How to Write a Cool Headline

Writing a headline is as easy as 1, 2. Step 1. Write down what the communication is about in a phrase or sentence. Step 2. Type those words at the top of the page your communication is written on. Voila! Your headline! But wait! There is method to my facetiousness. It's easy to write a headline. It's not as easy to write a really cool headline: High blood pressure: Ignore it and you'll go away. Or: Stop holding your breath, America. No-fumes oven cleaning is here. There's a knack to writing a cool headline that you can learn if you practice. I can give you some tips: Write the headline early and often. Whether you're writing a news feature or an ad, start out by writing just a phrase or sentence that sums up what you think the piece is about. Don't even try to make the language pretty. As you proceed, let that headline be your creative platform. While you write, feel free to change the platform or add alternate headlines directly under it. Often, it's not until I finish a piece that I write the best headline for it. Make sure you write a headline and not a title. The title of a Gothic romance is Candlelight Ecstasy. But the headline for the ad is, "Once you've known Candlelight Ecstasy, you'll never settle for mere romance." Titles are often short theme markers, e.g., "The Year of Living Dangerously" or "Monster's Ball." Headlines are longer, benefit-laden statements meant to attract viewers or readers. Consider using a subhead. If you like writing fun titles, adding an explanatory subhead can redeem it and result in effective communication. Consider: "Lord of the Rings: The Triumph of a Door-to-door Salesman." Without the subhead, we wouldn't even know it is a pun on the popular movie. Don't write a blind headline. A blind headline is one that gives you no idea what the article or ad is about based solely on the headline. If the headline gives you no insight into what is being discussed, rewrite it to at least include the clear expression of a benefit. Use active verbs—hyperactive verbs, if possible. I once wrote an article about a company starting to do business in West Africa. The sales team actually beat a drum in villages to rouse people from their homes. I came up with "Drumbeats for business." No active verb. Then I had a brainstorm: "Beating the drum for business." The final headline was something like "Beating the drum for business in West Africa." Stay away from tired headlines. Headlines like "Airlines in for a bumpy ride," "Price of coffee perking up," and "Auto sales off to the races" have been used before. Although they may sound clever, they beg to be ignored and do not reflect well on you, your company, family or alma mater. Far better to skip the puns and pack more information into the headline, e.g., "Price of coffee up 5 percent." This comes out of a value I call "Do less better." Don't illustrate visuals—empower them. Whether it's an ad or the front cover of a brochure or a Web page, make sure your headline and visual work together, not simply describe one another. For example, consider the photo of an enthusiastically smiling person with the headline, "We're jazzed. Technology drives our core business." The headline illustrates the visual, but it doesn't provide a benefit.. What's wrong with illustrating visuals? It talks down to readers. They know what the visual is. You don't have to pound it into their heads. For example: A picture of stampeding elephants with the headline, "Don't run with the herd on Issue XYZ. Go with Product YYY." Not only is the visual "borrowed interest," the headline makes a silly pun and illustrates the issue. Awful. Consider a visual that dramatizes an issue, for example, matches arranged in the shape of a dollar sign with one match about to set them all ablaze. The headline: "A bill in Congress right now will let your savings go up in smoke unless you stop it in time." By the way, that's an example of a long headline that works. Beware of puns. Using puns in headlines is like opening a speech with a joke—you'd better know what you're doing. If your joke isn't funny, or if your pun isn't perfect, it could be embarrassing. Consider an ad for a flat monitor: "We've flattened the price on our LCD monitors." No one flattens prices, they cut prices. Thus, the pun doesn't quite work. Compare that to Wells Fargo's tagline, "The next stage." It's a pun that works 100 percent. It is remarkable how it takes the old stagecoach and makes it new, even leading edge. I was just writing an article about a business incubator moving into a brand new building. After flailing around for a while, I hit upon, "Built to build businesses." That pun can hunt! Open your soul to the real drama in the story—if there is any. This is where I tell you how to inspire yourself to write better headlines. My advice is to squint your eyes, furrow your brow and see the communication from afar. Try to connect emotionally with what's going on in the piece, and follow your instincts to an original headline. And don't always go for the short headlines; make sure your headline is saying something significant. Sometimes, a longer headline may be just what you need. Practice "Truth in Headlines." Parade Magazine recently ran a cover shot of Mel Gibson entitled "What's His Secret?" Inside the magazine, the article was headlined "Even the Bad Times Make You Better." Maybe I'm naïve, but I was actually hoping to find out Mel's secret. Of course, every editor knows she'll get great readership when she runs a "secret" headline alongside Mel Gibson's face. It would be nice to deliver the goods, however. Otherwise, the headline misrepresents and lacks integrity; we feel cheated and annoyed. Note: If you've enjoyed reading this ExcitingWriting Advisory, forward it to some friends! Your parents! Your children! Your dog! You get the idea.