Persuasiveness has always been a very important aspect of advertising, politics, and a myriad other professions that rely heavily on the opinions and attitudes of others in order to exist and make an impact on the world. For the better or worse, in modern world an increasing number of professions fall into this category. Weather we are trying to teach someone a new skill, persuade a boss or a colleague, or ace a job interview, we need to be able to present our ideas effectively. We need to make them stick.

“Made to Stick” expands on the idea of “stickiness” popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in “The Tipping Point.” Brothers Heath have spent many years working in their respective fields – organizational behavior and education – and have jointly come up with their idea of what makes ideas particularly “sticky.” Their prescription, and the outline of this book, is organized around the acronym SUCCES (with last s omitted):

* Simple — find the core of any idea
* Unexpected — grab people’s attention by surprising them
* Concrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
* Credible — give an idea believability
* Emotional — help people see the importance of an idea
* Stories — empower people to use an idea through narrative

The book provides many useful examples and anecdotes that make these concepts stand out and become relevant in your own life. In fact, it follows more or less its own prescription, which is one of the reasons why it’s such a good read. After going through it I’ve found myself thinking about making my own writing (and hopefully my Amazon reviews in particular) stickier.

One caveat about the books and works of this kind is the same one that has been at the root of all the criticisms of persuasiveness, from Socrates to this day. Just making ideas sticky and memorable does not make them any more relevant or even true. I can think of many examples of sticky ideas in today’s culture and politics, and even in this very book, that have gotten much more attention and credibility because of their stickiness. Ultimately, it is our own responsibility to be alert and vigilant for the discrepancies between flowery rhetoric and the content of the message. This has been one constant throughout the history of our culture and society.