Miguel M. Morales uses this "Headlines" exercise to break the ice with new campus newspaper staff at The Campus Ledger, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kan. and to stress the importance of headlines.
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Headlines Exercise

I use this "Headlines" exercise to break the ice with our new campus newspaper staff and to stress the importance of headlines:

Pair people off and give them 3 minutes each to interview one another about anything that pertains to their life (significant events, pets, embarrassing stories). Then give them 30 seconds to create a headline for the "story" they just heard.

The teams introduce one another and give the headline. If anyone finds the headline interesting he or she say something like "I wanna read that story" and the person retells the tale. If the headline is boring and no one says, "I wanna read that story," we listen to the story anyway and suggest a headline that may fit.

I came up with this exercise because I needed an icebreaker and didn't want to do those crazy exercises that have everyone naming their favorite vegetable that starts with the first initial of their last name.

Secondly, in all the journalism contests we entered last year, we placed as finalists but not winners. Our feedback forms all noted our "lousy" headlines and this seemed like a good way to demonstrate their importance.

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