Titles are important.\u00a0 My Dad was an editor and sometime in the 1950s a manuscript crossed his desk entitled, “Big Yeller Dog.”\u00a0 He liked\u00a0the book\u00a0and decided to publish it, but he asked the author if he could change the title to “Old Yeller.”\u00a0 The author agreed, and the name has lodged itself in our collective psyches.<\/p>\n

Titles sell.\u00a0 “Gone with the Wind.”\u00a0 “From Here to Eternity.”\u00a0 “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.”\u00a0 These are all great titles for presentations<\/strong> too.<\/p>\n

“The Budget Surplus and the Bush Administration:\u00a0 or Gone with the Wind.”<\/p>\n

“Occasioning Customer Loyalty:\u00a0From Here to Eternity.”<\/p>\n

“On-line Dating ROI: or The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.”<\/p>\n

Can we use good titles to set a tone for our presentations<\/strong>, without losing our buttoned-up professionalism?\u00a0 I think so.<\/p>\n

I gave a talk once called “How to Get Brand Teams to Get Down on their Knees and Beg for More.”\u00a0 I used the excuse that the meeting was in Nashville, and my talk needed to sound like a country and western song.<\/p>\n

We can afford to jazz our titles up a bit.\u00a0 A good title sets the audience abuzz as they anticipate being entertained, or intrigued. And the\u00a0speaker can come back to the title throughout the talk if it serves as a theme.\u00a0 People\u00a0may not leave humming the melody, but they might leave remembering the theme–which is quite an accomplishment\u00a0for a speaker.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0at the start,\u00a0I like it when the\u00a0speaker leaves the title slide up\u00a0and delivers her opening so there’s no new visual\u00a0to distract me from my enjoyment of her beginning–that is, if she’s done her homework and crafted a beginning designed to capture the attention of an audience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The title of your talk should make people want to come hear it.\u00a0 If someone stops you in the proverbial elevator and asks you, “What is your talk about?” you could say, “It’s about competition in the pest control industry and it’s called\u00a0Rat Finks on the Rise<\/em>.\u00a0 I hope to see you there.”<\/p>\n

And then, as you leave the elevator, you should turn and wink\u00a0just as\u00a0the door closes.<\/p>\n