If you explicitly want to clear out all font formatting, then select the
whole para, apply the para style, and then press Ctrl-space (default
paragraph font). That will remove all direct font formatting and all
character style formatting.

The best way of stopping Word ever changing font formatting without your
asking is to use character styles rather than direct formatting - even if
you have the whole paragraph in Strong style, say, that won't be removed
(compare to when the whole para is in bold direct formatting - if you select
the whole para the bold will be overwritten by the style font.)

You are also safe from Word being "smart" if you don't select any text when
applying the style, and if you only use direct formatting for the odd word
or two - not for bolding whole paragraphs.

--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org


wrote in message
oups.com...
My main problem in doing it this way is that sometimes I WANT that
action to apply the styles real formatting in various parts of the para
(eg. if it started out in some other style), while othertimes I WANT
the existing formatting preserved (eg. bolded text). I think Word is
tyring to be smart in guessing what I'm wanting in each case, but I've
yet to be convinced.