(David Stoeffler)

What do octuplets' mother Nadya Suleman, the "25 Random Things" lists on Facebook and the weather have in common?

They are all something to talk about.

In my consulting work and speaking engagements, I'm frequently asked to reveal the secrets to building readership in print and online. If only it was a secret, my consulting business would be much more lucrative.

As detailed in the Readership Institute's 2003 Experience Study, "something to talk about" is a powerful motivator that can drive readership. Across all demographics, researchers found similar responses - people want a source of information that gives them something to talk about with other people.

Certainly big news events - just like the weather -- are easy fodder for conversation with family, friends or co-workers, or for or those uncomfortable moments in the elevator. And nothing beats a great story to prompt conversation, even between strangers on a train, whether it is passage of a federal stimulus bill or something offbeat like the recent tragedy in which a pet chimp had to be killed after mauling a woman in Stamford, Conn.

But I'm a believer in planning ways to beat the odds rather than relying on random news events, so I am always on the look-out for regular features offered in print or online that get to the heart of giving people something to talk about.

Here are some examples of what I mean, including many items I highlighted in a recent presentation for the Minnesota Newspaper Association convention in Bloomington.

Good editorial pages often provoke thought and conversation, but I like a quirky feature from the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison. Each Sunday, Sticker Shock features a photo submitted by a reader of a bumper sticker that struck the reader as clever, funny or making an important point.

The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal goes one better with its daily front-page letter to the editor called The Mini. Readers compete for this coveted bottom-of-the page space to say in one or two sentences what takes the normal letter writer 250-300 words to say.

The Journal, which deserves a look if you are trying to find a small daily worth imitating, also has recently started an online feature called Afternoon Delight. Editors describe it as "a midday feature on something non-news related that helps take your mind off of everyday worries."

Humor is a difficult thing for many newsrooms, but one that has been doing it regularly for more than 10 years is The Oregonian in Portland with its feature called The Edge. It's a collection of news of the weird and the kinds of jokes often traded through e-mail. It appears on the TV page. Says Executive Editor Peter Bhatia: The Edge is "very popular with younger readers, but also with older sick readers like me."

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you'll usually find just the facts in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier's long-running feature called Call the Courier. The paper answers reader questions ranging from the serious to the trivial, including questions about the paper's operations.

A safe bet for something to talk about is in writing about people.

One of the best online examples out there is The Washington Post's onBeing interactive video feature on "musings, passions, histories and quirks of all sorts of people."

Some of my favorite people items include simple items, like this regular feature in the suburban weekly Wellesley (Mass.) Townsman, highlighting high school Artists to Watch.

Prep sports are also a great source for those talker stories. A good example of a small newspaper doing well in this regard is the Faribault (Minn.) Daily News, which is chock-full of fun, easy-to-do features, including Senior Spotlight, Coaches Corner, Athletes of the Week, a question of the week, photo galleries and a fun blog called "Sports Talk with Mark (Remme) & Marc (Zarefsky)," in which two sports staffers duel over a sports question.

Of course, no good journalism discussion these days can ignore Twitter with its ubiquitous plea for you to answer the most basic something-to-talk-about question: "What are you doing?" Los Angeles Times' columnist James Rainey does a great job explaining the value and appeal of Twitter for those of you not yet on board. I highly recommend following that old gentleman, Colonel Tribune, to see an example of how this tool can be used by a news organization wanting to engage its readers.


By David Stoeffler (dstoeffler@touchstonenews.com)
David Stoeffler runs Touchstone News Consulting and is a former top editor and vice president for news of Lee Enterprises. He is a frequent speaker at industry meetings and a regular faculty member in Media Management Center programs.