Made to stick

made to stick -- by chip and dan Heath

1. simplicity
-- core plus compact
-- in one sentence
-- use schemas to simplify , eg, grapefruit to describe pomelo
-- use existing concepts
-- useful tag line more important than accurarcy of concept

2. unexpectedness
-- best way to get attention is to break a pattern/schema
-- to keep people's attention is to make delivery interesting
-- opening gaps and then filling them
-- surprise without insight is not useful
-- common sense is the enemy of stickiness; common = forgetable
-- good service is common sense -> gift wrap item bought at competitor is unexpectedly good service
-- to keep attention, try a mystery
-- curiosity happens when we feel a gapin our knowledge
-- if people think they know everything, it is hard to make gap theory work
-- if there is not enough knowledge, need to fill up first till a gap

3. concreteness
-- ideas must be in terms of actions or sensory information
-- think Velcro, more hooks stick better
-- abstract ideas hard to stick
-- curse of knowledge -> think abstractly and unable to be concrete
(tappers and listeners)
-- concreteness makes target transparent
-- think of as many white things in 15 seconds; repeat now things in fridge

4. credibility
-- ideas need to have own credentials, need people to try and buy
-- powerful sources of credibility are family, personal experience, faith, celebrities
-- sometimes, anti-authorities are better than authorities as they might be seen as more trustworthy. eg you overheard someone telling a friend of a new shampoo versus Gong Li in a commercial
-- internal credibility (by adding localised details and vivid details, even if not relevant)
-- statistics should be used to illustrate a relationship
-- use statistics as inputs, not outputs-- example of an important accomplishment instead of overall statistics
-- make a claim and ask people to verify-- testable credentials (eg, are u better off compared to 4 years ago? in election campaign)

5. emotions
-- must appeal to the heart
-- the most basic way to make people care is to form an association between something they don't yet care about and something they do care about
-- appeal to self interest (sell best seeds or best lawn?)
-- sometimes appeal to self interest backfires if it contradicts certain principles or a treasured group interest
-- appealing to identity

6. stories
-- right story makes people act
-- mental simulation improves performance; story causes mental simulation heightens stickiness
-- 3 basic plots --> challenge plots (beating odds), connection plots (relationships), creativity plots
-- people tend to remember stories rather than statistics

The main culprits inhibiting an idea to be sticky --
a. burying the lead
b. curse of knowledge
c. too focus on presenting and forgets the message
d. decision paralysis from too many choices

For an idea to stick, you must make the audience:
a. pay attention (unexpected)
b. understand and (concrete)
c. agree/believe (credible)
d. care (emotional)
e. be able to act on it (story)