Sometimes you need to say something striking in a document to get the readers' attention. Why not dictate a voice comment directly into what you are writing, so readers will really prick up their ears? It's easy to do, as long as you have a microphone connected to your PC. Just remember to use voice comments sparingly, because sound objects can be quite large and will significantly increase the file size. For example, a 3.5-second voice comment will add about 75KB.

Word 97 and 2000: Start by positioning the cursor where you want the voice attachment to appear, then select Insert*Object. Go to the Create New tab in the Object dialogue, select Wave Sound from the Object Type list (as shown in FIGURE 1), and click OK. When the Sound Object dialogue box appears, click the red Record button and speak. When you're finished recording, click the Stop button. Then select File*Exit and Return to Document. At this point, you'll see a speaker icon for the sound attachment in the text at your curser position.

To play the sound, just double-click the speaker icon in the document. If you want to edit the sound or record over it entirely, right-click the speaker icon, select Wave Sound Object*Edit, then click the red Record button and make your changes.

WordPerfect 8 and 9: While WordPerfect offers an Insert*Sound command, there's an easier way to record a new .wav sound: first, position the cursor where you want your comment to appear in the text, then select Insert*Object. Next, select Create New in the Object dialogue box, and select Wave Sound from the Object Type list. Then click OK. When the Sound Object dialogue box appears, simply click the Record button and step up to the mike. Click the Stop button when you're finished recording. Then select File*Exit and Return to Document. A speaker icon will appear at the insertion point.

To play the sound, just double-click on the speaker icon, then click the Play button in the Sound Object dialogue box. Close the dialogue box when you're finished. If you want to edit or record over the sound entirely, right-click the speaker icon, then select Wave Sound Object*Edit, and repeat the recording process.

Note that in both Word and WordPerfect, the technique described above saves the .wav sound data in the document itself, making it truly portable.