Microsoft Word includes an Auto Summarize option that will automatically create a summary of a document for you. When you select this option, Word will examine the document and highlight the sentences that are most important. If you trust that Word will pick out the main idea, then it is a great feature to use.

To create a document summary in Word 2003:

1. Within your document, click AutoSummarize from the tools menu.
2. From the Type of Summary area, set the look of the summary.
3. Use the Percent of Original drop down menu to set how much of the original document can appear in the summary.
4. Click OK.