10 Tips for Writing a Sticky Manifesto

man·i·fes·to: a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer. (Merriam-Webster).

Good manifestos stimulate conversation and spread, often changing minds in their wake. Just ask Seth Godin, manifestos are almost his sole form of communication. He even started ChangeThis.com as a channel for thoughtful manifestos on business, media, work and culture.

If the manifestos strike a chord, theyʼll spread…As the manifestos spread through our culture, theyʼll leave change in their wake. Changed minds are rare but powerful. — ChangeThis Manifesto (PDF file)

Manifestos are magical and effective when done well. They paint a vision of possibility, stir hope and inspire change. They aren’t solely the concern of political activists, philosophers and renegade artists — manifestos are the tools of ideological change anywhere there is a status quo. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing yours.

1. Break from the pack. As the tools of revolutionaries, manifestos reject the way things have been done before. Identify the attitude, idea or practice that is common but also really old-fashioned, backwards-thinking or plain stupid. As a writing warm up, let yourself rant on paper a bit about the silly, annoying or wrong thing to activate your opinionated side.
2. Start a movement, or align with one. Political movements gave us the first manifestos, intended to unify the voice of an otherwise unruly mass of people. Artists created them to define their philosophical tribes. Think of your manifesto as raising a flag — either in chorus with others or totally your own. You’re sending a signal that lets others identify which side you’re on, and potentially join your team.
3. Think globally. The ideas in your manifesto apply to an entire industry, the Internet, the world or a community. It’s not just that you think that your recommended course of action is a good idea for you, your stance is that things fundamentally need to change for everything, everywhere. Dream big.
4. State your opinions as fact. If you’re going to make broad, sweeping statements about life, the universe and everything you will want to sound sure of them, example: The age of backroom deals is over, companies must embrace transparency to survive. Most of us do not go around making bold claims to the truth, but we make little ones all the time, this soup is too salty or that is the perfect color of blue. It’s a little scarier when you venture into potential controversy, but practice makes perfect.
5. Don’t waffle. This is related to number three. Avoid watering down your statements with phrases like appears to, seems, may be, possibly and other wishy-washy words. I don’t want to know what you think might be the case I want to know what it is, must be, will be, or was.
6. Start with pain. You want to make a compelling case for challenging the status quo. Inertia is strong, and in order to move people to action paint a clear picture of what is not working, and what staying on the same course is costing them personally.
7. Show the way. It’s not enough to simply complain or criticize. A manifesto is a rejection of one set of ideas in favor of another. However confidently you state your ideas, in order to convince people to follow you to a strange new land you need to show them how you plan to get there.
8. End with a call to arms. After you’ve raised your flag, you want your readers to raise it as well. Imagine you’re giving a speech and part of the audience has become excited about your ideas. They’ve crowded to the front, they’ve fashioned flags of their own to show their support. What should your army do now? Tell them.
9. Keep it short. Manifestos are like a shot of espresso — a very intense, concentrated wake up call. Don’t let it ramble on or go on any tangents. Stay focused on one central point: what is wrong and how to fix it, the bold new path forward.
10. Set it free. Make your manifesto a no-strings-attached immediate download. Encourage sharing by giving it a Creative Commons license. Ask people to pass it on, quote it and criticize it. Your manifesto will have a life of its own.

Reading List:

• The Freak Revolution Manifesto
• Open letter to CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs across the corporate world
• More Time Now – a time management manifesto
• Manifestos galore at ChangeThis.com

Have you written a manifesto?

Let us know in the comments!