Can We Learn Anything From Book Titles?

As I glance over my book shelf I notice a number of titles. There sits, Comedy Writing Secrets, Leadership from Within, Elements of Style, and the Delphi 5 Developer’s Guide.

Now I feel like starting to sing the preschool song, “One of these shapes, doesn’t belong…” Why; because one of these titles is not like the others.

The first three titles are designed to capture the interest of a general audience. After all, who wouldn’t want to know some secrets about comedy, and who isn’t interested in leadership and style. These titles were not an accident. They were composed with great care so that they would spark interest and desire – especially among those browsing book stores.

It’s only the last title, “Delphi 5 Developer’s Guide” that does not appeal to a general audience. And yet, its title is also carefully composed. The publishers are very well aware of who would be interested in such a book. They have created a simple yet effective title to communicate to that particular audience that this book is for them.

Publishers understand that the cover design and the title of a book are the two biggest factors involved in selling a book. They will go through countless focus groups and generations of design in order to make sure that it is just right. After all, once the book is out on the shelves it is too late to make a change (at least until the next edition).

Consider treating your next speech much like these book covers. Take the time to create a title that will draw your audience in. For instance, consider the title, “A Role Based Security Model”. That was the title for the presentation that got me interested in public speaking. I have to admit, it wasn’t all that interesting. Now compare it to something like, “How to Increase Your Organization's Security While Reducing Service Time.” That might catch a few more people. If I were a book publisher I might have tried something like, “Bam… We’re Not Guarding Nuclear Weapons – But We Still Want it to be Just as Secure”. How many more people would that have enticed?

You may have the most inspiring speech ever – but if you can’t get people into the room or if the people who are there are convinced that it’s going to be boring, your presentation will have limited effectiveness.

The next time you need to inspire your audience, make sure that you put the same care into creating a title that you used in creating the rest of the speech.

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