Step 1: Answer The Core Reader Questions

Answer each of the core reader questions for the article you are thinking about writing.

Play with the voltage or attractiveness of your headline by looking at your audience and outcome in your headline and asking:

• Is this a general or specific audience?
• Is this a question for a lot of people or a few people?

Then punch up or down the voltage by asking:

• How can I make the audience bigger? smaller?
• How can I make the outcome bigger? smaller?
• What kind of audience, outcome, quantity, solution, or feeling am I talking about?

Input Core Headline Questions

Step 2: Get Inspiration from Proven Headlines

Untitled Database

Step 3: Write Some More

Use the space below to write your own headline ideas:

• Headline 1
• Headline 2

Step 4: Choose a Headline

Go back to where you started - the compelling angle. Ask yourself, what is the final message that is being communicated to the reader? Is that message coming through clearly? Is it still compelling? Does it add up to an interesting journey? If you can’t answer yes to that last question, then edit yoru headlines some more until you can.

• Your Chosen Headline