What’s Hot.
Simple messages; Entertaining anecdotes
What’s Not.
You’ll have to clear space in your brain to remember the book’s important points
The bottom line.
Made to Stick explains what has made memorable ideas memorable and teaches readers how to apply these traits to their own genius ideas.
Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Chip and Dan Heath expand the theory of the “sticky” idea in their new book, Made to Stick. To clarify, a sticky idea is one that is understood and remembered. In Made to Stick, the Heaths explore the traits of successful ideas and aim to answer the question, “How do we improve the chances of worthy ideas?”
Educators and self-professed “idea collectors,” Chip and Dan Heath have studied the work of various industries like psychology, education research and political science to pinpoint six traits that make ideas – for lack of a better word – stickier. By analyzing everything from humorous urban legends (Coke’s still a viable contraceptive, right?) to popular proverbs to real-world product designs, Made to Stick explains how businesses can improve their ideas and messages.
The Heaths devote one chapter of the book to each of their six “sticky” traits:
Simplicity: The first key to making an idea stick with your audience is to distill your message down to the essentials. Identifying and communicating the core of your idea allows your audience to understand it clearly.
Unexpectedness: Expected messages have little effect on us since, well, we expect them. If you deliver your message through unexpected stories, your idea will have a better chance of staying with your audience after your presentation’s end.
Concreteness: Presenters tend to favor vagueness because it makes them sound smart. Our brains, however, are wired to absorb concrete data. Communicating with concrete details and examples allows audience members to remember your message. It also cuts down the odds that people will interpret the information in many different ways.
Credibility: Presenters should use relevant stories, not numbers, to establish credibility. Pointing to details about the subject at hand will help convince your audience that you are an expert in the field.
Emotion: Appealing to your audience on an emotional level will make them more likely to remember your ideas. Emotion is especially helpful when it comes to explaining projects or goals because, as the Heaths write, “emotion sparks action.”
Stories: Telling stories to convey messages is an important part of making an idea stick. Numbers and data tend to get lost, but relevant and unexpected stories will stay with people for a long while.
Made to Stick is an entertaining and engaging book that uses many real-world examples and colorful stories to illustrate its points. If you are looking to make your worthy ideas memorable to others, Made to Stick is a must-read. So write the title down on a post-it note and stick it to your computer screen until you remember to buy it.
