It’s Not What People Hear – It’s What They Repeat

DANGER

When death, danger or the IRS beckons, life gets real simple, real quick. Every sense amplifies. Every second lasts a year. All attention finely focuses. No?

SURVIVAL OF THE SIMPLEST

Someone throws a rock at your head. Is there a long thought process? No. It’s instinctive, intuitive. Our brains are genetically hard-wired to focus only on the data that’s important for survival. All else is tossed out. Things get real simple, real quick.

“Fix gaze on rock, if it keeps coming, duck!”

That’s called a “gaze heuristic“- an evolutionary shortcut that evolved over millions of years.  It saves the brain from making a Gabazillion (That’s “gabazillion with a capital “G,”) mathematical calculations. Your brain gives you one quick, practical, rule-of-thumb to act on to save you from getting a rock headache or giving you an all expenses paid trip down the river Lethe.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT – BESIDES BEING A HANDY DANDY LIFE-SAVING TRICK?

Bill Schley, author of the bestselling “Why Johnny Can’t Brand,” has a new book out called “The Micro-Script Rules: It’s Not What People Hear … It’s What They Repeat.” Bill’s book taps our brain’s built-in heuristics, or problem-solving rules-of-thumb, to help you craftily break through and powerfully communicate ideas, so people won’t just hear them … they’ll repeat them.  Bill details how five finely conceived, crafted and connected words can be more powerful than 5,000.

MESSAGE MADNESS

Sounds easy. I mean,  it’s an evolutionary thing right? Well, easy it’s not.  How do you standout and  breakthrough in today’s world where Google indexes over 1.5 trillion URL’s?  Where 300 billion messages bombard us — per second? And they’re just not messages. On the whole, they’re pretty crappy messages — no?

OVER-DELIVERS … LESS THAN ZERO VALUE

Most are loaded with self-serving corporate gobbledygook that habitually over-delivers less than zero value. Too much information. Too many words. We’re fighting an exploding global pandemic of message madness where memorability is memorably absent.

A PECULIARLY HUMAN DISEASE

Message madness disease only affects us humans – mostly writers and business communicators. “The Micro-Script Rules” can help you take the madness out of your message and put meaning into the madness of 1.5 trillion URLS and 300 billion messages per second.

SO WHAT ARE MICRO-SCRIPTS?

Micro-scripts are magic words and phrases that kick gluteus-maximus in any battle of ideas. Simple. Clear. Repeatable. Memorable. Easy to instantly memorize. Short. Did I say Short?

LET ME REPEAT

Let me say it again. Short. Usually 3-8 words. Micro-Scripts work because people love to repeat them as much as hear them. And if they repeat them … they’re spreading your idea or promoting your business for you.

WHAT THEY’RE NOT

Sound bites.

WHAT THEY ARE

Idea-bites. That’s right, idea bites that deliver value and message memorability.

Here’s a couple. Can you finish them?

EXAMPLES:

• If it does not fit, you must ____
• Pork, it’s the other ____
• Friends don’t let friends _____
• 1,000 songs in your _____
• What happens in Vegas _____
• What happens in Cincinnati _____ (Answer at end of article … guess right and receive a complimentary copy of “THE MICROS-SCRIPT RULES.”)
• The milk chocolate that melts ______
• Dr. Scholls Shoes … are you _____?

WHY DO THEY WORK?

According to Bill, “Cognitive psychologists say that people love micro-scripts because our brains love to simplify, and we love communicators who help us simplify. We evolved this way for survival. We zip up whole stories and impressions into compact files and make short “rules of thumb’’ for quick retrieval at the moment of need.

In today’s world, stories are more important than ever, but you need to know how to tell your story in about one line or less. The right five words will always beat 5,000. Marketers will tell you this is a big reason why we like brands so much. They help us simplify, too.”

HOW TO CREATE MICRO-SCRIPTS?

You can’t template the process to create a Micro-Script, but ideas, patterns and similarities emerge. According to Bill, “The pattern we most often see is a simple, two-part logic equation – a kind of balance where value A is related to value B to form a complete idea. For example,

Problem A has Solution B

• If A, then B – “What goes around, comes around.”
• A causes B – “No pain, no gain.”
• A saves B – “Better safe than sorry.”
• A mirrors B – ‘If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”

And the single, big metaphor version…

A is B

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

“Honesty is the best policy.”

“Love is blind.”

Bill’s research also revealed that the most memorable lines of all-time delivered powerful and moving ideas in an average of 5.2 words – 5.2 words. Can you imagine?

TESTING OUT THE MICRO-SCRIPTS RULES

Since this is a hands-on how-to (sorta) article I decided to put Bill’s Micro-Script Rules to the test. Tapping some of the ideas, rules and patterns described in Bill’s book I penned a brilliant Micro-Script for a new government program being rolled out shortly by the U.S. Department of the Posterior. I sent the Micro-Script and description of the program below to Bill – to see if it could be self-nominated (humility is one of my stronger character traits) for a Micro-Script Hall of Fame award.

CASH FOR CODGERS!

In a innovative cost-cutting move to address the perilous shortfalls in Social Security, Healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare, the EPA,  the Post Office, and every other government entity, the U.S. Department of the Posterior announced its’ new “CASH FOR CODGERS” program.

The CASH FOR CODGERS program has been combined with a re-instituted CASH FOR CLUNKERS program. Simply turn in any codgers (over 55) to your local government-owned car dealership. Codgers will be packed into clunkers and quickly crushed and compacted. It may slightly impact the used-car market and organ-donations markets,  but is quickly expected to pay off the national debt … and balance the budget in 100 years.

NOW MORE THAN EVER – CASH FOR CODGERS!

Bill’s receptivity was overwhelmingly underwhelming.

“Steve, good alliteration, but I’d refer you to one of the world’s greatest all-time Micro-Scripts – you might want to rethink yours.” – Bill

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

I didn’t have the heart to point out the obvious to Bill (I mean he is a Harvard grad)  that I was freelancing for the government’s Department of the Posterior. They have their own version of that Micro-Script.

“Do unto others before they understand what you’re doing unto them.”

The Micro-Script Rules is chock full of ideas, patterns, and rules that can help anyone become a better communicator and create breakthrough ideas. To quote one of the my favorite and arguably the greatest intellectual philosophers of all time,

“A child of five could understand this – quick, someone fetch a child of five,” Groucho Marx.

ALMOST THE END…

DID YOU REALLY MAKE IT THIS FAR?

That’s right, nothing happens in Cincinnati , except … if you are one of the first 25 people that posts a  micro-script comment on this article, you’ll receive a complimentary copy of  “The Micro-Script Rules.”

Courtesy – Steve Kayser