Here we are again. We should stop meeting like this. Bloggers will talk. Yup, it’s doozy time! Below is number “you know what”:
FINALE STRATEGY
8. Use word play with a cultural link. Write a clever spin on a familiar hot book title, TV program, movie title, proverb, popular expression, etc. Newspaper headlines do this all of the time. They can give you loads of ideas. Those heads stop me in my sneakers.
For example, a recent headline for an Olympic ski event where one or more skiers crashed, but without injury, was “Skiing’s a Glitch!” (Note: It also could have been “Ditch.” However, I try intentionally to avoid any heads with an implication of profanity or vulgarity in the original. But that’s just me. I want my title to be clever AND squeaky clean.) There are word play and anagram generators listed on Google that can help.
My 1st humor book title was Professors Are from Mars, Students Are from Snickers; my 1st conference presentation on humor 15 years ago was “The 7 Humorous Habits of Highly Effective Professors.” I wish all my titles were as memorable as those. BTW, in keeping with my self-deprecating humor-style, my professional motto is “Go for the Bronze!”
Do any of your current titles need a throat-grabbing makeover? Draft some new titles based on any of the 8 strategies. Let your imagination fly. This isn’t about content. You already have that.
Bounce your draft titles off of your colleagues. Check out their first reactions. Do they take a big gulp or do their eyeballs roll back into their heads? Which ones strike them in the throat, spleen, or another anatomical part? Are they better than your original titles? Go with them. "May the gullet be with you!"
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
FOUR MORE STRATEGIES FOR SIZZLING TITLES
Here are the next 4 of 8 strategies to make your titles spiffy in order to grab various body parts of your readers:
4. Tease me with something I want to know. Tell your readers just enough to tease them into opening your attachment or scrolling down to find out your mystery message. Play with your readers’ minds. Unravel your content slowly. Don’t throw it in their faces.
News broadcasts use “teasers” before commercial breaks all the time. They want you back, not in the fridge. TV programs air trailers and previews of the next program during commercials of the current program AND during the program on the bottom of the screen to tease you into staying tuned to watch it.
5. Spin it so I can easily understand. The trick is to spin your topic into language your niche readers can understand. Avoid jargon, unless absolutely necessary. If your reader can’t figure out your title, why should they go any further? DELETE!
6. Use words to create visual images. Be clever in your wording. Use cultural links or metaphors to create images in the minds of your readers. They make a strong, lasting impression.
One image that has always stuck with me is humor writer and columnist Dave Barry’s example: “A major cause of death among fashion super-models is falling through street grates.” I can’t shake that hilarious visual. One of my humor books is titled Humor as an Instructional Defibrillator.
7. Use cultural phenomena to connect with me. Stimuli in our culture can create an emotional connection. TV and movie titles and characters, in particular, build an immediate, strong connection. Your readers already are excited or interested in the cultural element. Then you can hit them with the content element.
For example, if you include the word “Avatar” in your title, you’ll grab the attention of a lot of readers. Recently, I posted 2 blogs on “Avatar: A Few Lessons on Teaching” (Jan 27 & 28, 2010). They both had a much higher than normal frequency of viewing. Draw on what readers already know and ignite their interests to capture their emotions first before introducing your content title words.
Guess what? We’re batting 87.5% so far. There’s one more strategy to go that’s a bit longer than the preceding 7, and it’s a doozy. Hold on to your titles. I saved the most widely used and, possibly, most effective technique for last. Notice the tease. I hope it works.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
In academia as well as the trade marketplace, subject lines in e-mails and titles of newsletters, blogs, journal articles, books, and conference presentations are typically business-as-usual, gag-in-the-throat boring, albeit scholarly, pretentious, and possibly difficult to understand. Of course, there are occasional exceptions, and those outliers are welcome breaths of fresh words.
STOPABILITY
There are so many electronic and paper communications; so little time. How do you stand out from the rest of the pack in an already super-overcrowded field, such as hundreds of e-mails to scan or 10–30 other concurrent conference presentations in the same time slot as yours? Instead of gagging, we need to be grabbing or throttling our readers’ throats with a title that stops them in their tracks. Your criterion for an effective title should be STOPABILITY. Create a stop for the pause that entices your readers to read. E-mail-wise, you have about a nanosecond to stop them before they hit DELETE.
How do you create a sizzling title for any professional message or document that may still be boring? At least, your reader may start reading before deleting.
EIGHT STRATEGIES FOR SIZZLING TITLES
Here are 8 strategies to consider from the world of marketing and advertising with my academic spin. Your title should convey the following:
1. Tell me what you can do for me. How can your title convey that your content will help me be a better teacher, researcher, business leader, manager, conference presenter, faculty developer, writer, or mousetrap? As a student, does your title suggest how you are going to help me finish my dissertation, present a paper, or get a job?
2. Tell me something I don’t already know. Adopt the cynical mindset of some of your colleagues and make sure your title doesn’t connote you’re recycling same ole same ole. The title should suggest what unique, new, meaningful contribution you are providing?
3. Keep it simple, succinct, and precise. We’ve all heard of the KISS model (Keep It Simple Stupid). This is the KISSPCS version (pronounced “Kisspicks”) if you retain the Stupid part. Apply it to your title. Carefully choose every word so that it precisely captures your message. Be terse and clear with your language. Whack unnecessary words.
OOPS! I’ve blogged past my word limit. I’m so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. What was I thinking? Please forgive me. The list of strategies will be continued tomorrow. Can you guess the other ways you can make your titles sizzle? Maybe you use techniques I haven’t tried. Please let me know your ideas.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
