Made to stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Made To Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath is one of my favorites books. It is about why some ideas becomes popular and stick into people’s minds, and why others don’t.
The authors, after a thorough research among a large amount of stories, proverbs, legends, etc., concluded that an idea, in order to be memorable, should have the following characteristics:
- Simplicity: the idea should be as simple as possibile and its most important concepts should be communicated first.
- Unexpectedness: the idea should surpise the listener, forcing him to stop and think.
- Concreteness: the idea should be connected to real-world analogies.
- Credibility: the idea should be communicated by, or referred to, a credible person (e.g. an authority in the field) or include data and evidences, enforcing its credibilty
- Emotional: ideas that create emotions are most easily remembered by people.
- Story: when an idea is communicated as a story, people get more interested and connected.
By the way, the achronym forms the word “S.U.C.C.E.S.”… 🙂
I find this book very easy to read and interesting, as it makes use of the same “sticking” tips in its own writing and you can immediately verify how they work on you!
Definitely one of the best book I read in communication, Made To Stick is a must-read for all people in charge of marketing a product.
Highly recommended.
Vote: 5/5
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Other great books by Chip Heath and Dan Heath: