Making Primary Prevention “Sticky”

How do we create prevention messages that work? In the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Moving Upstream, the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance’s prevention newsletter, Brad Perry shares six principles of “sticky” ideas, a concept articulated by Chip and Dan Health in their book Made to Stick,  in part 2 of his article We Talk – Do They Listen?: Effectively Expressing Primary Prevention Messages. The six principles of stickiness are

• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Emotional
• Stories

Click here to see the entire newsletter (Volume 7, Issue 2).

This is the last issue of Moving Upstream that Brad Perry will edit. Over the past seven years this newsletter has been a valuable contribution to sexual violence and domestic violence practitioners. I appreciate how much good work that Brad has done that helps everyone in this field. I have had the opportunity to co-write an article on sexual violence prevention with him and Lydia Guy Ortiz, discuss prevention theory and practice into the night,and enjoy many wonderful meals talking about music with Brad over the years. I wish Brad the best as he is learning more about how to create effective prevention messages.