headline-options

Headline Options Skill

The headline does 80% of the work — most people read it and decide. This skill generates a range of

headlines across proven formulas (so you're not betting on one), scores them for clarity and

specificity (the two things that actually drive clicks), and recommends the strongest — for a landing

page, blog post, email subject, ad, or video title.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• What it's for — landing-page H1, blog title, email subject, ad headline, YouTube title? (changes length + style).
• The subject — the product/post/offer and its single biggest benefit or hook.
• Audience — who reads it, and the words they'd use.
• Any constraint — character limit (subject lines, ad fields), tone, banned claims.

Output Format

Headlines: [subject] — for [where it's used]

Options by formula (10–15 total), grouped:

• Benefit — the outcome, stated plainly ("Ship your roadmap in an afternoon")
• How-to — ("How to cut churn without discounting")
• Number / list — ("7 ways teams lose activation")
• Question — ("Still building decks by hand?")
• Curiosity / pattern-interrupt — (a gap that demands the click, without clickbait)
• Social proof / authority — ("How 5,000 teams onboard faster")

Score each on Clarity and Specificity (1–5), since vague + clever loses to clear + specific:

| Headline | Formula | Clarity | Specific | Note |

|---|---|---|---|---|

Top 3 picks — the strongest, with one line each on why, and which to A/B first.

If subject-line / limited — flag any that exceed the character budget.

Quality Checks

• [ ] 10+ options spanning multiple distinct formulas (not variations of one)
• [ ] Each scored on clarity and specificity, not cleverness
• [ ] Top picks are recommended with reasoning + an A/B suggestion
• [ ] Options use the audience's language and the real benefit
• [ ] Character limits respected where the medium demands it

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not favour clever over clear — a confusing headline isn't read twice; clarity wins
• [ ] Do not write clickbait the content can't pay off — the bounce destroys trust and SEO
• [ ] Do not give one-formula variations — the value is the spread to test
• [ ] Do not stay vague — "Transform your workflow" says nothing; name the specific outcome
• [ ] Do not ignore the medium's limit — a truncated subject line is a wasted headline

Based On

Headline-writing practice (Ogilvy, Advertising's clarity-over-cleverness, the 4 U's) + formula-driven ideation and A/B discipline.