Keys to getting messages across are consistency and repetition, but what makes them memorable—and worth repeating?
One of our favorite books is “Made to Stick” (admittedly, Lee bought it because it had a piece of duct tape on the cover), by Chip and Dan Heath. Their SUCCESs message model suggests six principles for making a message successful:
As they write, “You don’t need all six to have a sticky idea, but it’s fair to say, the more the better!”
The Heath brothers also have six recommendations for a great “Elevator Speech.”
One of the tips:
“‘Why’ comes before ‘What.’ People will understand better what you’re doing if they first know why you’re doing it.” Here’s an example: “Most people invest some of their savings and give some of it away to charity. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could do both at once—get interest AND impact? That’s why we invented the Calvert Community Investment Notes.”
Contact us about finding your organization’s great messages.