Action Captions: Cheat Sheet

Definition of Action Captions

• Urge action from the reader
• After reading them, your customer or reader should accept your proposal and
understand your message.
• The graphic always captures the eyes of the reader but the caption will
caption their mind and ultimately do the persuading.
• The combination of the graphic and the action should explain your message to
the reader fully without searching the rest of the text,
• Action captions should be present beneath every single graphic in your text.

8 Top Tips for Winning Actions Captions

1) Support every graphic in your proposal with your unique action caption.
- This helps fully convey your message, rather than a vague figure with no
explanation.

2) Remember the three main parts of every action caption.

- Figure number, title and caption.

3) Don’t use ambiguous graphic labels.

- Action captions and figures should be used to convey your message so don’t allow
your labels to be ambiguous.

4) Make the connection between benefit and graphic feature.

- Always keep your customer in mind by placing the benefit at the forefront of your
caption.

5) Quantify the caption’s benefit.

- Makes your message more credible.

6) Use action captions below the graphic.

- This follows widely-accepted style which readers are accustomed to.

7) Reference graphics using the correct text number.

- To prevent reader getting lost, they should be able to find the text the graphic is
referring to through the number.

8) Use different formatting for your action caption.

- Text size, italics, justification.