Writing the Perfect Script the “Made to Stick” Way.

I often times feel like I’m regurgitating everything that has been said by someone else, but some things are MADE for regurgitating.  “Made to Stick” was an exceptional book and Ydraw enjoys using it for script writing. It is the perfect guide for anyone and everyone.  This will help to create a script that will amaze any audience, and ultimately lead to more sales and money for you.  Why else would I be awake at 3 in the morning typing this? Oh but wait, this is not about me this is about YOU!  “Made to Stick” works, and has produced GREAT results. It is one of the top advertising books on the market and can be found at most local libraries.  So without further adieu, lets get started.

Writing the Perfect Script

People, People, People! Most people’s scripting skills are well below par.  It takes a bit of practice, work, and advice to achieve success in Writing the Perfect Script, but it can be done.   It requires a lot of patience and a couple of drafts to get it right. Did you catch that?  It takes a couple of drafts!

1:  Forget about what the Company Wants: What does the Consumer Want?

“The big mistake that businesses often make is they think compelling prospects to call you means getting your name out there, getting people to know who your business is. And thatʼs not it at all. Sometimes, the very best thing you can do is put your own ego aside and focus only on what they really want…without even any mention of YOU or your business up front. When you put your selfish needs aside and youʼre able to focus just on them, thatʼs when the real magic happens. Thatʼs when the real breakthroughs happen. They donʼt see that thereʼs any sales involved in that. They see that it is completely and exactly what theyʼre looking for. So, they feel safe to act.”  www.ilovemarketing.com

When creating a marketing piece you have to forget about what your company wants.  Companies love to tell people what they are good at and they love talking about their products. Don’t!!!!   Your customer doesn’t really care that you have a secret 50 step method to solving the world’s problems, nor do care about all your endless awards.  All the time and hard work that goes into making a stunning Logo, website, company profile, etc, does not really matter. Here is the secret.  All your customers want to know is this;  What are you going to do for them. How will your product or service solve their problems.  That should be your focus!

2: Simplicity: Find the Core Message

What is the single most important thing?

Simplicity is about finding your core message and sharing it in a compact way. The core message is the single most important thing worth communicating. The Army has a core message for its battle plans called “Commander’s Intent.” Smart companies like Southwest Airlines have core strategic messages, such as “THE low-fare airline.” Journalists use the “inverted pyramid” model to write stories, putting the most important information at the top of the article.  Simplicity is about prioritization, and it’s also about saying a lot with a little.

The last thing anyone wants is “decision paralysis” (customers are hit with so much information they cannot make a simple decision). Customers need a simple message that they can follow.

3: Do the Unexpected: Use surprising points to capture an audience

Be different, push buttons, and do the unexpected!

The first requirement of effective communication is getting attention, the second is keeping it. In order to do this you do the unexpected: This is where we come in.  Video Scribing and our amazing team will keep your audience engaged, but the script needs to contain some unexpected things like humor, facts, or flat out crazy pictures.  This will capture attention and keep people engaged.

4.  Connect Emotionally:

What emotion does your product bring out?

Tapping into people’s emotions are critical. I heard the other day a great way to convince an audience is to identify their problem and then aggravate it. If a company or product can hit a consumer emotionally, they will be much closer to obtaining a new client.   Emotions are powerful, and  the most important effective emotion is happiness.  Your battle is won when you succeed in finding a way to make people smile and feel good. Credibility improves due to the person’s feelings of acceptance around you and your company.  Boring, dry, information packed scripts hurt everyone involved.  You would be amazed at what professional CEO’s come up with. They are often times the one to ruin a great script.  Get creative! Tap into emotions! Be amazing!

Serious products? Ya right! Do not make the critical error of thinking since you have a “serious” product you can’t make it funny.  Some of the greatest videos come from taking something serious and putting some humor to it.  A perfect example of this is found in  “The Last Lecture”  book. Randy Paush had terminal cancer and was giving one last presentation before he died.  Instead of presenting a serious presentation, he stood up and gave a presentation that had the audience smiling from ear to ear.

5.  Tell Stories: They are the KEY

What is your story?
Does your story contain one of the 3 plots named below?

THREE MAJOR STORY PLOTS

1. The Challenge Plot: This is the classic underdog, rags to riches, or sheer willpower triumphing over adversity. The key element of the Challenge plot is that the obstacles seem daunting to the protagonists.
2. The Connection Plot: A story about people who develop a relationship that bridges a gap ­­ racial, class, ethnic, religious, demographic, or otherwise. E.g., the Mean Joe Greene commercial of the 1970s where he make friends with a scrawny young white kid. All connection plots inspire us in social ways. They make us want to help others, but more tolerant of others, work with others, love others.
3. The Creativity Plot: This involves someone making a mental breakthrough, solving a long­standing puzzle, or attacking a problem in an innovative way.

STORIES ARE THE KEY by using a great story you can tap into emotions, past memories, and past ideas.  Not to mention the facts that stories are engaging, memorable, compelling, motivating and flat out more entertaining.  Everyone is happy to pay money for entertainment!

The key to making an idea sticky is to tell it as a story. Stories encourage a kind of mental simulation or reenactment on the part of the listener that burns the idea into the mind. For example, when training a pilot, a flight simulator is much more effective than flash cards. The hard part about using a story is creating it. The best way to use a story is to always be on the look out for them. Most good stories are collected and discovered, rather than produced.

So there you have it!
Your Guide to Writing a Script.
Use it, abuse it, and watch the sales pile in!

+Jace Vernon

Other Writing Guides

Script Writing 101 

Power of Influence and Persuasion 

PS.  Below  are some Great Tools from the book “Made to Stick.”  Take a look, they’re free and will help tremendously.