We Need to Talk About Headings

Let’s talk about headings — specifically for applicants writing complex narrative proposals, like those for tri-agency competitions. I’ve seen enough wild heading inconsistencies in recent months that I’m bumping my planned topic to address this first. 🫣

Headings can be a fun puzzle to untangle when I’m editing a proposal. But sorting out someone else’s heading structure after the fact is a poor substitute for the applicant doing that thinking upfront: understanding their own proposal’s shape and how it’s meant to guide a reviewer through the material. So let’s talk about headings and why they matter more than you might realize.

Why Use Headings?

Headings steer the reader through your proposal, making it easy to find information against their rubric and to scan the document quickly during or after review. If a reviewer loses the thread of your argument, you’ll likely get dinged on scoring.

Headings can also signal your key arguments and show how you see your project aligning with funder priorities. You may have flexibility to be creative with heading titles — if so, consider using funder terminology in the naming (such as Community-Engaged Activities or Community Impact). However, sometimes the application instructions provide headings and subheadings that the proposal must include. If that’s the case, follow those instructions exactly. Reviewers will be expecting this conformity and may mark down any proposals that don’t adhere to the guidelines.

Headings can be simple or complex, depending on the project and the funder’s expectations. Ideally you don’t want to have more than three levels. If you’re going to use four levels (which I see frequently in health science proposals), be hyper vigilant to ensure they are all relevant, formatted, and applied consistently. Or consider how you can consolidate the lower hierarchies. You don’t want headings to do all the heavy lifting — if that’s the case, then you’ve likely made things too complex and need to simplify what’s going into that proposal.

Ways to Format Headings Effectively

There’s no universal formatting rule for headings. What matters is the choice you land on, and sticking with it. You do, however, want to make sure that there’s a clear visual hierarchy to the material you’re presenting. The following are the most common heading formats that I see (or advise clients to use):

Level 1: boldface, own line, title case (capitalized)

Level 2: italicized or boldface, own line, sentence case

Level 3: italicized, in-line, sentence case

You can find examples of these, and read about other formatting tips, in my previous posts.

Numbers are especially helpful for more complex, lengthy proposals. Here’s a couple of ways to visualize this.

1.0 Heading Level 1.1 Heading level 1.2 Heading level 3

Heading Level 1 Heading level 2 Heading level 3

⚠️ Pro Tip: Write out all your headings in a separate document to help you keep track of what level you’re on, how they nest, and to prevent over-complicating things.

Best Practices + Pitfalls

In addition to the above guidelines, keep the following in mind as you structure your headings:

• Be wary of over-heading or under-heading — over- leaves the content disjointed with too many short paragraphs and sections; under- loses effectiveness and ends up not being helpful.
• Ensure headings are relevant — they must be contextually relevant and signal what information will be provided; avoid using too many terms or phrases that are immediately used in the first few sentences.
• Watch spacing — choose whether headings are on separate lines, in-line, or if you add paragraph spacing before and after.
• Be consistent — I can’t stress this enough. Check capitalization, spacing, font, and numbering. Avoid mixing underline, boldface, italics, own line, in-line, etc. Choose two to three visual cues and stick to those.

Remember that heading structure reflects proposal planning. Reviewers are reading against a rubric, on a deadline, often after a dozen other proposals. A clear structure isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s what will get your message across. Take the time to map it before you write it.

Do you have any tips or standard heading guidelines you want to share? Leave a comment to let others know how they could format their proposals.