Summary: Made to Stick Chip and Dan Heath

ind the core – the central message you want to communicate above all else.
Figure out something which is counterintuitive about the core message – which runs contrary to popularl wisdom.
Communicate your message – in such a way that you break the listener’s preconceptions and then help them update or fix their beliefs.
Give people a little bit of information – and encourage them to fill in the remaining gaps for themselves. These gaps have to be substantial enough to keep things interesting but not so large they seem insurmountable.

curiosity.
If you want to develop a genuinely sticky idea, move away from asking yourself:“What information do I need to convey?” Instead, think more about: “What questions do I want my audience to ask?”

Truly sticky ideas carry their own credentials. They provide ways for people to test for themselves whether
or not they are true.

If people like curiosity, who do they work to resolve it? Why don’t they put mystery novels down before the last chapter, or turn off the television before the final inning of a close ball game?”

It has to open gaps in people’s knowledge and then fill them.

It has to open gaps in people’s knowledge and then fill them.

headline suggest to readers that here is something they want. This rule is so fundamental that it would seem obvious. Yet the rule is violated every day by scores of writers.”

First and foremost, try to get self-interest into every headline you write. Make your head

creativity consulting firm IDEO was called in to help a hospital improve its workflow, the consultants realized they would likely face loads of internal resistance to any changes they were to suggest. To get around this, IDEO created a video, shot from the perspective of a patient who goes to the emergency room with a leg fracture. The video goes through the check-in procedure and then features long stretches looking at the ceiling while little snippets of conversations are overheard. Every now and then, someone pokes their head into view and rattles something off before disappearing again. When the hospital staff saw the video, it was an eye opener for them because they had never paused to consider what the experience was really like for their patients. Instead of being reluctant to entertain new ideas for improvement, they became advocates for change which made IDEO’s work much easier.

1925 when John Caples wrote a headline for the U.S. School of Music ad which said: “They laughed when I sat down at the piano . . . but when I started to play!”