A step-by-step guide to professional-looking tables

Tables are a staple of many business documents – from management accounts to a marketing plan or an activity update. And most people know how to create a table in Word.

What you may not know is how easily you can take your tables from basic (and boring) to impressive and eye-catching.

Transform your tables

Tables in published journals usually look far superior to those in the average business document.

But it is perfectly possible to transform Word’s default tables into ones that are every bit as impressive as those produced by the big publishers. And in doing so, you can really lift your documents, to make them much more engaging.

You can do this without stepping outside of Word. And – here’s the best bit – you don’t need a degree in graphic design or to be a Microsoft Office ninja to do so. Far from it.

Watch the video to see how you can transform your tables, step by step:

This post is taken from a lesson in our online-training programme Emphasis 360, which improves your writing in practical, bite-sized weekly lessons. You can find out more about Emphasis 360 and preview more lessons for free here.

Image credit: Your Design / Shutterstock

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Author: Rob Ashton

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Rob is a former scientist who set up Emphasis in 1998 after a career in magazine and journal editing. He designed the document analysis that underpins all our courses and believes training should always be based on evidence, not pseudoscience or wishful thinking. His writing has been featured in the Guardian and The Telegraph, as well as specialist publications including Accountancy Age, Training Journal and Nursing Standard. He's also a member of the Association of British Science Writers.

He's currently working on a new book about the science of the words we write and the effects they have on all of us.