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Business Writing Style Guide HEADINGS
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Disclaimer: The Business Writing Style Guide is provided as a general guide only and does not claim to be
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Contents
HEADINGS HEADINGS HEADINGS HEADINGS 1111
Wording 2
Parallel construct 3
Case 4
Spacing 5
Punctuation 5
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HEADINGS
THE DECIMAL SYSTEM
1 HEADING 1
1.1 Heading 2
1.2 Heading 2
1.3 Heading 2
1.3.1 Heading 3
1.3.2 Heading 3
2 HEADING 1
2.1 Heading 2
2.2 Heading 2
2.3 Heading 2
2.3.1 Heading 3
2.3.2 Heading 3
2.3.2.1 Heading 4
2.3.2.2 Heading 4
2.3.2.3 Heading 4
2
Wording The goal of headings and subheadings is to indicate the scope and structure of information in an outline. The
outline of any document essentially becomes the document’s table of contents.
You should take extra care when deciding on the final wording of a document’s headings and subheadings.
There are two choices when deciding on the wording of headings, topic or talking headings.
Topic headings Topic headings are short and are made up of a
few words only. They do nothing but identify the
topics of discussion. Topic headings are more
conventional, with many companies choosing
them for formal reports.
���� HIERARCHY OF TOPIC HEADINGS
PURPOSE
BACKGROUND
Past situation
Current situation
DISCUSSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
Talking headings Talking (or meaningful) headings also identify
the topic, but in addition they cover what is
said about the content. They are more
descriptive, and their popularity is increasing
as they promote scanability and readability.
���� HOW COMPANIES CAN HELP THE
ENVIRONMENT
Install water saving rainwater tanks
Switch to energy saving light sensors
Distribute waste reduction recycling bins
HEADINGS
3
DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUESTIONS
Direct and indirect questions are often used effectively as talking headings.
Direct questions actually pose a question.
���� Where did the incident take place?
Indirect questions sound like they’re questions, but they are statements.
They don’t pose an actual question.
���� Where the incident took place
HEADINGS
Parallel construct To ensure you don’t violate a fundamental concept of balance, you need to check for parallel construct
in all your headings. Parallel construct is achieved when all headings in the same level of the heading
hierarchy are of the same grammatical construction. This means they are written as either all topic or all
talking headings. Mixing the different grammatical forms in the same heading level is usually viewed as
violating parallel construct.
You can mix topic and talking headings within a document. For example, you can use topic headings for
all Heading 1 level headings and use talking headings for Heading 2 level headings.
4
Case
The readability of lower case letters is greater than that of capital letters. Therefore, it is recommended
that instead of using full capitals for headings that are longer than half a line, you use title case
[AMERICAN ENGLISH RULES] or sentence case [BRITISH ENGLISH RULES]. Use full capitals for
brief and higher order topic headings. A consistent approach is vital when writing headings.
Even when using AMERICAN ENGLISH rules, it is recommended you use sentence case for headings
that are direct or indirect questions, full sentences or phrases. This ensures a neater appearance.
We have used sentence case for headings in our Style Guide.
SENTENCE CASE
With sentence case, use capital letters for the first word, proper nouns and titles only.
TITLE CASE
Title case in writing occurs when each major word is a capital letter with the exception of short
prepositions (of, to in, for, on); coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor, yet, so);
subordinating conjunctions (after, although, if, unless, because); correlative conjunctions (both …
and, either … or, neither … nor) and the articles the, a or an if they are not the first word.
HEADINGS
5
Punctuation Avoid using terminal punctuation (periods/full
stops or colons) in headings. However, when
headings are written as direct questions, they
need to end with question marks.
���� What does personal coaching involve?
Case ���� Request for agenda items (sentence case)
���� Request for Agenda Items (title case)
���� BACKGROUND INFORMATION (all capitals)
���� Background information (sentence case)
���� Background Information (title case)
Spacing There are two options for line spacing around
headings. You can consistently use a slightly
larger line space above headings than below
them. Alternatively, and the preferred option
for consistency purposes, is to use one line
space above and one line space below all
headings except chapter headings.
Chapter headings should preferably begin at
the top of a new page.
The following is a suggested format. The font
size will vary depending on your preferred
typeface and font.
Heading 1 (chapter heading) HEADING 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
HEADINGS
6
EXCEPTION
Use a colon to link a heading (or title) with a follow-on subheading (or subtitle). Used in this way,
the colon shows a subordinate relationship between the heading and the subheading. When used
in a heading, an initial capital letter after the colon is recommended.
Planning: A guide to planning for structure and content
Editing: A guide to editing for style and presentation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stage 1: Pre-program competency review
Stage 2: Introduction to the rules of business writing
Stage 3: Personal coaching and ongoing editorial support
Stage 4: Program evaluation
Stage 5: Reporting and recommendations
Use a colon after a heading or title when it is directly followed by related information. It is also
acceptable to use a period (or full stop) instead of a colon.
Lack of support for Widget: It appears that the Widget software system has little or no support from our
internal Help Desk or the IT Department in general.
Use an initial upper case letter after the colon when the text is a complete sentence (as is the
case in the above example). Use an initial lower case letter after the colon when the text is not a
complete sentence.
Lack of support for Widget: little or no support from internal Help Desk or IT Department
HEADINGS
7
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eLearning Courseware
ONLINE COURSES: STYLISTIC CLARITY ONLINE COURSES: STRUCTURAL CLARITY
COMMON GRAMMATICAL ERRORS PLANNING YOUR DOCUMENT
WORD CHOICE AND SPELLING WRITING INTRODUCTIONS AND CLOSINGS
PUNCTUATION AND CASE WRITING THE OUTLINE AND BODY
SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION WRITING WITH TONE IN MIND
LISTS AND BULLET POINTS
SENTENCE SPRAWL AND PARAGRAPHS
NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS
LAYOUT AND VISUALS
TUTORIALS: STYLISTIC CLARITY TUTORIALS: STRUCTURAL CLARITY
GRAMMAR PAYROLL PROCEDURE
PLAIN ENGLISH BUSINESS CASE
OVERDUE ACCOUNT
DISPUTE
WRITING RESOURCES
CHECKLISTS, NOTES, DOCUMENT TEMPLATES, EXAMPLE DOCUMENTS, GENERIC WORKSHEETS