Made to Stick

Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

By: Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to make your ideas stick.

“Anyone interested in influencing others—to buy, to vote, to learn, to diet, to give to charity or to start a revolution—can learn from this book.”—The Washington Post

Mark Twain once observed, “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” His observation rings true: Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas—entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists—struggle to make them “stick.”

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits.

Made to Stick will transform the way you communicate. It’s a fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures): the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher whose simulation actually prevented racial prejudice.

Provocative, eye-opening, and often surprisingly funny, Made to Stick shows us the vital principles of winning ideas—and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick.

©2006 Chip Heath and Dan Heath (P)2007 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Made to Stick summons plenty of brain science, social history, and behavioral psychology to explain what makes an idea winning and memorable—and the Heaths do the telling with beautiful clarity.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“Utterly compelling.”—Los Angeles Times

“Surprising and provocative.”—The New York Sun

Mindset changer!

The book is really strong and engaging: some ideas are revolutionary and other ones are putting old things into new perspective.

Sticky Ideas

Awesome look at what makes ideas sticky... memorable and effective. Some very practical applications that you can use right now!

Life Changing Material

With this audiobook, you'll dramatically increase your ability to naturally captivate and persuade without seeming overly assuming. It clarifies powerful marketing secrets that most of us are faintly aware of but can't fully grasp...until we listen to this audiobook.

great book on communication

this book gives you a checklist and insights on the ultimate rules to getting a message across that stays in the audience is mine as far as psychology and copywriting goes this not only shows you how to do it but why it works if it does examples upon you this is a great read for anyone that wants to be better at communication and I don't know anyone that wouldn't apply to

Taking too long to spill out concepts!

I started this book with enthusiasm but the story even tough interesting is slow and sometimes bored me.

Also the narrator was old school sound, doesn’t cope with current times.

Recommended by Organization's Leader

The ideas its trying to convey makes total sense.

The difficulty lies within the actual implementation of the ideas in different context - I should have noted down several bullet points for consideration for future reference, but its hard since I do most of the listening while I am walking my dog (I guess I really need to find a good way to do this for other audio books as well). However those stories did actually stick with my memories after my intermittent listening finished for a while, which is reassuring.

I will definitely revisit to make sure I have all those bullet points noted down when I am in need.

Must read for marketers

Probably the most enjoyable and easily consumed communications book there is. I loved it every time I’ve read it.

Useful content

Great tips for making an idea stick and for impacting adoption. I enjoyed the stories of great ads and commercials that have stuck in my mind for decades.

It Stuck!

This interesting book elaborates on "The Tipping Point" by Gladwell and uses a similar writing style to get across its reasons why some ideas stick and why others don't. It's a good read for those who are interested in the psychology of marketing and even the concept of communication in general, but actual marketers will find it difficult to get a lot of practical methods out of the book.

The book starts off with those ubiquitous urban legends we've all heard (i.e. the man who gets his kidney stolen from a stranger and ends up in a bath tub full of ice and a tube sticking out of his back), and explains why that idea sticks and why others don't. The Heath brothers go on to describe why numerous ideas have stuck in the collective mind: "It's the economy stupid," "Where's the beef," the pocket radio, and that movie popcorn has a more saturated fat than you want to know.

The heath brothers' survey of successful ideas is wide-reaching (a great deal more than Gladwell's entertaining book), and the reader will recognize most of the case studies, which aids their main idea of stickiness.

The authors put the stickiness factors in a nice little acronym (S.U.C.C.E.S), though the ideas those letters represent didn't stick with me (sorry) and gave a nice overview in the end with a real-life troubleshooting guide that sums up their ideas. It's a great read for everyone, not just marketing professionals.

profound idea-good book

most profound book i have listened to over this year! Years of research is compacted into this mind-opening book. If you really want your ideas to stick, buy this book and follow the concept whole heartedly. I like it so much i even got a print copy of it. and that will stay as my guide all thru my working life.