What Are the Essential Elements of a Good News Headline?

想知道一个新闻标题怎么才算好？这事儿不复杂，你把自己当成一个正在刷手机的读者就明白了。你想想，每天那么多信息，是哪个标题让你手指头停下来，非要点进去看看？一个好标题干的就是这个活儿。

说白了，就跟人一样，标题也得有“魅力”，主要体现在这几个地方：

1. 能“勾引”人

标题是文章的“脸面”和“广告”。如果平平淡淡，就像白开水，谁有兴趣喝？所以它得有点味道，能勾起你的好奇心。

制造悬念：比如《他每天坚持喝一杯“这个”，一个月后身体发生了惊人变化》，你是不是就想知道“这个”是啥？发生了啥变化？
利用反差：比如《一个80岁的老奶奶，竟然成了健身房最火的教练》。年龄和职业的反差一下就抓住眼球了。
使用动感词汇：比如用“引爆”、“颠覆”、“直击”这类词，比用“发生”、“影响”要有力得多。

2. 能说清楚事

光“勾引”还不行，那就成“标题党”了，很招人烦。一个好标题必须在有限的字数里，把新闻最核心的东西告诉你。谁？在哪？干了啥？结果怎么样？你读完标题，应该对整个事儿有个大概的了解，点进去是为了看细节，而不是点进去才发现“啊？原来是说这个？”。

比如，《马斯克宣布“星舰”下月将进行首次轨道试飞》，这就很清楚。如果写成《马斯克又有大动作，人类未来将被改写》，虽然也吸引人，但信息就太模糊了。

3. 够简洁，像“电报”

现在是快节奏时代，没人有耐心读一个长长的、绕来绕去的标题。好标题就像发电报，字越少越好，但意思得到位。能用10个字说清，绝不用11个字。你看手机上，标题太长了还会被折叠，所以必须精炼。

4. 必须真实，这是底线

这是最最重要的一点。标题可以有技巧，可以去修饰，但绝不能歪曲事实、无中生有。内容是1，标题可以说成1.5，这叫优化；但如果内容是1，标题吹成了10，那就是欺骗。读者被骗一次两次就不会再信你了。信任感是新闻的生命。

所以总结一下，一个好标题就像一个厉害的“推销员”：他得能一下抓住你的注意力（勾引），然后用最少的话告诉你他卖的是啥好东西（说清事、够简洁），最重要的是，他说的都是真话（真实）。

Want to know what makes a good news headline? It's not complicated; just put yourself in the shoes of a reader scrolling through their phone. Think about it: with so much information every day, which headline makes your finger stop, compelling you to click and read? A good headline does exactly that.

To put it simply, just like people, headlines need "charm," mainly reflected in these aspects:

1. Able to "Entice" People

A headline is the "face" and "advertisement" of an article. If it's bland, like plain water, who would be interested in drinking it? So, it needs some flavor to pique your curiosity.

Create suspense: For example, "He insisted on drinking 'this' every day, and a month later, his body underwent astonishing changes." Don't you want to know what "this" is? What changes happened?
Utilize contrast: For example, "An 80-year-old grandma surprisingly became the hottest coach at the gym." The contrast between age and profession immediately grabs attention.
Use dynamic vocabulary: For instance, using words like "ignite," "overturn," "strike directly" is much more powerful than "happen" or "affect."

2. Able to Clearly State the Matter

Just "enticing" isn't enough; that would make it "clickbait," which is very annoying. A good headline must convey the core essence of the news within a limited number of words. Who? Where? What did they do? What was the outcome? After reading the headline, you should have a general understanding of the whole event. You click to see the details, not to discover, "Oh? So that's what it was about?"

For example, "Elon Musk announces Starship to undergo its first orbital test flight next month" is very clear. If it were written as "Elon Musk makes another big move, human future to be rewritten," while also attractive, the information would be too vague.

3. Concise, Like a "Telegram"

We are in a fast-paced era now; no one has the patience to read a long, convoluted headline. A good headline is like sending a telegram: the fewer words, the better, but the meaning must be conveyed. If you can say it in 10 words, never use 11. On your phone, overly long headlines even get truncated, so conciseness is essential.

4. Must Be Truthful, This Is the Bottom Line

This is the most crucial point. A headline can be skillful, it can be embellished, but it must never distort facts or fabricate stories. If the content is 1, the headline can say 1.5 – that's optimization. But if the content is 1 and the headline exaggerates it to 10, that's deception. Readers who are deceived once or twice will no longer trust you. Trust is the lifeblood of news.

So, to sum it up, a good headline is like a skilled "salesperson": they must immediately grab your attention (entice), then tell you what great product they're selling with the fewest words possible (clear, concise), and most importantly, everything they say must be true (truthful).