For a person or company publishing a book or embarking on a lecture series there is the problem of choosing a title that will attract the most buyers or attendees.
The obvious title for a didactic work is "How to X". So, for example, if the subject of the lecture is "How to win friends" then that is the obvious title.
However, for inspirational lectures or books, the best style of title is less obvious. For example, let's imagine there is a lecture designed to persuade people to pursue adult education. So, you could have a lecture entitled "Why You Should Never Stop Educating Yourself." However, the title sounds kind of preachy and could be offputting to some people.
Is there any science concerning the most effective style of a lecture or book title when the subject is ideological?
So, for example, Lenin's four most well known works are "State And Revolution", "What Is To Be Done", "Imperialism the Highest Stage Of Capitalism", "Revolution At the Gates". So, he has one title that is hortatory and three that are descriptive. None of his works begin with the words "Why you should..."
