If you are anything like me, it takes you hours to figure out a simple task in the new and "improved" Microsoft Office Suite. We won't even talk about how frustrating it is to do a simple thing like getting a word count for slides in PowerPoint 2007.

Since I spent time fooling around with how to do exactly that today, I thought I could share the very involved process for what was at easy task in the last version with anyone else who couldn't figure it out!

I'm starting at the very beginning, because finding the menu button in the Microsoft Office 2007 suite is not self explanatory! Instead of a simple text link, there is a button with the logo on it. In fact, until you know better, it looks exactly like a useless graphic. However, it is actually a drop down menu for file options.

On the list of options that shows up when you find the file icon, you'll see Prepare. Select this option. You'll see more choices. One of these is Properties. Click it and your slide screen will change.

Still with me? We're almost to your PowerPoint slide word count! When your slide screen changed, it brought up a new menu. You'll see Document Properties with a drop down arrow. Click on the drop down and select Advanced Properties

Here we are. A simple one or two click operation expanded to take forever with the new and improved PowerPoint 2007 interface! When you click on Advanced Properties, you get a new window with several tabs. Choose the Statistics tab and take a look at that word count.