The anatomy of a great speech - Make them sticky

Setting partisanship politics aside, one has to acknowledge that Colin Powell made a profound and memorable statement on Sunday.  What struck me as I listened to it was that he followed the SUCCES(s) principles set forth by authors Chip and Dan Heath in Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (one of my all-time favorite business books).  I review a ton of business books, and sometimes its hard to their relevance.  This is why I thought I would revisit the book and demostrate how it applied in Powell's talk.

Powell's statement last week was political and had nothing to do with business.  However, I highlight it because if I was ever going to give a speech that was intended to sway people who were undecided or even adamantly against a proposition I was making, I would model it after Powell's statement.

The Made to Stick authors focus on 6 key principles that make an idea "sticky":

• Simple–make your message basic and profound.
• Unexpected–capture your audience’s attention by doing something unexpected.
• Concrete–avoid abstract ideas.
• Credible–make sure you have support and data so that people will trust your authority.
• Emotional–get your audience to care.
• Stories–Tell the right stories so that your ideas sink in.

Powell nailed them all - and gets a 10.0 for sticking the landing.

• Simple - "I'm supporting Senator Obama."
• Unexpected - He stepped across party lines to do so.
• Concrete - He stated several clear, easy to grasp reasons for making his statement. Some of which were extremely simple AND completely unexpected like the following. "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president."  Well, now that you put it that way ... of course not.
• Credible - He's Colin Powell.  Whether you disagreed with his support of the war or other positions in the past, or you now disagree with his endorsement of Senator Obama, we can all agree that he had earned our respect long before he went on camera on Sunday.  Had he been a Hollywood actor or a local politician, that same statement would not have held as much weight.
• Emotional - I literally shed a tear when he spoke about Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan's mother grieving at his grave.  He struck my mom chord and got my full attention.
• Stories - He explained his change of heart by not only telling Khan's mother's story.  He also gave us a visual reference by describing the photograph that moved him to support Senator Obama.

It's not likely that we will ever be giving our own statements of national importance, but these are all factors we can try to emulate in our everyday attempts to get our ideas to "stick".

If you haven't seen it, here's a replay:

Comments

[Dani Nordin]

I loved that speech. Love it. And what I loved most about it was that he said what I've so often felt needed to be said in this campaign: "what if he *was* a Muslim? What's so wrong with being a Muslim?" The fact that some people in our government have tried to turn our country against the Muslim faith based on the actions of a few desperate and fanatical men has troubled me for years.

[Lisa Brown]

Thanks for posting this. It is great advice on preparing a speech and an incredible example.