Why Everyone Needs a Good Catchphrase
Admit it, you can’t get that catchphrase out of your head. The Public Speaker explains how a good slogan or mantra helps get your message across.
Lisa B. Marshall
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Why Everyone Needs a Good Catchphrase
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“I have a dream . . .” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“It’s the economy, stupid.” – James Carville, strategist for the Bill Clinton campaign
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“You had me at hello.” – Dorothy, in the movie Jerry Maguire
What do these 3 phrases have in common?.
These lines are so memorable, you can probably tell me who said them instantly. In the communication world, we call this a catchphrase, a slogan, or a mantra. I believe when it comes to memorability, the catchphrase is king. Why? Because they’re simple phrases that are meaningful and repeated. Catchphrases make your message memorable.
OK, before I go on, think of a catchphrase that you remember hearing when you were a kid. It could be a commercial jingle, a politician’s favorite phrase, or something your teacher or your mother always said to you.
I’m going to date myself with this story, but I occasionally still find myself saying “Don’t bring home the bacon, bring home the Sizzlean.” (Feel free to YouTube that one if you don’t know what I’m talking about). I also sometimes sing, “I am 
stuck on Band-Aid brand, cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me” when putting on an adhesive bandage! A friend tells me her mom used to always quote motivatational speaker Zig Ziglar when she complained of being bored. She’d say, “If you act enthusiastic, you will be enthusiastic!” and I hear myself repeating two household catchphrases, “In or out, but shut that door!” and “Girls, remember, laughing leads to crying!”
Some phrases stick with us forever, and some just don’t. In the world of public speaking, you can drive your point home and engage your audience if you find the right mantra or catchphrase to present your message.
I recently interviewed Jeremy Donovan, author of How to Deliver a Ted Talk about catchphrases. Donovan told me that if you can’t express your message in under 12 words, then you don’t know what you’re speaking about. And I agree! He also said that the catchphrase is by far the best way to get your point across. Why? Because it’s short, simple. and easy to remember.
“The best talks have a repeated catchphrase,” Donovan says, noting that this catchphrase isn’t too-often repeated, but instead sprinkled through the talk at the beginning, middle. and end.
Catchphrases or slogans make political speeches more powerful and corporate presentations more memorable. Use catchphrases, because simple is awesome, when it comes to memorabiity.
Let’s look at Simon Senek’s TED talk titled “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” Jeremy Donovan recommended this talk when I asked him for an example that makes good use of a mantra. Sinek makes use of two mantras to get his point across:
Example #1: “Start with why”
Sinek’s premise is that great leaders and innovators don’t start with “What” or “How” – they start with “Why.”
“Why” is Apple so innovative?
“Why” did Martin Luther King, Jr. become the leader of the civil rights movement?
“Why” did the Wright Brothers succeed at human flight when other, better funded attempts failed?
Sinek drew a diagram that had the words “How” and “What” in rings in a circle with the word “Why” in the middle. Throughout his talk he pointed to the word “Why” over and over, giving us a visual representation of his mantra.
Example #2: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”
Once the audience understood the importance of “Why,” Sinek introduced his next catchphrase: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” I counted at least 6 repetitions of this phrase in his speech. Sinek would tell a story, then use the phrase, tell another story, then use the phrase again. Each time he said it, he tapped the word “Why” in the diagram.
Simon Sinek’s catchphrases were extremely effective in getting his point across. No one was going to leave that talk and forget what it was about.
Now let’s look at another example from my own work.
Example #3: “Development is evolutionary, not revolutionary.”
One of my clients, a rabbi, was looking for help crafting his message for a sermon. He described the content and we came up with this mantra:
“Development is evolutionary, not revolutionary.”
We then introduced the catchphrase at the beginning of the sermon. It was then repeated at the end of each section of this talk, acting as both a transition and a repetition of the main idea. It was short, simple, and easy to remember. This mantra also made use of rhyming words to make it stickier. The idea is to have these words roll around in the head of your listeners many hours, days, or even months later.
One very well-known example of rhyming words used as a catchphrase is from attorney Johnny Cochran. You may remember the phrase, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” That was back in 1995, and I’ll bet most of you remembered instantly that he was referring to a glove that was introduced into evidence in the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial. Not only did that phrase help the defense win the case, it became one of the most famous catchphrases of all time. Good catchphrases, like good commercial jingles, echo the main idea and they get stuck in our head.
In today’s episode, we looked at some examples of well-crafted catchphrases and how they can help make your point stick.
The bottom line is this: Use a catchphrase because simple is awesome!
Now that you know how important a good catchphrase is, stay tuned for the next episode of the Public Speaker podcast when I’ll teach you exactly how to create one of these catchy slogans for your next presentation.
This is Lisa B. Marshall, Helping you maximize sales, manage perceptions, and enhance leadership through keynotes, workshops, books, and online courses. Passionate about communication; your success is my business. If you want even more success in your life, I invite you to listen to my other podcast, Smart Talk: Inspiring Conversations with Exceptional People.
Megaphone, Band-Aid, Wright brothers plane, judge, and presentation images courtesy of Shutterstock.
About the Author
Lisa B. Marshall Lisa holds masters with duel degrees in interpersonal/intercultural communication and organizational communication. She’s the author of Smart Talk: The Public Speaker’s Guide to Success in Every Situation, as well as Ace Your Interview, Powerful Presenter, and Expert Presenter. Her work has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Ragan.com, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Her institutional clients include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, NY Academy of Science, University of Pennsylvania, Genentech, and Roche.