summary to be.
6. Click on the OK button. Word creates the summary, as you directed.