This is a guide to coming up with chewing gum ideas that stick with anyone you share them with. iTALK flips through Made To Stick, to find out how our minds absorb information, and what you can do to make sure your ideas register with others

If you have a problem getting people to pay attention

No one is listening to me. They seem bored, they hear this stuff all the time: You should surprise them by breaking their guessing machines tell them something that is uncommon sense. To make sure you don't lose them halfway through, create curiosity gaps. Tell them just enough for them to realise the piece that's missing from their knowledge. You can create a mystery or a puzzle that's solved through the course of the communication.


How the UNICEF chief got his message across

The situation: Every year, more than a million kids die from dehydration due to diarrhea. This can be prevented by Oral Rehydration Therapy. How can you convince people to invest in this idea?

What PSI, a non profit group addressing health problems did: A web page of PSi carried a message that said diarrhea kills 1.5 million kids every year. They die not of diarrhea but dehydration caused due to loss of fluid from body, since 3/4 of the body is composed of water, and in its absence, vital organs can collapse. The best liquid to hydrate is a mix of electrolytes, sugar and water.

While this message carried credible scientific language, it could have made the problem sound too complex, thereby deterring people from trying to solve it.

What unicef director james grant did: He always travelled with packets of 1:8 ratio mix of salt and sugar, which when mixed with 1 litre water, would make an instant rehydration drink. When he met prime ministers of countries, he'd whip out this packet and say, do you know this costs less than a cup of tea, and can save thousands of kids?

Grant uses an attention grabbing unexpected contrast how it costs less than cup of tea, but can save thousands. Leaders often think up elaborate solutions, and so, a bag of salt and sugar is an enticing hook.


If you have a problem getting people to remember

They seem to nod their heads when I explain, but they never translate it into action.

You should make the message simpler and use concrete language. Use concrete real world examples. Don't talk about "knowledge management"; tell them a story about a health worker in Zambia getting information on malaria from the Internet.


If you have a problem getting people to believe you or agree

They just don't seem to buy it. And I spend my time arguing with them.

You should Find the telling details for your message the equivalent of the dancing 73 year-old man, or the textile factory so environment friendly, that it actually cleans water pouring through it. If they disagree, quieten the sceptics among the audience by using a springboard story, switching them into creative mode. Move away from statistics and facts, towards meaningful examples or an interesting anecdote.


The VELCRO THEORY of memory

What makes some idea stick? The answer lies in the nature of our memories. While it's true that to remember a story is to file it away in our cerebral cabinet, the fact is that we may have completely diffferent filing cabinets for different kinds of memories. Try this exercise. Spend 5 to 10 seconds lingering on each one. You'll realise that it "feels" different to remember different kinds of things:

Remember the capital of Madhya Pradesh
Remember the first line of Taare Zameen Par's title track
Remember what the Mona Lisa looks like
Remember the definition of truth

Remembering the capital of Madhya Pradesh is an abstract exercise, unless you happen to live there. By contrast, when you think of the song, you may hear Shankar Mahadevan's voice. The definition of truth will be bit harder to summon you know what it means but you don't have a preformulated definition to pluck out of memory, as with the Mona Lisa.

Memory then, is not like a filing cabinet, but like Velcro. A Velcro has one side covered with thousands of tiny hooks, the other has tiny loops. When they come together, the loops get snagged into the hooks, and the Velcro seals. Your brain also has loops. The more hooks on an idea, the better it will cling to memory.


How a professor dealt with problem students

The situation: professors and teachers often have to deal with a nuisance in class, as do managers, who have to tackle problem colleagues and team members.

What Indiana university told its instructors: Remain calm, slow down and regularise your breathing, don't become defensive.  Don't ignore them. Attempt to diffuse their anger. Arrange a meeting where you talk in a professional and courteous manner.

There's nothing unexpected in this idea, nothing that's uncommon sense. If dealing with difficult students is common sense, why do we need to publish tips for dealing with them? Most of the advice (remain calm) is abstract and too obvious to stick.

What professor alyson buckman did: She had a nuisance student who'd talk loudly at the back of the class, disagree with everything she said, and was proving to be a distraction for his classmates. She scheduled a meeting with him and another classmate, after class. He came, defiant, with sunglasses on. She asked him to tell her what goes on in the back of the classroom, but she was met with silence. Then she said other students were complaining about him.  That got him. He thought he was showing off for them.

Using a classmate and peer pressure, was an uncommon idea, and it worked.


For more tips on how to make your ideas stick, pick up Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It's available at all leading bookstores for Rs 311