TYPES OF HEADINGS

A heading is a group of text that indicates the topic of a part or whole document. There are several types of heads. Each of these is
governed by specific formatting rules. The most common headings used in business documents are:

 Main heading
 Subheading
 Shoulder heading
 Paragraph heading
 Marginal heading
 Column heading
 Subject Heading

Organisations sometimes use their own custom formatting for headings. In the absence of any specific instructions the guidelines
presented in the following table shall apply:

Heading Function Microsoft Word Style Placement Formatting

Main heading To indicate the subject matter Heading 1 At the top of the first page of Typed in the largest font used
of the entire document the document in the document

Either aligned left Or

centred

Typed in Either bold closed

capitals with one Or two
spaces between words Or
spaced capitals with three
spaces between words

Subheading To indicate the specific
subject matter of a document
Heading 2 Immediately below the main
heading with 2 clear line
space between them if the
sub-heading does notdirectly
follow the main heading
May be underscored
Typed in slightly smaller font
than the main heading
Either aligned left Or
centred

Two clear line spaces are Bold closed capitals with one
inserted before the body or two spaces between words
Or Initial Capitals (Title

Shoulder heading To indicate the specific ideas
of a section of the document
Paragraph heading To indicated the specific idea
of a paragraph
Marginal heading (side Used when typing displayed
heading) work such as minutes of
meetings, programmes, plays
and specifications
Heading 3 Three line spaces between the
preceding paragraph and the
shoulder heading. Placed
above the next paragraph
with double line spacing
between heading and
paragraph
Heading 4 or 5 In the first line of the
paragraph
In the left margin
Case) with underscoring
Left aligned
Either closed capitals with
Or without underscoring or
Initial Capitals with
underscoring or bold
No full stop after heading
May be enumerated using
either letters or numbers
Left aligned or indented
according to the style of the
paragraph
Either closed capitals with or
without underscoring Or
Initial Capitals with
underscoring or bold
Either followed by a colon or
full stop with three spaces
after the punctuation mark Or
with two spaces after the last
word of the heading Or with
one space after if it is part of
the opening sentence
Left aligned or indented
Typed in closed capitals or
initial capitals
May or may not be
underscored or bold
No full stop after heading
Column Heading Used to identify what Heading 3, 4 or 5 In the first column of a Bold; Left aligned or
the the information in a table. centered
column is about
Subject Heading Briefly describes the Heading 2, 3 or 4 Usually after the Can be bold, closed
main focus of a salututaion (Dear Sir) capitals or underlined.
document. Often used and before the body of Can be left aligned or
in letters and the letter centred depending on the
memoranda style of document