Lesson eight, how to create a one liner. Now that you've created your message box, here's a fun fast exercise for creating a headline or other summary statement. I call this exercise 16 eight for the reason why will become clear in a minute. For this exercise to work, you must follow my instructions precisely. The exercise is meant to be conducted in a small team. Are you working with a partner?
This is a time based and a word based exercise. Step one, you have five minutes to create a sentence of exactly 16 words that describes the value your product provides. Not 15 words not 17 words exactly 16 words. The sentence must make sense that it need not be grammatically correct. You have five minutes, stop the video and start your stopwatch while you conduct step one. restart the video when you're ready.
Step two, now it gets harder. Now you have two minutes to create a sentence of exactly eight words. You can remove words from your previous sentence, or you can use a new set of words. Stop the video while you complete step two of the exercise. restart the video when you're ready. Step three, with only 30 seconds, what are your most valuable four words?
Cut words out or use a new set of words, it's your choice. The words must make some sort of sense when spoken together in a sense, but the sentence does not need to be grammatically correct. So get rid of the filler words. What are your most important four words? Stop the video while you complete step three. restart the video when you're ready.
Okay, let's take a minute to catch your breath. Why do you think this exercise was valuable? It's much too easy to add lots of words. In fact, most noise in the marketplace is blathering. gibberish that doesn't add any value. The magic in storytelling is knowing how to be focused, concise and relevant.
As marketers, our biggest irony is that we're not better communicators. The words we use are our most powerful tool, and yet we most often fall into the trap of trying to say everything at once. Instead, the 16 eight four exercise helps us identify what our most important words are. This is your aha moment, you've discovered your four most important words and may have just created an awesome 16 word or eight word headline, or one liner. Now that you have this messaging building block, revisit your message box. Make sure your magic words are appropriately included.