Written by: Vickie Sullivan | July 21, 2015
The Best Way to Create Intrigue
Creating intrigue paves the way to engagement. So how do we get that flash of “this is right on!” for that next book or blog post?
My favorite strategy: juxtaposition. Mashups of two very different things create immediate curiosity. It’s the surprise around making something work that shouldn’t go together at all.
One of my favorite examples is fairly recent. This book “Modern Romance” cut through all the clutter by pairing a popular comedian with a sociologist. Yep, a data-driven book that is hilarious. While this Fast Company article gives a good behind-the-scenes look, let’s drill down on the strategy. Here are two reasons why this book idea got popular fast:
- Both parties had great credibility to start with. Aziz Ansari is known for stand-ups on dating and Eric Klineberg was also known both in academics and in popular culture with this book “Going Solo”.
- The book mashed up two very important needs: valuable information without being boring. Yes, the findings have been discussed before — Ansari’s voice overcomes this obstacle. So does the claim of primary research (and some of those texts are downright hilarious).
- And finally, the book’s premise itself stakes out intriguing territory: how our digital world has upended dating rituals. Notice the juxtaposition between breadth and specificity? The position is wide (finding love) yet specific (digital world).
Folks, we can do this too. Ask yourself: what are my juxtapositions? What can I mash up?
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