Imagine walking through the bush on a foggy day.
The world around you is grey; dark grey, light grey, grey-ish grey.
And all you hear is the soft sound of water dripping off the branches. You’ve brought an apple, a juicy Braeburn, with you.
You take a bite. You wonder … does an apple taste blander when its foggy?
Now imagine coming into a clearing in the bush. The fog has lifted. The sun warms your body. The bush glistens in the sunlight.
You feel you’ve entered into a new world in full colour. Now your apple tastes better. Juicer, crispier. More refreshing.
Most instructional writing is like a foggy walk.
When writing is bland, it fails to connect. Your message doesn’t stand out and is utterly forgettable.
Vivid writing, in contrast, is meaningful and powerful.
Learners remember a vivid message because they can picture it and feel inspired. Take, for instance, the difference between an abstract weight loss target versus a vivid goal. As Chip and Dan Heath write in their latest book “The Power of Moments”
( … ) the ultimate destination should not be losing 10 kilos, it should be something intrinsically motivational, such as “fitting into my sexy black pants without gastrointestinal distress.”
What is more inspiring – the 10 kilos or the sexy black pants?
That’s the difference between an abstract number and a vivid goal.
Vivid language is memorable
The brothers Chip and Dan Heath are well known and popular non-fiction writers. Their writing sketches clear pictures in our minds, and their business books are legend. Their latest book, “The Power of Moments” engages from the first page, starting with a short story:
Chris Barbic and Donald Kamentz were sitting at a pub in Houston, recuperating from another 14-hour day running their start-up charter school. They were drinking beer. Watching ESPN. And sharing a tombstone pizza, the bar’s only food offering. They had no idea on that night in October 2000, that they were moments away from an epiphany that would affect thousands of lives.
This is a powerful opening. Why? In just a few sentences, the Heath brothers sketch a vivid scene. We can imagine Barbic and Kamentz sitting in a pub. We almost feel their tiredness after a 14 hour day. We picture the two relaxing with a cold beer, a pizza, and watching ESPN.
In only 38 words, we, as readers, can picture the scene, and then comes the cliff-hanger:
“They had no idea, on that night in October 2000, that they were moments away from an epiphany that would affect thousands of lives.”
That makes you want to read on, right? “The Power of Moments” examines which moments are memorable and meaningful, and how training courses can create such defining moments for their learners.
Buy the book: https://www.porchlightbooks.com/products/power-of-moments-chip-heath-9781501147760