Minimize file size of Microsoft Word documents

"Most of these will only help with existing documents, but saving as the Word 2007 DOCX format will help with new documents.

Word 2007

Compress Images

Click on an image
Go to the Picture Tools ""Format"" ribbon
Click ""Compress Pictures""

There are then various options for deleting cropped areas, lowering the resolution etc.

Save as DOCX

The new DOCX format is much smaller as it's basically a ZIP file wrapper. Try renaming a .docx file to .zip to look inside if you're curious.

Remove Hidden Data

See this article from Microsoft Remove hidden data and personal information from Office documents

Word 2003

Compress Images

Right-click on an image
Click ""Show Picture Toolbar""
Click ""Compress Pictures""

Remove Hidden Data

Download the Office 2003/XP Add-in: Remove Hidden Data - ""With this add-in you can permanently remove hidden data and collaboration data, such as change tracking and comments, from Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint files."""

"There are a few ways to do this:

Use the new Office Document format. (It generates XML and compress the file)
Ensure any external embedded media is optimized. Compress screenshots.

Other then that there isn't really much more I can suggest. This really depends on the type of document you are creating."