The document provides guidance on making ideas stick through simple, memorable messaging. It discusses focusing on the core idea and compact delivery. Unexpected elements can grab attention if they surprise without losing the connection to the core. Concrete language uses specifics, names and examples to make abstract concepts tangible. Credibility comes from authority, testimonials and compelling details. Emotional appeals tap into what people care about. Stories engage audiences and help them visualize ideas.

1. MADE TO STICK
(BOOK SUMMARY BY @JHEITZEB)
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2. 1: SIMPLE
• The planning process (thinking) is useful, but plans are useless.
• Find the "core" of the idea - the most important essence
• Theone thing that the audience or customer cares most
about
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3. CRITICAL VS. BENEFICIAL
• Saying three things is like saying nothing at all
• Must separate critical from merely beneficial
• Choice is paralyzing!
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4. FOCUSING ON THE CORE
• Lead with the core message
• Eliminate non essential messages and detail
• Eliminate even interesting bits, if it helps the core shine through
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5. SPREADING THE MESSAGE
• Speak in clear, tangible language
• Use analogies to reinforce
• Use repetition
• Be brief (compact)
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6. DEFINITION OF SIMPLE
• Simple = Core + Compact
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7. THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
• Knowledgeable and passionate people have the capacity and
desire to do a lot of different things..and argue every detail and
feature possibility
• Experts are fascinated by the nuance and complexity in things
• Reminder: keep it simple and don't do too much
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8. SCHEMAS
• Invokingpoints of reference to make it easier (simpler) to
explain concepts
• Ex: "pomelos are like super-sized grapefruits"
• Vs.:"pomelos are large citrus fruits with easy to peel rinds
and a spicy, tangy, tart flavor"
• Can be used to teach complex ideas out of simpler ideas
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9. THE FALSE CHOICE OF
ACCURACY VS ACCESSIBILITY
If the idea doesn't stick, it has
no value, even if it is more
accurate or comprehensive.
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10. ANALOGIES AND
METAPHORS ARE EVOCATIVE
• "Die hard on a bus" = Speed
• "jaws on a space ship" = Alien
• Disney employees are "cast members"
• Subway employees are "sandwich artists"
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11. 2: UNEXPECTED
• To get people's attention, you must break common patterns
• But avoid gimmickry, and surprise without connection
• Surprise captures attention
• Interest keeps it
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12. BREAK AND FIX
• To surprise, break someone's guessing machine, then fix it
• Target
a part of their guessing machine that relates to your
core message
1. Find your core
2. Identify the counterintuitive implications of it
3. Communicate in some way that breaks the expected along the lines of
what's counterintuitive
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13. KEEPING PEOPLE'S
ATTENTION
• Sparkthe curiosity of your audience and keep them guessing
by feeding bits as you go
• Create a mystery and then promise to reveal the answer
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14. HOW TO MAKE DIRT
INTERESTING
How can we account for the
most spectacular planetary
feature - not found on any
other planet - the rings of
Saturn? What are they made
of? How could 3 renowned
scientists come up with 3
different answers? So, what
was the answer?
A: dust
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15. CURIOSITY AND STORY
is the intellectual need to answer questions and close
• Curiosity
open patterns. Gaps in knowledge.
plays to this universal desire by doing the opposite,
• Story
posing questions and opening situations
At each point, keep the listening guessing "how will it
turn out?" and "what will happen next?"
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16. HOW TO CREATE THE GAPS
• Point out something that someone else knows that they don't
• Highlight knowledge that they are missing
• Present them with situations that have unknown resolutions
• Challenge them to predict an outcome
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17. HOW TO HOOK THEM
• Posea question, ask the listener to say what they think the answer is,
then promise to reveal the answer later
• Allowthem to commit to their preconceived notions, then pull the
rug out from under them with a counterintuitive and profound result
• Point
out disagreement about the topic among peers and set up
forums to resolve the discrepancy
• Shareenough context, human interest and story to trigger interest in
the rest of it
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18. 3: CONCRETE
• Concrete is the opposite of abstract!
• Break vast things into small tangible things
• Give the thing an official name or title
• Boil it down to specific people doing specific things
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19. HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING
CONCRETE
• Have the listener experience the concept (demo)
• Communicate using numbers, ordinary things and specifics
• Be transparent about the desired goal and intention
• Appeal to things your listener cares about
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20. 4: CREDIBLE
• What makes people believe ideas?
• Because others believe
• Because we have experiences that make us believe
• Because of authority endorsements / origination
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21. ANTIAUTHORITIES
Honest and trustworthy sources (not just experts)
• Invoke
stories of people who can speak to the opposite of
your message, proving you message by comparison
• Eg The smoker talking about smoking for the anti-smoking commercials
• Enlist
ordinary spokespeople who embody the core message to
represent it for you
• Egthe homeless support organization who used formerly homeless men
as drivers to pick up financial supporters at the airport
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22. USE VIVID DETAILS
• Very
specific facts, figures and details can add authority to
messages
• "the nurse had to clean his arm" vs. "...and ask she cleaned it,
she spilled mercurochrome on herself, staining her uniform
red"
• "he brushed his teeth every day at 7pm before bed" vs.
"...using a star wars toothbrush that looks like darth vader"
Better if they are vivid and human (as these examples are)
but also relevant to your core message!
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23. MAKE STATISTICS
COMPELLING
• Example of anti nuclear war activist who dropped a bb into a metal
bucket, then described the Hiroshima devastation, then poured
5000 bb's into the bucket to describe the world's nuclear stockpile
• Invoke comparisons at human-scale or context
• e.g. "the
accuracy of this device is akin to throwing a rock from LA to New
York and hitting the target at 1/3 of an inch from dead center" vs. "0.0000045
microwhatevers"
• "ifa soccer team had the same results as our company, it would mean only 4
of the 11 players know which goal is their's"
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24. THE SINATRA TEST
• If you can make it in NYC, you can make
it anywhere
• Ifyou've done encryption for the NSA,
you can do it anywhere
• "we handled the Harry Potter book
deliveries" vs. "98.2% of our deliveries are
on time"
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25. TESTABLE CREDENTIALS
• Askingyour customers to "try before you buy" or "see for
yourself"
• Can be done as thought exercises. I.e. Even if they don't test,
just saying that they can and will find the result, can be
convincing.
• Thekey is to involve your listener in the key point of your
message by posing a testable hypothesis and then proving
them right or wrong by revealing the answer
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26. 5: EMOTIONAL
• Emotionalappeals can be very compelling because they get
people to care
• Analytical states of mind can hinder one's ability to feel
• "3m are starving in Zambia, please donate $1" vs. "your $1
donation goes to Rokia, a 7 year old in Zambia who faces the
threat of starvation"
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27. HOW TO TAP INTO
EMOTIONS
• Invoke feelings of anger
• Invoke feelings of empathy
• Associate with emotions that already exist...form a connection between
something they don't care about yet and something they already care about
• Appeal to self-interest and identity
• Eg ad copy: "they laughed when i sat down at the piano...but when i started to play!"
• Use the word "you" and make them visualize themselves experiencing the benefits
• "don't mess with Texas"
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28. MASLOW
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29. OTHER THAN SELF-INTEREST...
• Sex, greed, fear
• Principles like equality, individualism, ideals, human rights, group-
interest
• Choices:
1. which alternative will lead to the most value for me?
2. What do people like me do in this situation? (appeal to this by
offering something that aligns, like a $50 donation to a school
offered to firefighters for reviewing your new movie)
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30. 6: STORIES
• Stories provide color and inspiration that can make people act
• Help the listener visualize the benefits
• Keep engagement high
• Entertain as they instruct
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31. HOW TO TELL A STORY
• Giveinformation bit by bit such that the listener can think and
imagine what comes next
• Relate to the listener with things they are familiar with
• Blend audience and protagonist
• Ask peep to visualize and imagine they are in the story. Ask
questions, like "what would you do" and save the punchlines
for the end.
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32. INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
Common patterns found in nearly all inspirational stories
1. The Challenge Plot - the protagonist overcomes a formidable
challenge to succeed. Variations: the underdog, rags-to-riches, sheer
determination. Key: present daunting challenge and appeal to
perseverance and courage
2. The Connection Plot - stories about people who form a relationship
that bridges a gap. Key: inspire to help, love and be tolerant of others.
3. The Creativity Plot - story that involves someone thinking about
something in a new way, or solving a long-standing puzzle. Key: makes
you want to be different and experiment with new things
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33. PRESENTING ARGUMENTS VS.
TELLING STORIES
• When you present an argument to someone directly, you are
asking them to evaluate it, debate it and criticize it
• However when you tell a story, you draw the listener in and
ask them to draw the same conclusions as you
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34. ABOVE ALL...
Eliminate common sense
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35. APPENDIX
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36. MAKE A SCORECARD
Checklist Your Message
Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Story
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