How to Label Your Tables and Figures in Proposals and Technical Documents

Aug 11, 11 • proposal writing, technical writing • 1 Comment • Read More »

In technical documents and proposals, you will have a bunch of tables and figures (if you don’t, you should) that are visual representation of your text. In the front of the document, you will separate the lists into “List of Figures” and “List of Tables.” You want to be consistent in how you label your tables and figures in the body of the document.

1. Figure 1. Technical Solution Figure - This is not the best way to label your tables and figures. If someone is reading the document, he/she will have no idea in what section to find them. I’ve seen a lot of people use this method of labeling. I think it’s mainly because this is how their word-processing software does it. Stop being lazy and label your tables and figures better.

2. Figure 1-1. Technical Solution Figure - This is a much better method because now I know that I can find this figure in the first section, and that it’s the first figure. I didn’t mention it above because that way of labeling is not good, but use a descriptive caption for your tables and figures. What sounds better: Table 1-1. Roles and Responsibilities or Table 1-1. Project X Roles and Responsibilities

3. Figure 1-1. Technical Solution Figure. Technical solution will increase productivity by 25% due to the user interface and technical help desk. – These you use for proposals, scientific documentation, and sales publications. After the table/figure caption, you add a short caption that shows the benefit and feature. You usually do this with documentation that is trying to influence or sell to people.

These are the three ways of labeling tables and figures. I recommend that you learn you word processing software so that you don’t do the first example. In Microsoft Word, when you go to the Tables of Contents feature, which is where you also create your List of Figures and List of Tables, you can create them using a style. Therefore, if you create a Figure (or Table) Caption style and use it for all of your labels, then you can use the second and third methods.