Ben Guttmann on the Power of Simplicity
Ben Guttmann

Ben Guttmann on the Power of Simplicity

We are not as smart as we think we are.

We're busy and distracted in a world that is incentivized to continually make us more of both. The only things that work, the only messages that cut through the noise, are sharp, clear, and direct.

Think about the most powerful messages you’ve ever heard. Picture the most life-changing piece of advice passed down from a mentor, the most stirring call to action in a stump speech, or the stickiest slogan ever splashed across a commercial.

We’ve all been advised to “not judge a book by its cover,” to “not count your chickens before they hatch,” and that “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Maybe for you, what comes to mind is something political, like Patrick Henry’s revolutionary “Give me liberty, or give me death!” or more recently, Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can.”

In the halls of great marketing, you might remember Apple’s “Think Different,”

Nike’s “Just Do It,” or Disney’s “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

Now think for a second about the other few thousand messages you heard in the past 24 hours –things told to you, like ads, warnings, instructions, or even things you’ve sought out, like articles, social media posts, or stories.

How many of them do you actually remember? How many of the things that you’ve said, do other people remember? Do they actually even hear what you’re saying?

The answer is simple. Literally. Simple.

Regardless if these messages are trying to get your dollars, your votes, or just your thoughts, the most effective messages all share one thing. They-are-simple.

Simple ideas stick. Simple messages win. But why do some messages work when others don't? Why do some ideas break through, why do some slogans stick in your brain, and why do some leaders inspire change - when others don't?

Ben Guttmann can answer all these questions—and did in this episode.


?Ben’s interested in the things and ideas that move people - why we make the decisions we make; why we vote for who we vote for; why we buy the products we buy, and ultimately, why we do what we do.

Ben co-founded, built, and ran the Digital Natives Group, an award-winning marketing agency based in New York City, starting out with the local ice cream parlor and camera repair shop, and growing to partnerships with the NFL, I Love NY, Comcast NBCUniversal, The Nature Conservancy, and other notable brands.

Through their publishing practice, they helped launch over 60 best-selling books, from every other major imprint – including titles from Nobel laureates, Fortune 500 CEOs, Hollywood screenwriters, and Pulitzer Prize winners. After winning more than 60 industry awards, including prestigious Webby and Shorty nods, they sold Digital Natives Group in 2021.

For a decade, Ben has taught marketing at Baruch College, in the largest business school in the nation, and his work or writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Lifehacker, Crain's New York Business, and other outlets. He’s spoken at colleges, conferences, and meetups, from Internet Week to Warsaw University, from New York Tech Meetup to New York University, and most proudly, out of all of that, he has periodically organized and hosted the perennially-sold-out Queens Tech Night meetup series.

We started off with how he and Michael Schein know each other, as Michael is my only 3-time guest and it is Michael that introduced me to Ben. I then asked him to tell us what got him into marketing, what his journey was like from college to getting started to today.

We discussed being a founder and managing his company to his exit, along with mustering the creativity and managing the process needed for a client or campaign.

We shifted into discussing his new book, Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win-and How to Design Them. Here is what others have said about it:

William Ury,?New York Times?bestselling coauthor of?Getting to Yes?and?Getting to Yes with Yourself, said “Simple can be hard. But Ben Guttmann’s lucid and valuable book makes it much easier.” ?

Jonathan Fields,?host of the Good Life Project and bestselling author of?Sparked, said “Simply Put?is a revelation! Bursting with clear, actionable insights, it’s required reading for anyone with something to say, solve, or sell.” Michael Schein,?author of?The Hype Handbook and our mutual friend, commented that “One of my core beliefs has always been that boiling complex messages into simple maxims is one of the best ways to benevolently brainwash anyone. The question is, How do you do it? Ben Guttmann’s new book finally gives us the answer in a big way. We finally have the definitive text on how to execute radical simplicity in the real world, and get anything you want as a result.”

And The Unmistakable Creative listed Simply Put as one of their Top 10 Books of 2023, calling it “An invaluable guide for anyone looking to improve their communication skills." All well-deserved praise, and he informed me that it won the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award in the Business and Career Category from the Independent Book Publishers Association.

He went on to share what inspired him to write it.

His book emphasizes the importance of clear communication, and we discussed why he believes clarity is such a critical skill, both personally and professionally. Simply Put offers strategies for simplifying complex ideas and messages. Ben stepped me through the key principles and techniques listeners can use to streamline their communication effectively. ? Ben’s said that language can have a significant impact on clarity and understanding. He discussed some specific linguistic techniques and recommend strategies for improving clarity and eliminating ambiguity in communication.

Effective leadership often requires clear communication. We covered how leaders can incorporate the principles of Simply Put to inspire and motivate their teams, along with his explaining the difference between features and benefits, how can we use the concept of focus to better connect with our audience, the benefits of embracing constraints on our work, what his opinion is on the anatomy of a great constraint.

I sort of put Ben (and myself) on the spot with asking him to critique my podcast’s catch phrase: It’s like a gym membership for your brain. And he scored it pretty well with his five design principles. Phew!

I also asked about his “3 Simple Things” newsletter, and how interested listeners can subscribe.

It was a fun and informative conversation with one of the best. Ben’s work is a gift to not only his students, but to all of us who want to communicate more clearly, and simply.

You can listen to our conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, SoundCloud, YouTube Podcasts, Pandora, iHeartRADIO, and pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts, or download here. Please subscribe on your favorite platform and never miss an episode or sign up for our monthly notification. It’s like a gym membership for your brain.?Here are the show notes.

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