Public Relations and Media

Building Skills for Writing Compelling and Accurate Headlines

Move headline writing from general awareness to a repeatable, reviewable practice.

  • 5training days
  • 4modules
  • 8sessions
  • 32topics
View packages and pricesCourse outline
Building Skills for Writing Compelling and Accurate Headlines
5days

About the programme

Course Overview

Journalists covering headline writing are working to a deadline you do not control. Silence during a crisis involving this area of communications and media practice is itself a statement. Progress on this strand of communications and media practice is usually lost in the gap between approval and execution. The course sets out a working method for headline writing that participants can apply the week they return. It is designed for mixed groups, so that this part of communications and media practice is examined from more than one functional angle. The programme uses small-group work so that each participant's treatment of this area of communications and media practice is examined, not just described. Participants gain a clear basis for measuring what headline writing has actually achieved. Across sectors, teams that rehearse this strand of communications and media practice outperform teams that only plan it. The programme closes with an action plan for this aspect of communications and media practice that each participant writes for their own organisation.

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Align communication on headline writing with legal and regulatory constraints.

  • Communicate the purpose of headline writing to those who have to comply with it.

  • Structure records of headline writing so that they answer the questions an auditor will actually ask.

  • Set the minimum documentation for headline writing that is genuinely necessary, and stop there.

  • Prepare the apology or acknowledgement for headline writing that is credible.

  • Plan the recovery arc after a reputational event involving headline writing.

  • Write materials on headline writing that a journalist can use without rewriting.

Who Should Attend

  • Spokespeople and executives who speak publicly about headline writing.

  • Agency and consultancy advisers supporting clients on headline writing.

  • Content producers creating material about headline writing.

  • Those responsible for briefing external stakeholders on headline writing.

  • Digital and social media managers handling headline writing online.

  • Training and development staff building internal capability in headline writing.

Course Modules

Open any module to see its sessions and topics.

01

Headline writing: measurement beyond coverage volume

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Writing on headline writing so a journalist can publish it

  • Identify where judgement in headline writing is legitimate and where it is not.
  • Debrief after each significant episode involving headline writing.
  • Name a single owner for each element of headline writing.
  • Prepare the holding statement for headline writing in advance.

Session 2The decisions in headline writing that cannot be delegated

  • Review whether coverage of headline writing changed anything that matters.
  • Set the response time target for enquiries about headline writing.
  • Arrange the handover of headline writing so capability survives staff changes.
  • Establish the boundary of headline writing and record what sits outside it.
02

Headline writing: message architecture and discipline

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Monitoring headline writing in time to act

  • Agree who signs off statements on headline writing outside working hours.
  • Rank the weaknesses in headline writing by consequence rather than by ease of fixing.
  • Archive every statement issued on headline writing with date and approver.
  • Agree the smallest change to headline writing that would be visibly useful.

Session 2Measuring communication on headline writing beyond clippings

  • Distinguish symptoms from causes when headline writing underperforms.
  • Identify the data already collected that bears on headline writing.
  • Check communication on headline writing against legal and regulatory constraint.
  • Prepare the acknowledgement for headline writing that does not evade responsibility.
03

Headline writing: recovery and rebuilding credibility

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1Who decides what during a crisis involving headline writing

  • Plan the recovery sequence after a reputational event involving headline writing.
  • Set the review interval for headline writing and who attends.
  • Rehearse the hostile interview on headline writing with a real challenger.
  • Configure monitoring that flags coverage of headline writing within the hour.

Session 2Where headline writing typically breaks, and why

  • Remove steps in headline writing that add effort without adding assurance.
  • Identify the journalists who actually cover headline writing and what they need.
  • Agree the indicators that will show whether headline writing is improving.
  • Build the competence framework that supports headline writing.
04

Headline writing: spokesperson skill under hostile questioning

2 sessions · 8 points

Session 1The paperwork for headline writing that is actually needed

  • Collect evidence on the present handling of headline writing before proposing changes.
  • Set out how exceptions to headline writing are requested and approved.
  • Define what success in communicating headline writing looks like, numerically.
  • Sequence internal notification about headline writing ahead of external release.

Session 2Correcting a false story about headline writing without amplifying it

  • Record the rationale for each significant choice made about headline writing.
  • Localise messaging on headline writing without fragmenting it.
  • Build a stakeholder map for headline writing and the message each needs.
  • Check that records of headline writing answer the questions likely to be asked.

Choose the package that suits you

Silver Package

At least 3 people

USD1,250
  • Workshop or Program Participation
  • Airport Transfers
  • Customized Badge
  • Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
  • Supervision & Secretarial Services
  • Accredited Certificate of Participation
  • Complete Training Kit
  • Coffee Break
  • Closing Ceremony

Gold Package

At least 3 people

USD1,850
  • 5-night stay in a 5-star hotel
  • Workshop or Program Participation
  • Airport Transfers
  • Customized Badge
  • Expert Mentorship (Private Sessions)
  • Supervision & Secretarial Services
  • Accredited Certificate of Participation
  • Complete Training Kit
  • Coffee Break
  • Closing Ceremony

Complete your registration

We will contact you within one business day to confirm.

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