Dr. Terry Young, lead pastor at First Alliance Church, Calgary summarizes this intriguing book on the art of communication.

Heath, Chip & Dan. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Random House, 2007. Note: Amazon Best Books of 2007: Top 100 Customer Favourites.

On a recent sabbatical I made my way through an intriguing book by the Heath brothers on the art of communicating in a world increasingly inundated with "ideas." I was drawn to this book because of the challenge we all face in those moments when we stand before a group of people and wonder, "Will any of this stick?" Meet the six principles of "stickiness":

#1 SIMPLICITY

The enemy of simplicity is "the curse of knowledge." As communicators, our greatest difficulty is in remembering what it is like to not know something. Therefore it is essential to identify the core message, the big idea, the desired end state - and to use clear and simple language and draw upon powerful analogies or metaphors to drive home the simple message.

Illustrations

Southwest Airlines - "We are the low fare airline!"

James Carville in framing the Clinton campaign - "It's the economy stupid!" (Carville originally had three slogans but only one of them stuck - three were too many!)

The book of Proverbs - simple core messages.

 

#2 UNEXPECTEDNESS

We all know that one of the first challenges in a moment of communication is getting the audience's attention. The best way to do this is to "break pattern" - to rattle people's guessing machines and then in time to fix them. Surprise is what gets attention. Great stories play to the universal desire by posing questions and opening up situations that cause people to lean in and seek the answers.

Illustrations

The stewardess who turns boring instructions into a humorous safety drill.

The parables of Jesus as classic curiosity producers.

#3 CONCRETENESS

If we are teaching an idea to a room full of people, and we aren't certain what they know, then concreteness is the only safe language. Novices crave the concrete, while experts like to talk to a higher level - this is where we return to "the curse of knowledge". On this front - think Velcro - the loops need hooks. Great teachers multiply the hooks.

Illustrations

Aesop's Fables where concrete images allow messages to endure over time.

Boeing 727 design goal- Must seat 131, fly non-stop from Miami to New York, and be able to land on runway 4-22 at La Guardia (shortest runway).

Saddleback Sam - Rick Warren's way of helping a church understand who is in their audience and circle of influence.

#4 CREDIBILITY

People believe ideas when they are credible. Credibility at times is rooted in the thumbs-up from experts or authorities, but never under-estimate the honest and simple source who brings the credential of vivid personal experience. Real people with real stories vividly boost credibility.

Illustrations

Pam Laffin as a smoker dying of cancer speaking against smoking.

Barry Marshall and Robin Warren in the early 80's discovering ulcers are caused by bacteria - lacking credibility it was not until 1994 that the National Institute of Health endorsed the idea.

"Where's The Beef" campaign was a great success because the ad provided a testable credential.

#5 EMOTION

This principle acknowledges the degree to which we are emotional creatures and how we are influenced in our thinking by our feelings. Most of us as communicators were trained to appeal to the thinking side of the equation and in some circles to discount the emotional entirely. Yet this principle is not about pushing emotional buttons but rather to make people care - for people to take action they have to care . . . and whether we like it or not - feelings inspire people to act.

Illustrations

"The Truth" anti smoking campaign was about students rebelling against "the man" (big tobacco). This campaign was far more successful than the "Think" campaign produced by the tobacco companies themselves.

Pegasus Chow Hall in Iraq - their mission - We are in charge of morale! (a mission with emotion that inspires a dining hall to be like no other).

#6 STORY

If credibility helps people to believe, and emotion helps people care, then stories help people to truly take action. Stories are described by the authors as flight simulators for the brain - they help the audience to see pictures in their heads. The power of story is in stimulation = giving knowledge about how to act / and inspiration = providing motivation to act. This chapter is worth the price of the book!

Illustrations

Subway and the story of Jared (the Subway brass wanted to stick with their "7 Under 6" ad campaign but test marketed the Jared ads and ... we know the rest of this story).

The parables remind us that Jesus, the master communicator wove together story with emotion and concreteness and simplicity and unexpectedness. No wonder the people heard him gladly!

A few final thoughts:

As I read this book I thought of my process in preaching. In the "preparing to tell stage" I discover things from God's word that others do not know and in the process lose my grip on what it's like not to know. I then tend to communicate as if the audience were me. This is the "Curse of Knowledge." A quick review of these six principles brings me back to earth and helps me to think carefully about "the telling others stage" in communication - How will I make this simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and storied?

Though Chip and Dan Heath write for a general business audience, their work provides some out-of-the box thinking for those of us who have the honour of proclaiming the greatest message of all. Imagine taking some good practice like this and then remembering that it is the Spirit of God who ultimately illuminates the mind - there is more at stake here than ideas that stick, we are brokers of the only truth that sets the captives free!