3/9/2019 How to write a presentation title that gets people flocking to your session | Speaking about Presenting

U a

How to write a presentation title that gets people

ocking to your session
by Olivia Mitchell | 21 comments

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.
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Get inspiration for your presentation

The good news is that it’s not that hard to craft a
title from magazines. Photo credit:
presentation title. There are a number of tried and tested
bravenewtraveler
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 swipe le) 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 di erent 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 bene ts
Dale Carnegie’s famous book “How to Win Friends and In uence 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 bene ts. It’s not enough to say:

How to teach bioethics

That’s ho-hum. Adding bene ts 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 bene t 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.

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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 nd out the three
concepts a fellow expert considers critical.

Three is the ideal number of major points to cover in a presentation, and ve 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 aws in current bioethics teaching methodology

or take some ownership with this version:

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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 di erent 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 ful ll the promise that you’re making to your audience in the title.

21 Comments
Ken Molay

Olivia, another technique is to imply privileged information: “Secrets of bioethics

teaching” or “Bioethics teaching techniques of the pros”

Reply

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Olivia Mitchell

Hi Ken

Thanks for adding that technique. Olivia

Reply

Jen

Thanks for posting this Olivia. I de nitely have “title challenge.” Seems like by the
time I get to naming my presentations, my creativity is shot. Speci cally I like the
fact that you give examples! This really helped to clarify the topic.

Reply

Mike Slater

Olivia
A very useful post. I always put a lot of e ort into trying to pull together a good
presentation, but thinking of a title that will catch the interest is always
Ichallenging.

Reply

Dano Ybarra

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 nished. 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?

Reply

Karen

Olivia,

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Thank you for this information. I am de nitely 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.

Reply

Olivia Mitchell

Hi Karen

Ouch! Of course if it’s correct that it wasn’t relevant then that’s ne. 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

Craig Hadden - Remote Possibilities

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- rst-framework-part-1a/#involve_people)

Reply

Anyanwu Moses Chukwudi

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…

Reply

Linda Hawkins

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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

Reply

JoAnn Corley

As a fellow speaker, I just wanted to say a hearty thank you. We all need fresh
ways at looking at old stu and to continuously think creatively regarding how we
communicate to get the best outcomes.

Reply

Bernard

Many Thanks Olivia for your post,

Your techniques have helped me think di erently from the ways I have always
titled my presentations

Reply

Olivia Mitchell

That’s great to hear Bernard!

iman

oh ! great you are right !!

Craig Hadden (@RemotePoss)

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 de nitely need to! So you might also like this 4-part method I
just posted for attention-grabbing titles.

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(It uses an “ABCD” mnemonic, meaning the title includes an Action, Bene t,
“Conversation” and/or Digit. For example, one title might be “Smash your class
target – top 5 bioethics teaching tips”.)

Reply

Olivia Mitchell

Love it, thanks Craig!

Craig Hadden

You’re very welcome! Also, comments (and links) are always welcome on my
blog. 🙂

Maria

Hi
I am still having a problem of formulating a title.
please help

Reply

www.itgtennis.com

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!

Reply

youtube wyswietlenia

It’s actually a cool and helpful piece of information. I’m happy that you just
shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this.

Thank you for sharing.

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Reply

Harriet

I used to be suggested this website through my cousin. I’m now not

certain whether or not this put up is written through him as no one else
understand such distinctive about my problem.
You’re incredible! Thank you!

Reply

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