A feature as simple as Microsoft Word’s SmartArt can add extraordinary value and appeal to your proposal or tender response. This little tool has the power to convert boring old text into concise, clear graphics. We all know how that impacts the reader – and then there’s a huge cost saving as well. Not all businesses would be comfortable with hiring a graphic designer when all they need are a few basic SmartArt hacks.
What is SmartArt?
You’ll find SmartArt in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It’s a built-in feature that lets you create and customise designer-quality diagrams to convey information with graphics instead of just text. You can even convert bulleted lists into a diagram using the SmartArt diagram tools.
Creating a SmartArt diagram
When you’re in your document, begin by positioning the cursor where you want the diagram to appear. Then on the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click SmartArt.
The Choose A SmartArt Graphic dialog box will appear (see below) from here you can select from several different types of diagrams, each designed to convey a specific type of information.
Once you’ve selected the SmartArt that best suits the information you wish to present. Select OK and your diagram will appear in your document, ready for you to start adding content.
To add content, type directly into the SmartArt or the dialogue box to the left of your diagram.
Tips on using SmartArt
Check out these tips on how you can leverage this great feature to deliver information more effectively!
- Brainstorm
The first step in utilising this feature involves a bit of critical thinking. You need to know what message you’d like to convey to your reader. Take a pause. Breathe. And create a rough sketch of what you want readers to understand from the information you have. Based on what you plan to create – an org chart, a relationship diagram, a workflow process, etc – you need to select the SmartArt style that best suits your outcome. - Start small
Begin with a basic design/shape and then gradually add text and shapes as you go further into details. It’s best to get an understanding of how that style works and what it looks like when it expands. Go ahead and play around with the style to familiarise yourself with what you are going to produce. - Be concise with text
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of presenting charts, diagrams and other visuals is the necessity of maintaining short, concise text. Use the Text Pane to add your content but keep it simple. The purpose of your design is to use minimal text but create maximum value. - Get creative
You have a variety of options to play with color and special effects such as shadows, reflections, layouts, and glow. The right combination of these can produce a gorgeous design that keeps the reader glued to your response. Certain font styles help your graphic stand out more. Keep in mind your business theme and logo. This will narrow down your options so you can make the right selection. - Final check
As with any content, visual or text, it’s always a good idea to run over the finished graphic. Look at your design with fresh eyes and make sure the message you are trying to convey is as clear as it should be.
Sample Conversion of Text into SmartArt
We’ll show you a before-and-after version of content to emphasise the use of SmartArt and how it ‘smartly’ adjusts your content to become easy on the eyes, smooth, effective, and concise.
Take the below image as an example of text on a document:
Using SmartArt, we can transform the text shown in the image above into a beautiful, comprehensive graphic ready for your readers!
Transforming proposals with smart graphics
Sometimes it’s easy to explain processes and critical details in words. However, creating wordy responses is not always the best approach for your reader. Our goal for bids is to enhance the proposal as much as possible – which means you need to get creative!
Visuals and aesthetics are a significant part of your proposal. They help put together large amounts of information into an easy-to-understand graphic. The right shapes and colour patterns help define your proposal’s theme, which ultimately gives you an idea of the template you’ll be using for all response documents. We hope these tips have helped you understand SmartArt better.
Happy bidding!
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