Get inspiration for your presentation title from magazines. Photo credit: bravenewtraveler
You might not give much thought to your presentation title for a conference presentation. The conference organizers will have asked you to provide a title and an abstract for the conference programme and you manage to slap something together just before the deadline.
But your presentation title can determine whether you have a smattering of people attending, or standing room only.
The good news is that it’s not that hard to craft a presentation title. There are a number of tried and tested formats which are easy to adapt to your topic. This is the way professional copywriters write headlines. They don’t start from scratch. They have a collection of previously used headlines (called a swipefile) and then they simply work out which type of headline will work best for their current topic. Next time you’re in the store, check out magazines like Cosmo. You’ll see the same alluring headlines time and time again.
I’ll show you how this can work by taking one topic and generating a number of possible presentation titles by applying the different formats.
The topic is teaching bioethics in secondary schools. I have a good friend who’s an expert on this topic and gives presentations at conferences around the world.
1. Promise benefits
Dale Carnegie’s famous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” is still one of the best-selling communications books on Amazon. The title of the book is a big part of it’s success. That title works because it promises benefits. It’s not enough to say:
How to teach bioethics
That’s ho-hum. Adding benefits to the title makes it sing:
How to teach a bioethics class that makes students think
How to be an inspiring bioethics teacher
How to engage and inspire your students through teaching bioethics
“How to” is the most common way of starting a benefit title. To explore the “How to” format more deeply check out this post on writing headlines for blog posts. It’s applicable to writing presentation titles too How to write a Killer How To Article that gets Attention
2. Promise a story
We love stories. You probably already know that telling stories is a powerful presentation technique. But you can also use the power of the story in your presentation title. For example:
How a poor school turned delinquent teenagers into philosophers
How a burnt-out teacher reconnected with the love of teaching through bioethics
If you’re presenting a case-study, this format is ideal for your presentation title. Here’s the format “How A got to B”. Make “A” and “B” as far as part as possible by adding adjectives.
3. Put the number three at the front
Consider this title:
Critical concepts for teaching bioethics
Sounds kind of boring and academic, but what if you put a number in front of it:
Three critical concepts for teaching bioethics
Now your prospective audience member is thinking “I better know what those three critical concepts are”. Even if they’re an expert in teaching bioethics they’ll want to find out the three concepts a fellow expert considers critical.
Three is the ideal number of major points to cover in a presentation, and five at the outside. If you try and cover more you won’t be able to do justice to each point. It’s better to go deep, rather than wide. See my post When is it OK to break the rule of three-part structure.
4. Provoke curiosity
If you’re revealing new research in your presentation make the most of it. People want to hear what’s new. They come to conferences to be at the cutting-edge.
New classroom research reveals the bioethics teaching methodology that gets the best results
If you’re a teacher of bioethics how could you resist going to that session?
That title works because of the curiosity that it evokes. You can exploit the natural attraction power of curiosity even if you don’t have cutting-edge research to reveal. For example:
The #1 strategy for teaching bioethics in the classroom
5. Evoke concern
This type of presentation title makes people want to to come to your presentation to check that they’re not making big mistakes. It’s a powerful strategy. For example:
The common mistakes bioethics teachers make
The flaws in current bioethics teaching methodology
or take some ownership with this version:
The mistakes I’ve made teaching bioethics and how you can learn from them
Mix ‘n’ Match Presentation Titles
You can use elements from these different types of title and mix them up. For example, many titles can be improved by adding the number 3. For example:
The common mistakes bioethics teachers make
becomes
The three common mistakes bioethics teachers make
Add contrast to your titles
Adding contrast adds the element of surprise to your title. For example, I can improve this title:
How to teach a bioethics class that makes students think
by changing ‘students’ to ‘teenagers’:
How to teach a bioethics class that makes teenagers think
Putting the words “students” and “think” next to each other doesn’t generate any surprise. But put the word “think” next to “teenagers” does.
So simply by applying these formats I’ve generated eleven possible titles. You can do the same. Once you’ve generated some titles, choose the one that resonates best with you and then plan your presentation to fulfill the promise that you’re making to your audience in the title.
Olivia, another technique is to imply privileged information: “Secrets of bioethics teaching” or “Bioethics teaching techniques of the pros”
Hi, On which topic should i make presentation
Hi Ken
Thanks for adding that technique. Olivia
Thanks for posting this Olivia. I definitely have “title challenge.” Seems like by the time I get to naming my presentations, my creativity is shot. Specifically I like the fact that you give examples! This really helped to clarify the topic.
Olivia
A very useful post. I always put a lot of effort into trying to pull together a good presentation, but thinking of a title that will catch the interest is always Ichallenging.
Olivia,
I really enjoyed this article and will read it each week for inspiration creating titles for my blogs. When I create presentations, blogs, and articles I use a working title until I am finished. It keeps me on track. Then I create my real title. I have read others that promote creating your title, then the content. Which do you prefer and why?
Olivia,
Thank you for this information. I am definitely title challenged. My colleagues recently told me that they decided not to attend my presentation as it did have any relevance to their courses. I will be sure to utilize these suggestions next time.
Hi Karen
Ouch! Of course if it’s correct that it wasn’t relevant then that’s fine. But if it’s because the title didn’t attract them and show the relevance then that’s disappointing. Good luck with your next title.
Olivia
Excellent ideas, Olivia, and well expressed! I’ve linked to this (and some of your other posts) from my blog.
Also came up with a simple 3-word model for involving the audience through the presentation title: Question, Action, Mention. (See http://remotepossibilities.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/answer-peoples-key-question-first-framework-part-1a/#involve_people)
I’m happy to read this write up,
@ olivia you’re indeed an inspiring character.
I’m working on my magazine please I need your sopports
And contrIbutions. Please Olivia need your support…
I have been writing blogs and articles for years and need ideas of how to create some new titles. This has been extremely educational and helpful for me to create better titles. Thanks
As a fellow speaker, I just wanted to say a hearty thank you. We all need fresh ways at looking at old stuff and to continuously think creatively regarding how we communicate to get the best outcomes.
Many Thanks Olivia for your post,
Your techniques have helped me think differently from the ways I have always titled my presentations
That’s great to hear Bernard!
oh ! great you are right !!
I know you’ve said there’s no need to grab attention at the start of a talk, but the title’s one place you definitely need to! So you might also like this 4-part method I just posted for attention-grabbing titles.
(It uses an “ABCD” mnemonic, meaning the title includes an Action, Benefit, “Conversation” and/or Digit. For example, one title might be “Smash your class target – top 5 bioethics teaching tips”.)
Love it, thanks Craig!
You’re very welcome! Also, comments (and links) are always welcome on my blog. 🙂
Hi
I am still having a problem of formulating a title.
please help
I do not even know how I ended up right here, but I thought this
publish was once good. I do not recognise who you are however
certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger for
those who are not already. Cheers!
I use your tips in presenting a title that is very helpful for me Thanks http://khelopcgames.com
IM STILL HAVING A PROBLEM GETTING STARTED WITH MY PRESENTATION PLEASE HELP! IWANT TO DO IT ON MY PAST BUT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO BEGIN.
you suck
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@barry: Thanks for that clarification … or are those the Before & After titles of your presentation after reading this excellent article?
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