Writing Effective Headlines - Online Seminar

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THIS SEMINAR IS NOW FULL

Session Sampler

This seminar deals with writing better headlines. We examine the reasons that many headlines fail, and we work on ways to improve them. There isn't much abstract theory here. That is, we determine how effective a headline is by examining how well it sells the story rather than looking for cute attempts to fool around with word play.

There are five exercises, each with a deadline. The exercises require adhering to specific counts when writing headlines. In most cases, participants will see the stories and will home in on headlines that sell those stories.

The course is not a primer on how to write a headline; it's not for beginners. The assumption is that participants have written thousands of headlines in their careers and are looking to sharpen their skills.

The exercises:

• Making headlines more specific, often by making sure that we are aware of the key words in the story.
• Using the most important part of speech in a headline: the verb.
• Avoiding the traps and transgressions that writers of headlines often fall into, particularly when they are in a hurry.
• Determining when word play might work.

Who Should Take This Seminar

This course is appropriate for experienced journalists who write or approve headlines.