A table of contents is a useful directory for defining the locations of different sections of a document. There are several styles to write your table of contents. A table of contents can be simple listing on the subject headings and page numbers of each section. The table of contents can also be detailed, listing subject headings, and the different sub categoriess of each topic along with the page number.
Writing a Simple Table of Contents
A Simple Table of Contents will only show the Section/Chapter heading and the page number. For example:
Chapter 1 | pg 1 |
Chapter 2 | pg 45 |
Chapter 3 | pg 68 |
This will continue for each chapter or section of a book of document.
Writing a Detailed Table of Contents
A detailed Table of Contents will feature the titles of each section as well as additional information such as the sub categories of each section. This format is often seen in longer school books of business documents. An example would be:
Chapter 1: Writing a Speech | pg 5 |
Different types of speeches | pg 7 |
Why write a speech? | pg 9 |
Speech writing techniques | pg 11 |
Presentation exercise | pg 14 |
Chapter 2: Persuasive Speech writing | pg 17 |
What is a Persuasive Speech? | pg 18 |
Types of Persuasive Speeches | pg 19 |
vPresenting your Speech | pg 21 |
Chapter 3 Informative Speeches | pg 23 |
What is an Informative Speech | pg 24 |
A detailed Table of Contents can be even further broken down into parts or sections, grouping together larger chunks of similar topics.
Example of Detailed Table of Contents
Table of Contents
List of Figures & Tables | i |
Chapter 1: A message from Management | 1 |
A letter from the CEO | 1 |
A letter from Department heads | 2 |
A message from Human Resources | 3 |
Chapter 2: Quarterly Review and Figures | 4 |
Figures from Communications/IT | 5 |
Review | 5 |
Figures from Customer Relations Service/Support | 6 |
Review | 6 |
Chapter 3: New Methods and Techniques | 7 |
New Methods | 8 |
New Techniques | 9 |
Chapter 4: End Results | 11 |
Researched Results | 12 |
Projected Results | 14 |
Chapter 5: Discussions & Conclusions | 15 |
Conclusions | 16 |
Index | 21 |
Appendix | 23 |
Acknowledgements | 24 |
Example of Detailed Part 2 Table of Contents
List of Figures & Tables | i |
Acknowledgements | ii |
Part 1: Study of New Methods Introduced to the Company | |
Chapter 1: A message from Management | 1 |
A letter from the CEO | 1 |
A letter from Department heads | 2 |
A message from Human Resources | 3 |
Chapter 2: Quarterly Review and Figures | 4 |
Figures from Communications/IT | 5 |
Review | 5 |
Figures from Customer Relations Service/Support | 6 |
Review | 6 |
Chapter 3: New Methods and Techniques | 7 |
New Methods | 8 |
New Techniques | 9 |
Part 2: Results and Conclusions | |
Chapter 4: End Results | 11 |
Researched Results | 12 |
Projected Results | 14 |
Chapter 5: Discussions & Conclusions | 15 |
Conclusions | 16 |
Index | 21 |
Appendix | 23 |