Children's books and creativity

"Make your first slide punch. Make your last slide linger."?Sage words (as ever) from Rob Estreitinho in?Tuesday's Salmon Theory. I've been thinking about being more punchy and to the point this week. We've had a horrible cold infect our house, resulting in me spending more time with my one-year-old daughter Ivy than I usually would in a working week. Ivy loves books (like her parents). Currently, she loves to read the same book over and over. Get to the last page and go straight back to the first.

One of the books we've been reading heavily is "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen. If you have a young person in your life, I highly recommend it. As I read it repeatedly, I found myself thinking - there's a lot we can learn from this book and children's literature.

A lot we can learn about brevity in the face of complication.

About surprise and simplicity.

So here are six things comms professionals can learn from "I Want My Hat Back".

(Another?spoiler alert?- if you've not read it, I will give the ending away).

Firstly, in honour of Rob and Salmon Theory, we must start strong and get right to the point.

These first two pages set up the premise of the whole story in two lines. A bear has lost his hat; he needs to get it back.

No waffle.

No, "Once upon a time...".

No, "we're an integrated communications agency with 20 years of experience. Let me tell you about these awards....".

No boring agendas or recapping of your brief.

Straight into it.

As an audience, you're excited. You want to find out what's coming next. That's how any audience for any of your documents should feel, but they should DEFINITELY think that in a pitch or presentation environment.

The second lesson - make sure you get out there and speak to some people about your challenge.

Our bear protagonist spends the first half of the book asking the other animals in his environment (for the record, these are a fox, a frog, a rabbit, a tortoise, a snake and a pangolin. And yes, I had to google what a pangolin was).

We are not the target audience when working in comms, 95%+ of the time. That's the same whether it's a consumer, corporate or B2B brief. We must get out and speak to people about our challenges and understand their reactions. Precisely as the bear does in "I Want My Hat Back".

Lesson three - what your audiences say isn't always what they do.

The rabbit in "I Want My Hat Back" takes the antagonist role. To misquote the movie Memento, the rabbit is a liar do not trust him. He says he hasn't seen the bear's hat while WEARING THE HAT.

Shocking, I know. Like Fight Club, it all makes sense the second time around.

In comms, we must be aware that what people say isn’t always what they do. Behavioural science is your friend here, as there are many ways research experts can help you separate out what people say they do vs what they really do. We kid ourselves all the time. About how much food we eat and coffee we drink - we're hugely?unreliable self-reporters, human beings. There are rich sources of inspiration in those gaps between what we say and what we do.

Lesson four - don't keep it all bottled up.

Another thing Rob regularly talks about in Salmon Theory is his struggles with a hero complex when responding to briefs. And I can definitely identify with this. When I'm leading on a pitch or owning the strategic development, I feel like I have to have all the answers. As a result, I get stuck in my head and often end up in a pit of despondency, somewhere in the middle of the creative process. Like the bear in "I Want My Hat Back", I have a lie-down and a bit of a wallow in self-pity.

The answer is to share your problem and your thinking with your colleagues. Don't get stuck in your own head. It never fails to surprise me that when I come to articulate something I've been thinking about, it sounds totally different said aloud than it did in my head. I can't tell you how many times I've solved a tricky problem simply by talking to someone about it. The bear does it in his conversation with the stag.

Suddenly, inspiration flashes, and the answer is staring him right in the face.

Lesson five - people remember only a tiny fraction of what you say.

A sister point to the opener of your words having an impact through simplicity - repetition is your friend when presenting ideas and work. I'm sorry to break this to you, but everyone in the room isn't hanging on your every word. Particularly if your attendees are versatile. Active listening is an art form, but it's not something we always engage in. If your idea is too complex, it will not be memorable.

If you want something to land - make it obvious.?Repeat it. Then repeat it again and once more at the end for good measure. I can recite most books I read to Ivy off the top of my head. They're simple, and they're repetitive, so they're memorable.

And luckily for you, unless the pitch process is really convoluted, you'll not have to present your deck seven times in a row.

Lesson six - be surprising and unexpected.

Children's books don't generally have a reputation for being dark and involving death. Yes, there are the original Grimm's Fairy Tales, but they're usually watered down for younger audiences. "I Want My Hat Back" ends with the revelation that the bear eats the rabbit who stole his hat.

The first time you read it, it is a surprising ending. And hence it has an impact. It lingers, to quote Rob again. That's what you want your ideas to do. To surprise. To energise. To stand out from the standard playbook of the sector or what the brand has previously done.

Jon Klassen hasn't wholly ripped up the rules of children's books with his ending. It's not shocking or upsetting for children (for Ivy, at least). It's a?minor subversion?of the traditional happy ending. Indeed, it's still a happy ending (the bear has his hat back and is very happy about that).

But for the more sophisticated audience - parents or older children, there's a bit of spice there too.

There’s plenty we can learn from children’s books - how to start strong and finish memorably and not be afraid to repeat the point.

Starting strong:?"My hat is gone. I want it back".

Finishing memorably:?"I wouldn't eat a rabbit. Don't ask me any more questions".

Not being afraid to repeat the point:?"Have you seen my hat?".

Pick your favourite children's book (either one of your kids' or one you loved as a child) and see if there's anything else you can learn from it. Even if there isn't, you can enjoy an exercise in simplicity and clarity of thought that will reset the brain.