Writing Powerful Headlines

Question 1

What is a Headline?

Answer 1

• The title above a story in a newspaper, magazine or newsletter is called a headline, or “hed” (“head”) in print journalism, or a
  “heading” in online pages.

Question 2

Tips in Headlining #1

Answer 2

• 5-10 words at the most
• Should be accurate and specific: City Council to Cut Taxes doesn’t mean the same thing as City Council to Cut Budget
• Use present tense and active verbs, but don’t start with a verb: Man Skateboards for Homeless
• Use infinitive form of verb for future actions: Convention to Create Jobs
• Do not use articles - a, an, the

Question 3

Tips in Headlining #2

Answer 3

• No using of conjunctions like “and” instead substitute a comma “,”

Example: President Declares Peace, Holiday

• Should be complete sentences or imply complete sentence

Example: “Crackdown on Trafficking” doesn’t tell you who’s doing the
trafficking and what kind of trafficking. Opt for “Gov’t starts crackdown on human trafficking” instead.

• Avoid repetition, Headlines summarizes; they don’t repeat the lede.

Example: “Rays Win” instead of “Ray Win Final Game of Playoffs”

• Don’t use unidentified pronouns

Question 4

Use Specific numbers and data

Answer 4

• Numbers are “Brain Candy”
• Digits enhance the scanability of web content:
  • A number is better than a word.
  • Small numbers are more digestible than
    large ones
  • Odd numbers are seen as more authentic
    than even numbers.

Question 5

Call for Attention

Answer 5

• The purpose of the headline is to get your viewer to read the first sentence.
• Every headline should call for attention. “Attention” simply means mental focus and serious concentration on a given task.

Question 6

4 U’s

Answer 6

• Unique
• Ultra - specific
• Urgency
• Useful

Question 7

Standard Headlines

Answer 7

• Use subject - verb - direct object format, or occasionally passive voice. Think action verb.
• eliminates articles (a, an, the)
• includes verbs in the present tense (or sometimes future tense).

Example (S-V-DO):

The mouse ate the cheese.

Question 8

Label Head

Answer 8

• has no verb
• may have articles (a, an, the)

Example:

1. A presidential tax cut
2. A season of Christmas carols