Made to Stick Book: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – My Honest Review

ScreenwritingStorytellingCommunicationSelf-Help
Written By Ian Sebesta
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Book Snapshot

What This Book Is About

Made to Stick is a deep dive into why some ideas spread effortlessly while others disappear almost instantly. Chip and Dan Heath break down what makes messages memorable, persuasive, and impactful.

At the core of the book is the SUCCESs framework, a set of six principles that make ideas stick:

  • Simple

  • Unexpected

  • Concrete

  • Credible

  • Emotional

  • Stories

Through real-world examples, from urban legends and marketing campaigns to classroom lessons and military briefings, the authors show how these principles can be applied to almost any idea you want people to remember, repeat, or act on.

Why Did I Buy This Book?

I picked up Made to Stick because I’m constantly trying to communicate ideas clearly, through YouTube videos, titles, thumbnails, blog posts, product descriptions, and storytelling in general. I wanted to understand why some messages land instantly while others fall flat, even when they contain good information.

I also struggle (hello ADHD) with overexplaining, adding too much context, or assuming people care as much as I do.

Some Thoughts.

 

Favorite Insights & Notes

One of the earliest ideas that hit me was how often we confuse clarity with simplicity. The authors explain that simplicity isn’t about removing depth; it’s about finding the core. That one essential idea that everything else supports.

The line “avoid burying the lead” stuck with me. It actually encouraged me to pull out a whiteboard and design the full structure for an upcoming video of mine. My goal was to find the core message, and instead of sharing irrelevant information to make it entertaining, focus on making that core message more interesting.

Another note I made was about the inverted pyramid, which essentially means presenting the most relevant, interesting, and important information first. This one was interesting to me because I thought to myself, in a YouTube video, you’d want to engage the viewer to stick to the end, but if your audience retention is dropping before they even get there, maybe you need to try bringing some of the best to the front (but still keeping the latter interesting).

The “aha!” moment is much more satisfying when it is preceded by a “huh?” moment. I liked this. I want to try adding more “huh?” moments leading into my “aha!” moments.

I think the biggest moment in the book was the discussion on “curiosity loops” / gap theory. The idea is to open loops that will get closed later on, keeping the attention of the viewer. This was one big part of planning on the whiteboard for the video I am making. I really liked the line “shift our thinking from ‘what information do I need to convey?’ to ‘What questions do I want my audience to ask?”.

Kind of looping into my next section, the curse of knowledge, using a backstory to essentially “catch people up” when opening a curiosity gap. “Here’s what you know, now here’s what you’re missing.”

One of the most relatable concepts in the book is the “curse of knowledge”, the idea that once you know something deeply, it becomes incredibly hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it.

This hit especially hard for me as I could have been better at showing the things I assumed “everyone knew” when growing my construction company. Now I just need to be more focused on sharing the details easily and understandably, even if they seem like common sense to me. This may help me reach the broader audience I’m after too.

This also kind of connects to another note I made, talking about how using common language to communicate your idea helps people understand. This can also be through using a physical prop to “invite people to the table”.

I also liked the topic on appealing to self-interest. Getting people interested by showing what’s in it for them, but also by putting them into the shoes, imagining a life using/experiencing, using “you” (the specific audience member), rather than “people” (the audience), ex. “When you use”, over “When they use”.

Now, to challenge that, sometimes self-interest isn’t always the answer, the authors also talk about group interest, when someone’s opinion will relate to who they identify as.

One note I made was a thought:

“It’s interesting how this book uses so many stories to explain something, starting with not fully getting the point, then it breaks it down to almost reinforce they’re explanation, and then adding more stories to reintroduce it.”

I really liked how that was the writing style; it made reading the book more interesting than just facts, which is kind of funny because that’s literally what the book is about (so good job on them). It’s also funny that after I wrote that thought, the next chapter was “story”. I liked this chapter a lot because it really enforced how important the story is when sharing an idea. One goal of mine is to share stories in my videos that keep the viewer interested.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, especially if you create anything meant to be consumed by other humans.

It’s the kind of book you can revisit when something isn’t landing and ask, “Which of the SUCCESs principles am I missing?”

Personal Verdict

📖 Made to Stick earns a 7.5/10 for me.

It’s practical, easy to apply, and immediately useful. There were some points when I got bored, almost felt like I was tricked with the inverted pyramid, and I got to the less interesting stuff, but the last chapter really brought it back for me.

Final Note

Have you read Made to Stick? Did any of the principles change how you communicate or create? I’d love to hear what stuck with you (pun fully intended).

If you plan on buying this book and want to support me, you can purchase it using my affiliate link at no extra cost. Check it out here on Amazon

And if you’d like to see more of my non-fiction reviews, you can find them all here.

Ian Sebesta
Next

Now It All Makes Sense – My Honest Review