There’s an advertisement running on the Television. A bright and happy family of five, are getting ready for a picnic. A young boy, followed by 2 younger sisters joyously enter the minivan. The Husband and the wife follow them soon after and they start. A scene many of us relate to easily. The voice-over introduces us to the minivan now. It tells us about the features like remote-controlled sliding rear doors, ample space for big family, temperature controlled cup holders, six-point navigation system and what not. The voice says, “It’s a minivan to the max. It’s the minivan for families on the go.”
Everyone inside the van is smiling and enjoying the ride.
And then, it happens.
A speeding car overspeeding from the intersection hits the minivan. There’s a huge explosion and ear-shattering noise of glass breaking and metal bending.
There’s now just the sound of a permanently pressed horn and then screen fades into blank and goes silent.
The voice over now says: “Buckle up… Always.”
Unexpected. Right?
Unexpected is one of the 6 principles of making a thought stick in the reader’s mind or a viewer or the audience mind. The above advertisement about necessity of putting on a seat belt is so powerful that one won’t be able to forget it so easily.
The principles of making any idea sticky are:
- Simple
- Unexpected
- Concrete
- Credible
- Emotional
- Stories
or SUCCESs. An acronym, which would stick to your mind now, when you think of drafting an idea which you want to be sticky in other’s minds.
So I recently read:
Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck
This book is easily one of the most easy to read, witty and highly useful piece of text that I have ever read. It has plethora of anecdotes, stories, ideas and case studies of various incidents in the history where ideas housed themselves in people’s mind for a longer time.
The easy language with which Heath brothers have communicated the idea of making our thoughts get etched in and stay longer and relevant is exemplary. For anyone who is learning to write, fiction or non-fiction, or who is learning public speaking, writing an advertisement, or making a campaign, this could be of great use. Anyone actually who deals with communication would find this really enriching.
I found the recommendation for this book by Douglas Kruger in one of his videos. And this has actually helped me realize, why some of my own speeches and writings worked and why most failed. But after reading this, it would help me shape the flow and the content in a better way.
I recommend this book strongly, to anyone who wants to put forward their thoughts in a better way.
You may buy this book here:
Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck