Dan Heath, a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE Center, is the co-author of two New York Times bestsellers, Made to Stick and Switch. As a speaker, Dan is known for blending practical information with a funny and motivational style. One client said of Heath: “He combines a very relaxed style with a very intense message. That’s a brilliant mix.” Dan is consistently one of our highest-rated speakers. [Learn more about Dan’s background or his speech topics]
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Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard 
Switch is the latest book by the Heath brothers. It debuted at #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists, and it’s been called a “must-read” (Forbes), a “fantastic book” (Wired), and “one of the most anticipated books of 2010” (BusinessWeek).
Switch asks the following question: Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say the Heaths. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.
In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.
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Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Made to Stick has become a business classic. It was named the Best Business Book of the Year in 2007; it has been translated into 29 languages; and it spent 24 months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list. It’s a book that will forever transform the way you communicate ideas.
Why do we recall Aesop’s Fables after 2,500 years but fail to remember anything from the PowerPoint presentation we saw yesterday? Why is it that marketers can spend millions trying in vain to create word of mouth, while ridiculous urban legends seem to spread effortlessly? Made to Stick identifies the six traits that successful ideas have in common.
It’s a fast-paced tour of idea success stories (and failures)—the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher’s simulation that actually prevented prejudice . Provocative, eye-opening, and funny, Made to Stick shows us the principles of successful ideas at work—and how we can apply these rules to making our own messages “stick.”
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