Made to Stick
I was rereading my many underlining’s in a book by this title last night as I unpacked boxes for our winter in Florida. Dan and Chip Heath’s 2007 explanations of why some ideas last and others die are—sadly—just as relevant today as when they wrote it.
The Heath note that while the focus on such delivery matters as smiling and making eye contact with an audience and having colorful PowerPoint are useful that the actual content of messages is more vital. They speak to six characteristics of ideas that make them stick with a reader viewer, or listener:
- Simplicity. “To strip an idea down to its core we must be masters of exclusion.”
- Unexpectedness. “But surprise doesn’t last. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.”
- Concreteness. “In Proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
- Credibility. “Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need ways for people to test their ideas for themselves…”
- Emotions. “How do we get people to care about our ideas? We make them feel something.”
- Stories. How do we get people to act on our ideas? We tell stories.”
Most of the presentations I read or hear fail to reflect these essential elements. Ten points seem better than one. The speaker knows the answers, so curiosity is irrelevant. Vision and strategy sounding like many other groups fills the screen. Points are anchored in citations which we have no way to test. We provide statistics that seek comprehension, not feeling. And the stories told are of self-serving accomplishment.
We can do better. Perhaps you can do better. How do you stack up on including these six elements as the key to people remembering and using your thoughts? Made to Stick follows its own advice. You can buy it new from Amazon for $14.49 and I see it on eBay used for $3.98 with free shipping. I often buy pre-read. In addition to a low price, I see what people highlight as sticking with them!
