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Making it stickLecture 6.1

University of Alberta

ALES 204

Nancy Bray

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Housekeeping

1.Assignment #1 grades will be released on Wednesday

2.Labs this week are in Arts 1-18

3.Mid-term. 30 multiple choice. Approx. 1 question per each lecture, 1 question per each chapter/assigned reading

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Active and passive voice

ActiveActive PassivePassive

The owners did not vaccinate the cats

The cats were not vaccinated (by zombies)

The dogs ate the bottle caps The bottle caps were eaten (by zombies)

We recommend you eat more spinach

The recommendation (by zombies) was to eat more spinach

We will close the park at 11 pm. The park will be closed at 11pm (by zombies).

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Lecture Outline

1.Why do some things stick?

2.The curse of knowledge

3.How to make things stick:

a.Simplicityb.Unexpectednessc.Concretenessd.Credibilitye.Emotionsf. Stories

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1. Why do some things stick?

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Examples: Urban myths The library at X university

is about to collapse because engineers forgot to take into account weight of books (false)

Don’t flush when sitting on an airline toilet. It could disembowel you. (false)

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Example: The refugee myth One ambiguous fact

appeared in the Toronto Star on March 11, 2004.

“A single person receives $1,890 from the federal government as start-up allowance, along with $580 monthly social assistance, depending on how soon the person is able to find employment."

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Letter to the editor

"I also found it interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890 and each can also get an additional $580 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.  This compares very well to a single pensioner who ... can only receive a monthly maximum of $1,012 in old age pension. Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees."

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The beginning Letter was sent to reporter,

editor, and 100 other recipients

Report tried to correct mistake by contacting writer, but e-mail account had been erased

Toronto Star published the article without checking the facts

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The furor

Toronto Star bombarded with e-mails about the letter

They investigated and discovered their error

The Ombudsman wrote apology stating that refugees did not make more than pensioners

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It was too late...

From 2004-2007, the letter appeared over 50 times in Canadian newspapers

Sometimes twice or three times in the same newspaper

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One editor wrote: A friend sent me an e-mail

the other day that floored me. I figured the e-mail had to be a gag, a typical Canadian-style exaggeration aimed at separating one’s leg from one’s body by tickling the funny-bone. But then I read it again – and realized it was simply too ludicrous to be untrue. (Bob Groeneveld, Langley Advance)

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No one checkedNone of the newspapers checked with government sources to confirm the fact

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Government issues fact sheet In 2006, the Canadian

government issues a fact sheet

Has no impact

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The myth goes international In 2007, the original e-mail

was altered to fit the American context, but kept the Canadian dollar figures

Began to circulate in the U.S.

In 2008, e-mail appeared in Australia

In 2012, e-mail reappeared in the U.K.

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Why is this idea so sticky?

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How can you make your ideas stick?

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2. The Curse of Knowledge

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The Curse

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2. How to Make Things Stick

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SimpleSimple ideas stick

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Example #1“No plan survives contact with the enemy”

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Commander’s Intent Form

If we do nothing else during tomorrow’s mission, we must ________

The single, most important thing that we must do tomorrow is _______.

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Clinton’s 1992 election Campaign

Example #2It’s the economy, stupid

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Example #3 - Refugees“Refugees get more money than pensioners”

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Remember

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Exercise

In one sentence, write down the most important thing that you hope your readers remember from your fact sheet.

If the reader remembers one thing from my fact sheet, it should be _________________.

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UnexpectedSurprise gets our attention

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Example #1

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Example #2

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Example #3

Identify a gap in knowledge and seek to fill it

Create curiosity by asking a question and then answer the question

Example: Which famous restaurant was found to have slime in the ice machine?

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Remember

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Concreteness

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Example #1Correct portion size of meat = size of a deck of cards

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Example #2

Simulation of prejudice

Jane Elliott’s experiment

(Watch: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/synopsis.html)

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Example #3 - Refugees“a single pensioner receives a monthly maximum of $1,012 in old age pension”

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Remember

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Exercise

Look at your fact sheet. Are there statistics which you could make concrete?

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Credibility

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No one believed them; then they won the Nobel Prize

Example #1Marshall and Warren discover the real causes of ulcers

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Remember

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Emotions

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus

Example #1Don Draper (on Mad Men) pitches the carrousel

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Example #2

Don’t mess with Texas campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhahJVkehUc

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Example #3

I am Canadian ad

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Example #4 - Refugees“Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees”

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Remember

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Stories

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Example #1Jared and Subway

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Remember

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SUCCES(S)

Simple

Unexpected

Concrete

Credible

Emotion

Stories

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Why is Gangnam Style so sticky?

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Take away

Know the difference between active and passive voice

Know what the curse of knowledge is.

Know the six elements to make it stick.

For further reading (not required): Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath

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Photo Credits

Conversation by search engine people blog sticky pudding by JMC Photos airline toilet by jshyun Toronto Star front page curse stone by Tiggrrr42 s by Leo Reynolds army commander by USAG-Humphreys economy-stupid by James Carville apple core by roger.karlsson simple by Ferran. u by chrisinplymouth minivan by redteam southwest airlines by xplan303ex newspaper headline by Semper Eadem MCMLXXXII surprise by trinity c by chrisinplymouth meat as deck of cards by Unhindered by Talent martin luther king jr by U.S. Embassy New Delhi sharing by cheesy42 exercise by Sebastian Fritzon c by cobalt123 Marshall and Warren win the Nobel prize giving advice by WAstateDNR - Department of Natural Resources e by chrisinplymouth Jon Hamm (Don Draper) from AMC Don’t mess with Texas campaign You deserve a break today campaign s by mag3737 Jared and Subway campaign storytelling by Squiggle glue by t. Murse refugees by United Nations Photos Gangnam Style Official Cover Take away by Jim Moran