These eight tips were first presented in “The Copywritter’s Handbook” by Bob Bly. I read them on one of my favorite blogs, CopyBlogger, and thought they related very strongly to what every preacher learns about the importance of effective sermon titles.
Here they are:
- Direct Titles
Bly calls them “Direct Headlines” but we’re talking sermon titles. This would simply be a direct statement concerning the sermon’s content. For example, “Great Missionaries Of The Bible.” These kinds of direct statements tell the audience what they are about to hear expounded. The hook is the interest in the statement key words – “Missionaries” and “Bible.” I’m interested in mission work and I’m interested in the Bible. I’m interested in the biblical accounts of God’s missionaries. I’m going to pay attention to this sermon!
- Indirect Titles
The indirect title (or headline) hooks on the audiences curiosity. These kinds of titles use double meaning to create curiosity. Like, “The Story Of The Tator Family.” People see that and think, “who are the Tators and what’s their story?” Well, the Tators are a metaphor for character traits that we either want to avoid or imitate. DicTator, ImiTator, SpecTator, etc. The sermon has nothing to do with a family named Tator, it has to do with a family of character traits.
- News Title
This is a title that draws attention based on a news story. I have used news titles from local news papers and from national news to great success in my lessons. Local news is very effective especially when you’re posting your sermon titles on a sign board or in the same local paper the news title came from. For example, “Issues Raised By The Death Of Terri Shiavo.”
- The How To Title
People love this kind of title! When you state in your title that you are going to tell people how to do something that they really want to know how to do, they will pay attention. For example, “How To Love Life And See Good Days,” “How To Handle The Word Of God,” “How To Be And Stay Saved.”
- The Question Title
Like the How To title, this one appeals to the audience’s desire to see a particular question answered. It may also appeal to an empathetic response from the audience. That is the, “yes, I’ve had that same question,” response. For example, “Is Once-Saved-Always-Saved True?,” “How Great Is Your Faith?,” “Is There A Universal Code Of Ethics?,” “What Must I Know In Order To Be Saved?,” “What Do I Want?,” “What Are You Willing To Put Up With?”
- The Command Title
The kind of title boldly tells the audience what they must do. For example, “Take Heed How You Hear!,” “Flee Idolatry!,” “Obey The Truth!,” “Fortify Your Family!” Notice, these kinds of titles are exclamations of actions that must be taken in order to accomplish a desired goal, i.e. salvation and faithfulness.
- The # Reasons Why Title
These titles don’t necessarily have to contain the words “Reasons Why” but they will point to the number of major heading in your sermon body. For example, the title of this article, “Eight Tips For Writing Effective Sermon Titles.” What do you get in the content of the article? Eight tips for writing effective sermon titles. Imagine that. Here are some sermon title examples, “Three Things God Desires,” “Three Parables For Judah,” “Four Great Gifts,” “Seven Things Needed For Your Faith.”
- The Testimonial Title
These titles give a testimonial regarding the biblical effect you want your audience to get. I know you have to be careful when using the word “testimonial” because of the denominational abuse of basing salvation on a persons “personal testimony.” This title would be something like, “I Read The Bible And Left The Catholic Church,” “I Am A Member Of The Church Of Christ Because…,” “Confessions Of A Former Mormon,” “I Was One Of Them But…”
Remember, no amount of cleverness on the part of the title can make up for poor content. Let me know your thoughts and examples on using titles like these.
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