Programme overview
Introduction:
Many organisations lose hours every week to Microsoft Office files built by hand: reports formatted line by line, spreadsheets with typed totals that break when a row is added, and slide decks that ignore the house template. This Core Concept course gives beginners a structured grounding in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, from saving and sharing files in OneDrive to styles, mail merge, formulas, cell references, charts, slide masters and presenter view. Working hands on in the applications, participants produce a Case Task File Set: a Word report, an Excel tracking sheet and a PowerPoint presentation.
Course Objectives:
- Organise, name, save and share work files in folders and OneDrive, and export them in the format a recipient needs
- Produce consistent Word documents using styles, tables, headers and footers, an automatic table of contents and mail merge
- Build Excel worksheets with validated data entry, formulas, functions and correct relative and absolute cell references
- Format, sort, filter, chart and print Excel lists so that they read clearly on screen and on paper
- Create PowerPoint presentations from a slide master with clear layouts, pictures, SmartArt and speaker notes, and deliver them in presenter view
- Combine Word, Excel and PowerPoint content and co-author shared files to deliver a report, tracking sheet and presentation for one task
Target Audience:
- Administrative and secretarial staff who prepare letters, memos and reports for their departments
- Recent graduates in a first office role who produce documents, lists and slides for supervisors
- Coordinators who keep request, attendance or stock lists in spreadsheets
- Officers in human resources, finance, procurement and operations who produce routine documents but learned the applications informally
- Front-office and reception staff who maintain records, schedules and correspondence
Course Outline:
Day 1: The Office Workspace, File Handling and Word Formatting
- Ribbon, Quick Access Toolbar, Backstage View and Keyboard Shortcuts
- Folder Structures, File Naming Conventions and OneDrive Sync
- Word Character and Paragraph Formatting: Fonts, Spacing, Indents and Tab Stops
- Word Styles Gallery: Heading Styles, Normal Style and Style Modification
- Word Tables: Insert, Merge Cells, Borders, Shading and Repeat Header Rows
Day 2: Word Long Documents, Mail Merge and Excel Worksheet Basics
- Word Headers, Footers, Page Numbers and Section Breaks
- Word Navigation Pane, Automatic Table of Contents and Captions
- Word Mail Merge: Excel Recipient List, Merge Fields, Preview Results and Finish and Merge
- Excel Workbook Anatomy: Worksheets, Ranges, AutoFill and Flash Fill
- Excel Data Entry Controls: Data Validation Drop-Down Lists and Freeze Panes
Day 3: Excel Formulas, Cell References, Formatting and Charts
- Formula Syntax and the SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX and COUNT Functions
- Relative, Absolute and Mixed Cell References with the F4 Key
- IF, COUNTIF and SUMIF Functions for Status Tracking Sheets
- Number Formats, Cell Styles and Conditional Formatting Rules
- Sort, AutoFilter and Column, Line and Pie Chart Creation
Day 4: Excel Printing, PowerPoint Design and Shared File Work
- Excel Print Area, Print Titles, Scaling and Page Break Preview
- PowerPoint Slide Master, Slide Layouts, Theme Colours and Visual Design Principles
- PowerPoint Pictures, Icons and SmartArt Graphics with Alignment Guides
- Presenter View, Speaker Notes and Rehearse Timings
- Paste Special, Linked Excel Charts and OneDrive Co-Authoring with Comments
Day 5: Case Task Lab: Report, Tracking Sheet and Presentation
- Case Task Brief: Departmental Request Scenario and File Plan
- Tracking Sheet Build: Validated Entry Columns, Status Formulas and Summary Chart
- Report Build: Styled Word Document with Table of Contents and Linked Chart
- Presentation Build: Master-Based Deck with SmartArt and Speaker Notes
- File Handover Review: PDF Export, Share Link Permissions and Peer Feedback
Skills You Will Gain:
- Document Formatting with Styles
- Mail Merge Production
- Spreadsheet Formula Construction
- Cell Reference Control
- Chart Creation
- Slide Master Design
- Presentation Delivery
- Cloud File Collaboration
Why Attend This Course:
- Leave with a Case Task File Set of a Word report, an Excel tracking sheet and a PowerPoint presentation built in the lab
- Replace retyping and hand-calculated totals with styles, mail merge and formulas that update themselves
- Find commands on the ribbon and with shortcuts quickly instead of searching menus
- Compare everyday file practice with participants from different sectors and organisations
Conclusion:
Everyday office output depends on files that are stored where colleagues can find them, formatted consistently and calculated correctly. This course moves from the Office workspace and OneDrive storage, through Word styles, long documents and mail merge, to Excel data entry, formulas, cell references, formatting, charts and printing, and then to PowerPoint slide masters, SmartArt and presenter view with content shared across the three applications. The final day is spent in the applications, producing a Case Task File Set that participants can reuse as a model for their own reports, lists and presentations.