The reference book is a comprehensive and easy to use reference book that answers all the frequently asked questions about business writing style. Compact and user-friendly, covering all the right topics - with just the right amount of information to be helpful. This is precisely what you want, at your elbow, at the ready, when you can\'t for the life of you remember which bit of punctuation goes where. (Ruth Wajnryb, Author and Columnist) Business today is more complex and changes at a faster pace than ever before. This trend will only accelerate in the future. In this environment, one of a CEO\'s most important tasks is to provide clarity to the company and its stakeholders. In doing so, the ability to communicate clearly is a critical skill. In the Business Writing Style Guide, you will find great insights into improving your written communication skills. I strongly recommend it to any serious business person. (Julian Segal, ex CEO of Incitec Pivot) I have been searching A LOT of bookstores to find something that is an easy reference yet comprehensive enough to use for my writing and your book is just that - clear, simple, precise and relevant. So thank you for putting your book out there. (Anna Fowler, Lawyer)

2. Business
Writing
STYLE GUIDE
HEADINGS
By Verne Ordman
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3. Business Writing Style Guide
HEADINGS
EnglishWriting.biz
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Copyright © 2011 Verne Ordman & Associates Pty Ltd
All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work is unlawful. Requests for permission to
use as sales promotions or for use in corporate training programs should be addressed to Verne Ordman &
Associates Pty Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-9805266-0-8
Disclaimer: The Business Writing Style Guide is provided as a general guide only and does not claim to be
legal advice. Readers should seek legal advice in relation to particular legal issues arising from their writing.
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4. Contents
HEADINGS 1
Wording 2
Parallel construct 3
Case 4
Spacing 5
Punctuation 5
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5. This guide promotes…
INDIVIDUAL consistency
GROUP consistency
ORGANIZATIONAL consistency
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6. Do you have a style question?
Please contact us
E: sales@EnglishWriting.biz
T: +612 9130 6856
W: www.EnglishWriting.biz
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7. THE DECIMAL SYSTEM
1 HEADING 1
1.1 Heading 2
1.2 Heading 2
HEADINGS
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
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8. HEADINGS
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 Talking headings
Topic headings are short and are made up of a Talking (or meaningful) headings also identify
few words only. They do nothing but identify the the topic, but in addition they cover what is
topics of discussion. Topic headings are more said about the content. They are more
conventional, with many companies choosing descriptive, and their popularity is increasing
them for formal reports. as they promote scanability and readability.
HIERARCHY OF TOPIC HEADINGS HOW COMPANIES CAN HELP THE
PURPOSE ENVIRONMENT
BACKGROUND Install water saving rainwater tanks
Past situation Switch to energy saving light sensors
Current situation Distribute waste reduction recycling bins
DISCUSSION
RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
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9. HEADINGS
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
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.
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10. HEADINGS
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.
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11. HEADINGS
Case Spacing
Request for agenda items (sentence case) There are two options for line spacing around
headings. You can consistently use a slightly
Request for Agenda Items (title case)
larger line space above headings than below
them. Alternatively, and the preferred option
for consistency purposes, is to use one line
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (all capitals) space above and one line space below all
headings except chapter headings.
Background information (sentence case)
Chapter headings should preferably begin at
Background Information (title case)
the top of a new page.
The following is a suggested format. The font
Punctuation size will vary depending on your preferred
typeface and font.
Avoid using terminal punctuation (periods/full Heading 1 (chapter heading)
stops or colons) in headings. However, when HEADING 2
headings are written as direct questions, they Heading 3
need to end with question marks. Heading 4
What does personal coaching involve? Heading 5
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12. HEADINGS
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
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FREE CORPORATE TRIAL: Sign up now!
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15. 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
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