Six Steps to Going Viral

"I was up in that back field, the big one that's totally secluded. I was mowing along. (You know I always feel like I'm being watched up there.)

Anyway, I went all the way to the end, where the trees get thick, and as I came right up to the edge, my heart just about stopped.

Right in front of me, a hand pulled down the branches and I saw two dark eyes. It was a man with long black hair. He had it pulled into braids, and he had mud paint on his cheeks. Like war paint! I backed the mower up real slow and got out of there."

This is a true story, from a friend of mine. I actually got shivers when she told it to me.

"Was he good looking?" I asked.

"Oh, yes! Gorgeous."

"You dreamed it," I kidded her.

But I knew she wasn't trying to fool me. And I knew that once again this lady in my life had told me a true story I'd never forget.

Why are her stories so memorable, or "sticky" as the authors of Made to Stick would call it? Because through a lifetime of storytelling, she's perfected the six steps to going viral:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories

My story-lady may just have missed her calling as a copy writer for an ad agency, but I'm glad I get to hear her sticky tales. And I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of the Mysterious Man by the Mowing Field.


Made to Stick photo, by L.L. Barkat.

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Over at HighCallingBlogs we're reading and discussing Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, starting this Monday the 6th. Want to join us? :) Also, feel free to leave your link here...