'...smart, lively...it's worth reading this book. In the right hands, it will help.'

'...peppered with memorable stories ... a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.'

'Solid instructions, a selection of exercises, and plenty of vivid real-world examples.'

'Anyone interested in influencing others...can learn from this book.'

'The Heaths push beyond what sounds like it should work and explain why it actually does.'

'The Heaths' own big idea is already generating business school buzz.'

'an entertaining, practical guide to effective communication'

'A rational, empirical analysis that's part business, part behavioral psychology.'

A sticky idea is an idea that is more likely to make a difference. "Made to
Stick" explains the six underlying principles of powerful ideas, helping
you make your own ideas sticky.

What is that makes urban myths so persistent but many everyday truths so eminently forgettable? How do newspapers set about ensuring that their headlines make you want to read on? And why do we remember complicated stories but not complicated facts? In the course of over ten years of study, Chip and Dan Heath have established what it is that determines whether particular ideas or stories stick in our minds or not, and "Made to Stick" is the fascinating outcome of their painstaking research. Packed full of case histories and through provoking anecdotes, it shows, among other things, how one Australian scientist convinced the world he'd discovered the cause of stomach ulcers by drinking a glass filled with bacteria, how a gifted sports reporter got people to watch a football match by showing them the outside of the stadium, and how high-concept pitches such as 'Jaws on a spaceship' ("Alien") and 'Die Hard on a bus' ("Speed") convince movie executives to invest vast sums of money in a project on the basis of almost no information. Entertaining and informative by turns, this is a fascinating and multi-faceted account of a key area of human behaviour.

At the same time, by showing how we can all use such cleverly devised strategies as the 'Velcro Theory of Memory' and 'curiosity gaps', it offers superbly practical insights, setting out principles we all can adopt to make sure that we get our ideas across effectively.

2008-03-07 It practises what it preaches

This is not a profound piece of business literature, but in many ways that why this book works so powerfully. The way that the Heath brothers have composed the book is a deliberate illustration in itself of their findings about what makes messages so much more potent among an audience.

They offer an acronym - SUCCESs - for the main features of 'sticky' messages:

- Simplicity
- Unexpectedness
- Concreteness
- Credibility
- Emotions
- Stories
For example, 'SUCCESs' may perhaps be cheesy, but it is memorable. I found examples of all these principles throughout. I particularly enjoyed the stories, such as the teacher who taught her twelve-year-olds about racism in such a shockingly potent way that it has stayed with each pupil into adulthood.

Quite deservedly, this book is already being referenced in more recent publications, such as Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen.

This is a valuable book and I enjoyed reading it. I'd recommended it to all leaders, presenters, those engaged in engaging stakeholders on a project or programme, in fact, anyone in the communications business.

What makes some messages stick? This book lays it out clearly.