Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Stickify

Use when making communication copy more memorable or persuasive. Triggers on "make this stick", "stickify", or "improve this pitch".

UncategorizedID: v1-io/v1tamins/v1-stickify

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v1-io/v1tamins
v1-ioLicense: MIT
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Skill Metadata

Name
v1-stickify
Description
Use when making communication copy more memorable or persuasive. Triggers on "make this stick", "stickify", or "improve this pitch".

Stickify

Use SUCCESs from Made to Stick (Chip Heath & Dan Heath) to make copy stick. Write for the listener, not the tapper.

Quick Start

Typical invocations:

  • Claude Code: /v1-stickify [paste existing copy here]
  • Codex: invoke v1-stickify from the skills menu or use $v1-stickify [paste existing copy here]

Or describe what you need: "Write a landing page headline for our AI code review tool that targets senior engineers."

When to Use

  1. Improve existing copy -- they paste text and want it stickier
  2. Write from a brief -- they describe what they need; write sticky copy from scratch
  3. Proactively -- when you're already writing a landing page, pitch, announcement, tagline, product description, customer email, investor update, or team note

The SUCCESs Framework

Six traits. Use them; don't recite them.

1. SIMPLE -- Find the Core

Strip to the single most important thing. Forced prioritization, not dumbing down.

  • Commander's Intent: "If we do nothing else, we must ___"
  • If you say three things, you say nothing
  • Lead with the core (don't bury the lead)
  • Simple = core + compact. Proverbs over mission statements.
  • Tap existing schemas: analogies, high concepts ("Jaws on a spaceship")

2. UNEXPECTED -- Get and Keep Attention

Break the guessing machine, then open knowledge gaps.

  • Get attention: violate expectations, break schemas
  • Keep attention: create curiosity gaps, pose questions, build mystery
  • Surprise must be "postdictable" -- makes sense in retrospect
  • Shift from "What do I convey?" to "What questions do I want them to ask?"

3. CONCRETE -- Make It Real

Talk in actions and senses, not abstractions.

  • Replace abstractions with specific, tangible images
  • Concrete props beat abstract descriptions (the leather portfolio, the bag of salt and sugar)
  • Velcro theory: more sensory hooks = stickier memory
  • Two people reading the same message should picture the same thing

4. CREDIBLE -- Make It Believable

Help people test the idea for themselves.

  • Anti-authorities (real people with lived experience) can beat experts
  • Vivid, specific details boost believability even when logically irrelevant
  • Human-scale statistics ("one soft drink a month would double our aid to Africa")
  • Sinatra Test: one example so strong it proves everything
  • Testable credentials: let the audience verify it themselves

5. EMOTIONAL -- Make Them Care

Make people feel something for a person, not an abstraction.

  • WIIFY: What's In It For You
  • One person > millions (Mother Teresa principle)
  • Appeal to identity ("Don't mess with Texas")
  • Avoid semantic stretch -- find fresh emotional territory
  • Self-interest works; identity lasts longer

6. STORIES -- Drive Action

Stories are mental flight simulators -- simulation (how to act) + inspiration (motivation to act).

  • Challenge Plot: overcome obstacles (David vs. Goliath)
  • Connection Plot: bridge gaps between people (Good Samaritan)
  • Creativity Plot: mental breakthrough, new way of seeing (Newton's apple)
  • Spot stories in the wild rather than manufacturing them

The Villain: Curse of Knowledge

Once you know something, you can't imagine not knowing it. Tappers hear the song; listeners hear Morse code. SUCCESs is how you write for the listener.

Watch for: jargon you don't notice, skipping why it matters, burying the lead under context.

Workflow

When given existing text to improve

  1. Score -- assess each SUCCESs principle:
| Principle  | Score | Notes |
|------------|-------|-------|
| Simple     |       |       |
| Unexpected |       |       |
| Concrete   |       |       |
| Credible   |       |       |
| Emotional  |       |       |
| Story      |       |       |

Score: X = strong, ~ = partial, - = absent

  1. Diagnose -- identify the 2-3 biggest weaknesses and explain why they matter for this specific piece. Check for Curse of Knowledge symptoms.

  2. Rewrite -- produce the improved version, making actual edits. Apply SUCCESs techniques to address each weakness. Do not just suggest changes -- make them.

  3. Diff -- present the changes as a clear before/after diff showing exactly what changed and why:

BEFORE: [original passage]
AFTER:  [rewritten passage]
WHY:    [which SUCCESs principle this addresses and the specific technique used]

Show one diff block per significant change. Group minor wording tweaks together.

  1. Summary -- brief recap: what the core message is, what changed, and the updated scorecard.

When writing from a brief

  1. Clarify the core message -- force prioritization. Ask if unclear: "What is the single most important thing?"
  2. Identify the audience and what they already know/believe (to find schemas to tap and schemas to break)
  3. Draft applying all six principles
  4. Self-score against the checklist
  5. Present the draft with a scorecard and rationale for key choices

When invoked proactively

Apply the framework as an internal lens. Do not necessarily output the full scorecard -- just produce stickier copy. Bias toward concrete, unexpected, simple. Check for Curse of Knowledge before finalizing.

Guidelines

  • Not every message needs all six. But the best ones hit most.
  • Start with Simple. If the core isn't clear, nothing else matters.
  • Concrete is the easiest to improve and often the most impactful.
  • Sticky isn't dumbed down. Proverbs are simple and deep.
  • Avoid gimmicky surprise -- unexpectedness must serve the core message.
  • When in doubt, make it more concrete and less abstract.

Example

Input: "Our platform leverages AI to optimize developer workflows and increase productivity."

Score:

| Principle | Score | Notes | |------------|-------|-------| | Simple | ~ | Core buried under jargon | | Unexpected | - | Nothing breaks expectations | | Concrete | - | "Leverages," "optimize," "workflows" -- all abstract | | Credible | - | No proof, no testable claim | | Emotional | - | No WIIFY, no identity appeal | | Story | - | No narrative |

Rewrite:

BEFORE: Our platform leverages AI to optimize developer workflows and increase productivity.
AFTER:  Ship your PR in 10 minutes, not 2 hours. AI catches the bugs before your reviewer does.
WHY:    Concrete (specific time, specific action), Unexpected (AI as faster reviewer),
        Credible (testable claim), Emotional (WIIFY -- get your time back)

Reference Files

  • references/success-framework.md -- worked examples for each trait, from the book