To Stand Out, Make it Unexpected

People naturally look for patterns. In fact, we spend our lives developing and testing patterns to live by. Most of the time, patterns help us evaluate information efficiently and accurately. But they also exclude much new information. So if you are communicating something new, first you most push people out of their patterns. Help them jump the groove. Go against conventional wisdom. Challenge assumptions. Open gaps in people’s knowledge. Then fill them with something new. Violate people’s expectations…that will grab their attention.

Example:
Common perception: Department store service people don’t care about customers. Story: Nordstrom employee accepts return on tire chains even though Nordstrom’s does not sell tire chains (connection plot).
Common perception: An experienced, pro team will always beat the rookies. Story: 1980 US Olympic team beats “Red Machine” Soviet team (challenge plot).

Here are some techniques you can use:

• Mystery: Don’t blurt out everything all at once.
  
• Curiosity: Challenge common knowledge and preconceptions, and then prove your point with concrete steps.
  
• Gaps: Show gaps in your listener’s knowledge, then fill in the gaps.
  
• Insight: Rather than plodding from one incremental step to the next, occasionally you can make leaps. Important ideas give a sudden, dramatic glimpse of how the world might unfold. Then, with your audience listening, walk through the concrete steps.