Three rules to help people remember and spread your words

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The Three Rules of Messages that People Remember and Share

Please take a moment and imagine that everyone you speak to remembers what you did or what your company did. If a new job became available, you would be the first person on their mind. Or, if someone was looking for a business partner or an acquisition opportunity, your company would be remembered. Unfortunately, most people struggle to create messages that people will remember and talk about. Today, people are bombarded with information from all directions, so it’s no wonder it’s difficult to craft such messages. It’s a matter of limited attention spans. Yet, there are still messages and ideas that people do remember and share. For example, what image comes to mind when I say “This is your brain on drugs”? An egg in a frying pan. What about “Where’s the beef?” Wendy’s. But what’s their secret? In the rest of this article, I’ll explain how you can create messages like those. All you need to do is follow these three rules:

1. Don’t Make People Stutter
Take a second and say those two phrases out loud: “This is your brain on drugs” and “Where’s the beef?” You’ll find it’s very easy to say them—extremely easy, in fact. You don’t have to worry about pronunciation or anything similar. The words are familiar and easy to understand. The chances of you stammering are practically zero. This leads me to my first rule: whether you’re writing for print or speech, you need to ensure that people can say what you’ve written. If they can’t say it, they won’t remember it, and more importantly, they won’t share it.

2. Invade Your Audience’s Mind
Phrases like “Where’s the beef?” and “This is your brain on drugs” make people think. If they’re fast food consumers, they want to know why there’s no beef in their burgers. If they’re drug users, they want to know if their brains look like that damaged egg. Even if you’re not part of their target audience, these phrases still make you think about the size of burgers and the appearance of brains. It’s almost like an invasion of your thoughts… This leads me to my next rule: you need to get your message across by making it easy for your audience to visualize it. Just look at the opening sentence of this blog post—I’ve already invaded your mind and made you think about creating effective messages.

3. Give People What They Want
If you’re hungry and want a burger, would you go to a fast food restaurant with or without beef? Of course with beef. Similarly, if you’re a teenager considering trying drugs, do you want a brain that’s damaged or a normal brain? Obviously, a normal brain. These messages appeal to people’s self-interests, and they remember them because knowing where the “beef” is can be extremely important when you’re hungry. This leads me to my final rule: give people what they want. I know this seems like common sense, but people and companies often fail to do this. They talk about their products’ features and durability, but ultimately, no one really cares. As Seth Godin would say, the only radio station people listen to is WII-FM (What’s In It For Me?).