Talk to the Human™

This last year I’ve read a ton (at least a few pounds) of books, especially on marketing, the web, consulting, writing and speaking. I created some reviews on this website, but I think it’s time to highlight the best for those of you just getting on board with this whole 21st century reading-thing.

This list presumes you are looking to become successful at speaking and/or consulting about something you are good at. Of course, you also need to be up to date on whatever subject you are choosing to speak about.

Speaking
World Class Speaking – Craig Valentine and Mitch Meyerson
Money Talks – Alan Weiss

Writing
Six-Figure Freelancing – Kelly James-Enger
Made to Stick -  Chip and Dan Heath

Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing – Jay Conrad Levinson
Permission Marketing – Seth Godin

Consulting
Million Dollar Consulting – Alan Weiss
Book Yourself Solid - Michael Port

Web
The Zen of Social Media Marketing – Shama Hyder Kabani
WordPress for Dummies – Lisa Sabin-Wilson

Ideas
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell
SuperFreakonomics – Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

As I made this list, I did realize there were still a couple of book reviews I could do, for those rare (!) weeks when I don’t finish a book.

Also, I know Made to Stick isn’t so much a book about writing, but it is a book about making your ideas worth remembering. And that is a great skill to have as a speaker and as someone who writes down what they are going to say.

If you are behind on your reading, pick up something off of this list. They are all worth your time…

Do you struggle to get your ideas heard and remembered? Maybe you are having trouble deciding what your core message is? Maybe you don’t know that you need a core message?

In the book Made to Stick – Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath, the authors discuss a logical and repeatable two step process you can use to make your message stick.

Have you heard (or read) the story about the guy who gets drugged and wakes up in a bathtub full of ice? The “stolen kidney story” has pretty serious stickiness, where your last meeting probably does not. Chances are you can describe a number of specific facts from that kidney story, but nothing from the last staff meeting you attended. What is the difference?  

First, the message is simple. Not simple as in dumbed-down, but simple as in “core”. What is the message? “Don’t take free drinks from strangers.”

Second, it fits into the SUCCESs formula, described in the book: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions and Stories.

Simple: The message not to take free drinks from strangers
Unexpected: Waking up in a bathtub full of Ice? Hello
Concreteness: Very specific steps in the process
Credible: E-mailed to you from a friend, happened in Vegas (in some versions) and we all know anything is possible there, and we know there is a black market need for kidneys (according to TV and Internet sources)
Emotional: You could lose a kidney!
Story: Presented in a short, readable story format

Knowing that, you can take the first step in getting your message received and repeated like the kidney story. Find your message, and make it simple. 10 words or less is ideal. If you can’t state it clearly, how will your audience understand it?

Simple: Find your message

Are you struggling to get momentum behind your message?

Recently, Seth Godin posted a blog entry about the phrase drill baby drill. This has become a catch phrase that, prior to the disaster in the gulf, people with a certain mindset were able to get behind, rally around, and repeat with ease. The phrase really crystallized the concept of Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.

I reviewed their latest book, Switch, a couple of months ago. Now I’ve gone back and purchased Made to Stick to see what all the fuss was about.

The fuss? The tag-line, Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die pretty well sums it up. The six principles, Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories (SUCCESs) give you a usable road-map to help make your ideas stick.

What’s great about this book:
The concept of The Curse of Knowledge captures how our minds work, and why we find it difficult to accept when others don’t receive our message. So often, we think we’ve delivered our message in a way that everyone will understand. Read this and you’ll understand why that doesn’t work like you think it should (and what you can do about it).

Also, there are a plethora of great examples of sticky ideas and not-so-sticky ones. Placed throughout the chapters are clinics to help reinforce the points with practical applications.

I’ve already got three different blog posts ready based on concepts in this book, so look for those to be published in the coming week.

Recommendations:
Any speaker or writer should have already read this book. Don’t put it off like I did.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback (of course, it’s only in paperback)
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the jist of it

Switch – How to change things when change is hard is the new book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, who were the authors of the bestselling book Made to Stick. In their new work, the authors address the reasons why change can be difficult for humans like us, and how you can use this knowledge to see successful change in your own world.

The premise that our minds are driven by two main components, one emotional and one rational is, or course, not news. But what was facinating on many levels is how the Heath brothers liken the emotional mind to an elephant and the rational mind to the rider. The elephant’s sheer force results in it directing most of our behavior, while the rider is on top planning, thinking, and trying to steer.

There are some really interesting examples, such as when dealing with nutrition – working to make change isn’t about vague goals (i.e. “eat healthy”), but about specific actions you can take, such as “buy 1% milk”.

Also, many of the successes describbed in the book let you know that you don’t need resources or structural authority to affect change.

What’s great about this book:
SECTION ONE: DIRECT THE RIDER
Find the Bright Spots
Script the Critical Moves
Point to the Destination

SECTION TWO: MOTIVATE THE ELEPHANT
Find the Feeling
Shrink the Change 
Grow Your People

SECTION THREE: SHAPE THE PATH 
Tweak the Environment 
Build Habits 
Rally the Herd

Also, each topic has a “clinic” in it to walk you through an real-world type of example to reinforce the points, and help you compare your analysis with that of the authors.

Limiting Factors:
This may require a major mindset change. Personally, I’ve always been a “find the bight spot” person, but I never really had it put into context before. If you are a “solve all the big issues” type, this will be a big shift for you.

Great Quotes:
If Spock wants to get up at 5:45 a.m., he’ll just get up. No drama required.
Knowledge does not change behavior – Jerry Sternin
Break down the change until it no longer spooks the Elephant

An Acronym you may not have heard:
TBU – True but useless

Recommendations:
If you are someone who wants to see things change for the better, in your organization, in your home or anywhere in your life, then this book is a must-read.

Rob’s Rating system (bolded, the rating is)
Buy now at full price (and it’s only $13 on Amazon, as of today)
Buy if you get a discount
Wait for the paperback
Wait for someone else to be done with the paperback
If you’ve read my review, you got the jist of it