Making Your Ideas Stick

How do you make your ideas understandable, memorable, and persuasive? In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath bring to life six proven strategies. With loads of examples and compelling evidence, they explore how making your message Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional and/or a Story can help it stick in people's minds and influence their thinking or behavior.SIMPLE ideas are easy to understand and remember. One focal point is simpler than three (or ten). A good slogan or tagline cuts to the heart of the message. Metaphors substitute something easy to think about (a known) for something difficult (a new concept or relationship). Proverbs, too, are simple yet profound "short sentences drawn from long experience."UNEXPECTED ideas grab attention. The element of surprise is a hook. As social psychologist Robert Cialdini, says in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, "You've heard of the Aha! experience, right? Well the Aha! experience is much more satisfying when it's
preceded by the Huh? experience." Piquing one's curiosity opens an information gap, creating a psychological urge to close that gap. A good story poses questions and opens situations that play to this universal desire for closure, keeping us engaged.CONCRETE ideas, like simple ones, help us understand and remember. Abstract numbers (i.e. statistics) are far more impactful when expressed in terms of something we know, something at human scale, something concrete. Imagine the magnitude of 5,000 nuclear warheads-hard to wrap your head around. Now imagine 5,000 BB's poured into a tin bucket, each potentially as destructive as the Hiroshima bomb- a bold, memorable statement about the arms race.To be understandable, abstract concepts need a concrete "floor" to build on. Props are concrete representations, role play is direct experience, and analogy taps into what we already know.CREDIBILITY elements make us believe and agree with an idea. We tend to believe those in authority as
well as "anti-authorities," who are neither experts nor celebrities but whose experience qualifies them as credible spokespeople. New information that shakes up our assumptions tends to be quite "sticky." See-for-yourself trials enhance credibility, letting us test the claims being made. Providing detail also boosts buy-in to an argument, even when it is irrelevant to the argument! This was demonstrated in a mock trial where jurors believed testimony filled with inconsequential details more than "just the facts" testimony. Details helped jurors picture the scenario being presented, making it more believable.EMOTION makes us care about a message. The desperate plight of one 7-year old girl in Africa is far more powerful than a statistic about hunger on the continent. For us to care about something, an emotional response is required. Statistics put us into an analytic (left brain) frame of mind, interfering with our emotional (right brain) response. So what makes people care?
l Associating your cause with something they already care about. l Self-interest. What's in it for them? In sales that means spelling out the benefit of the benefit, going deep to the prospect's core emotional needs, or painting an enticing picture..."Imagine..." "See yourself..." l Identity appeal. For example, the implication behind the highly successful Don't Mess With Texas anti-litter campaign was that real Texans don't litter.STORIES inspire us and move us to act. They simulate real life experience for us. The Heath brothers cite three basic "plots" that almost all stories follow:
the CHALLENGE plot appeals to perseverance, courage, inspiring action...David & Goliath...Rosa Parks.
the CONNECTION plot bridges gaps, inspiring us to help others and be more tolerant...the Good Samaritan.
the CREATIVITY plot depicts mental breakthroughs and innovations...Isaac Newton and the falling apple.
The more of these sticky devices you can use in your sales or educational appeals, the more memorable and persuasive your idea is likely to be. In the genre of The Tipping Point, Made to Stick is a recommended read on social psychology and human nature.

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