Two things you are forgetting when it comes to making headlines that stick

Do you want to know what’s setting you back on creating powerful headlines that compel readers to click on your articles? Then this is what you need to read.

1. It needs to generate curiosity 
And how do you do that? By providing intrigue. What I mean by intrigue is something that is incomplete. Your brain wants to complete a puzzle but it is not given all the pieces you need. That’s why it’s so frustrating to hear someone speak on the phone – you only hear one side of the story but you still can’t help but listen. It’s like when you watch a bad movie all the way to the end. You want to know what happens.

2. The following sentence needs to be equally, if not stronger.
People have really short attention span nowadays – especially with the invention of smartphone and social media. If you have a great headline but a weak followup – you will lose your reader’s attention and possible new clients and fans.

A strong headline followup would be something that promises the reader something vitally important that will help them if they continue reading. It needs to expand upon the headline and provide a 1 – 2 punch combo. This makes it almost impossible for your readers to not hear about what you have to say next.

In conclusion – with a bit of practice in making headlines and subheadings, keep these two points in mind and you will see an instant improvement to the power of your articles to grab and hold attention.

 

How does a great storyteller command your attention?

We’ve all experienced moments when we witnessed someone telling a good story. You know, the ones that make your ears perk up no matter what you’re doing and you feel something inside of you gravitate to what the person in saying.

Don’t know about you but I’m sick of the fact that every time I speak, noticing how the other person isn’t fully engaged, it’s damn disheartening and kills your social confidence.

Imagine if you had that magic, that something special that made people inextricably drawn to every single word of what you’re saying… 

I’ve always wondered what were the qualities that allow these people to do so. It is a definite super power that can greatly enhance your social skills. You would become magnetic. So here’s my attempt at breaking it down after some astute observation.

1. A good storyteller is very descriptive.
They always tend to give excellent details. Here are some examples I can come up with that show a difference between saying something that’s general and something that’s highly specific.

My bogan neighbour wasn’t happy about the noise last night. VS
Some loud mouth kunt from across the street gave me a raz yesty. He wore a blue nascar shirt, had some good lookin’ yellow teeth with shady jeans got at me in the morning on my way to the car. He goes “Carrying on mate.” I go “What!?” He goes “Carrying on last night mate” I was thinking “Kunt, we only played music up until 10 last night at the latest.”

I got chopped on my way towards work. VS 
I was going down happy straight pushing 110k’s this morning. I looked in the rear view mirror and thought no way kunt. I thought NO WAY, surely not. I’m getting chopped by a 97 hyundai excel. I looked to my right and the driver was a gook. He looked like a dk stunt double from tokyo drift.

2. Makes you feel involved in the story, as if you were right there
And how do they do this? Again, by being very specific. By injecting emotions and imagery, which are hundreds of times more powerful than just recounting facts alone.

3. Have a punchline, or imbue the story with wit or humour, or a cutting insight.