Effective Communication Principles from 'Made to Stick'

Introduction

• Goal of the Book: Organize thoughts with clarity and precision to communicate effectively.
• Outcome: Convey message clearly, motivate, persuade.
• Focus: Summary of 5 out of 6 principles.

First Principle: Unexpected

• Purpose: Gain and retain attention.
• Humans: Think in patterns; the brain acts as a guessing machine.
• Technique: Break the pattern, then fix it with unexpected information.
  • Example: Deer kill more people than sharks (unexpected, breaks the mental image).
• Instructions:
  1. Identify the core of your message.
  2. Find counterintuitive elements.
  3. Communicate in a way that disrupts patterns.

Second Principle: Simplicity

• Formula: Simple = Core + Compact.
• Essence: Not dumbing down but making the message concise.
• Finding the Core:
  • Inverted Pyramid: Prioritize essential information first, then add details.
  • Commander Intent: Focus on the single most important message.
• Making the Core Compact:
  • Memory Flags & Analogies:
    • Example: Soccer team analogy for goal alignment.
    • Example: Algebra as a mental exercise similar to lifting weights.

Third Principle: Concrete

• Concept: Easier to understand and recall concrete ideas than abstract ones.
  • Examples: “Bicycle” vs “Injustice”, “Movie popcorn” vs detailed fat stats.
• Objective: Make abstract ideas tangible to prompt action.
• Tappers and Listeners Experiment: Shows the “Curse of Knowledge”.
• Advice:
  • Use sensory words/phrases.
  • Dodge using abstract terms.

Fourth Principle: Stories

• Jared’s Story: Illustrates transformation and motivation through a