In our last article, you learned how to play with specificity and headline formulas. In this article we discuss the third step in writing headlines to grab the learner’s attention.
We’ll discuss how to:
- Come up with different power words
- Apply the right dose of power
Power words come in many variations. As we saw in a previous Modletter power words can be:
- Positive (treats) or negative (discomfort)
- Strong (yelling) or more subtle (soft)
- Sensory (sizzling) or emotional (bribing)
- Verbs (to fix) adjectives, (unspeakable) adverbs (ridiculously), or nouns (loss)
Good power words are not hypey, and they are not buzzwords. Instead, they make your learners feel something or visualise something.
Where to place power words in your headline
Let’s assume you are writing a modlette about editing social media content. Initial headline:
- 11 Edits to Improve Social Media Content This headline is not about editing in general: it’s specific because it’s only about editing social media content. But the headline lacks a little power. You can add power by playing with stronger variations of the word improve. Or you can add words before edits, improve, or social media to add more power.
For instance:
- 11 Little known edits to Instantly Improve Social Media Content
- 11 Tiny Edits to Space Up Social Media Content
- 11 Smart Edits to Dramatically Improve Social Media Content
You always have to ask yourself if your power words are becoming a little over the top. Are the edits in your modlette really so smart? And will they lead to a dramatic improvement?
If your headline sounds over the top, it may repel learners: so, adding more or strong power words isn’t always better. This headline about smart edits that will dramatically improve your content sounds a bit too much to me; it’s not quite believable. If your headline sounds too hypey, it might put your learners off. So, you may want to opt for subtle power words.
Change the scene
A useful trick to come up- with bet6ter and less hypey power words is to think of words from a different. I call this changing the scene, and it’s a useful trick to boost creativity. For instance, while writing about social media content, you can borrow words that describe food experiences:
- 11 Tiny edits for Sizzling Special Media Content
- 11 Tiny edits for Delicious Social Media Content
- 11 Tiny edits for Tantalising Social Media Content
Or you can find inspiration from data and establishing relationships:
- 11 Delightful Edits for Attractive Social Media Content
- 11 Dazzling Edits to Captivate Social Media Content
- 11 Edits That Make Followers Fall in Love with Your Social Media Content
As you can see you sometimes have to rewrite your headlines to try different power words. Giving yourself permission to play helps to come up with more alternatives.
Add power to your headlines
While exceptions exist, most viral headlines in the blogsphere feature a specific benefit and a dash of power, too
To use power words in your writing for eLearning:
- Use a thesaurus.
- Create your own list of power words.
- Try to change the scene to boost your creativity. For instance, if you write eLearning for Customer Service, consider borrowing words from dating; if you write about selling borrow words from sports; your options are endless, and your choice of words helps shape your voice.
- Triple the power by using 3 power words in a row.
- For extra drama, add contrasting power words
Have fun!