Made to Stick - Creating Ideas That Last

Make your messages unforgettable using the Heath brothers' SUCCESs framework

When to Use This Skill

• Crafting a core message for a product, campaign, or company that needs to stick
• Presenting complex ideas to audiences who may forget 90% of what you say
• Writing headlines, taglines, or slogans that people remember and repeat
• Training or educating when retention matters more than coverage
• Pitching investors or stakeholders where one memorable idea beats ten forgettable ones
• Fighting "corporate speak" that puts audiences to sleep
• Debugging communications that aren't landing or spreading

Methodology Foundation

What Claude Does vs What You Decide

What This Skill Does

This skill helps you diagnose why ideas don't stick and fix them using six proven principles. The Heath brothers analyzed thousands of sticky ideas—urban legends, proverbs, successful ads, powerful speeches—and reverse-engineered what makes them memorable.

Instead of guessing why your message isn't landing, you'll:

1. Find your core - Strip away everything except the ONE essential idea
2. Break patterns - Grab attention with surprise, hold it with curiosity
3. Make it concrete - Replace abstractions with tangible, sensory details
4. Build belief - Provide proof people can verify themselves
5. Make them care - Connect to emotions and identity, not just logic
6. Tell stories - Give mental flight simulators for action

The result: Ideas that spread, get remembered, and inspire action—instead of going in one ear and out the other.

How to Use

Prompt Examples

Analyze this message using the SUCCESs framework and tell me which principles
it's missing: "[paste your message]"

I need to communicate [complex idea] to [audience]. Help me make it sticky
by applying the Made to Stick principles. Start with finding the core.

Transform this corporate-speak into a sticky message: "[paste jargon-filled text]"
Apply all 6 SUCCESs principles and show me the before/after.

Create 5 headline options for [product/campaign] using the Unexpected principle.
Break a pattern or open a curiosity gap.

I'm presenting to [audience] about [topic]. Help me structure a sticky
presentation using the SUCCESs framework as my outline.

Instructions

The SUCCESs Framework

Use this checklist for every important message:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  S - SIMPLE      │  Find the core, share it compactly       │
│  U - UNEXPECTED  │  Surprise, then open curiosity gaps      │
│  C - CONCRETE    │  Sensory language, specific details      │
│  C - CREDIBLE    │  Proof they can see or verify            │
│  E - EMOTIONAL   │  Make them feel, not just think          │
│  S - STORIES     │  Mental flight simulators for action     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Not every message needs all six. But the more you apply, the stickier it becomes.

Principle 1: SIMPLE

"If you say three things, you say nothing."

Goal: Find the core of your idea and communicate it compactly.

Simple ≠ dumbed down. Simple = prioritized. You must identify the single most important thing and lead with it.

The Commander's Intent Test: Ask: "If my audience remembers only ONE thing, what must it be?"

Techniques:

Anti-Pattern to Avoid:

"We provide integrated, end-to-end solutions that leverage synergies across verticals to maximize stakeholder value."

This says nothing. Find the ONE thing that matters.

Principle 2: UNEXPECTED

"We're wired to pay attention to change."

Goal: Grab attention with surprise, then hold it by creating curiosity gaps.

Two-Part Process:

1. Get Attention → Break a pattern (surprise)
2. Hold Attention → Create a knowledge gap (curiosity)

Techniques:

The Curiosity Formula:

Point out a gap in knowledge → Create desire to fill it → Provide the answer

Warning: Surprise alone isn't enough. A random surprise doesn't make your idea stick—it must connect to your core message.

Principle 3: CONCRETE

"Abstraction is the luxury of the expert."

Goal: Make ideas tangible through sensory language and specific details.

Abstract ideas are hard to remember. Concrete images stick because our brains evolved for sensory information.

Techniques:

The Concreteness Ladder:

ABSTRACT (hard to remember)
├── "Improve customer experience"
├── "Respond faster to customers"
├── "Answer calls quickly"
├── "Answer within 3 rings"
└── "Pick up before the phone rings twice"
CONCRETE (sticks in memory)

JFK Example:

• Abstract: "Achieve international space leadership"
• Concrete: "Put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade"

Principle 4: CREDIBLE

"If you want people to believe, help them test it themselves."

Goal: Provide proof people can see, touch, or verify.

Six Types of Credibility: