The Only Marketing Book For An 8 Second Attention World: The Micro-Script Rules by Bill Schley

In a world where you've got just 8 seconds to make your message stick—what do you say and how do you say it? 

This episode breaks down The Micro-Script Rules by Bill Schley, a game-changing read for any small business owner or personal brand builder. 

🔍 What’s Covered in This Episode:

• The 4½ micro-script rules every marketer needs to know
• Why your brand message is probably too long—and how to fix it
• The secret behind slogans that outlive political campaigns
• How to craft messaging your audience will want to repeat
• Rookie mistakes entrepreneurs make when sharing their story
• What makes a micro-script work

Get your copy! 

The Micro-Script Rules - 2nd Edition: How to tell your story (and differentiate your brand) in a sentence ...or less by Bill Schley 

📚Past  Book Review Episodes :

• Positioning, The Battle For Your Mind by Al Ries, Jack Trout, et. al https://www.buzzsprout.com/1139753/episodes/11277323
• Blue Ocean Strategy: How To Create Uncontested Market Space And Make The Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Chim and Renée Mauborgne https://www.buzzsprout.com/1139753/episodes/10592058 
•  Building A Story Brand By Donald Miller https://www.buzzsprout.com/1139753/episodes/9450173 

Simple & strategic marketing solutions for the busy coach and consultant. Visit www.reinventingperspectives.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] If you had just six words to sell your business, what would it be? It sounds impossible, right? But that's exactly the power behind today's book and why this episode is long overdue. This is the leaders or readers series where we borrow the brilliance of business legends and turn it into action steps for our small businesses. Now this book had me rethinking everything from marketing campaigns to political campaigns that outlived the candidates to brand phrases that have stuck around for decades. It caused me to think about marketing that didn't feel like marketing 

It's.

Welcome to the Lessons of Entrepreneurship, the Journey of Reinvention. If you're new here, check out past book reviews in the description. You're gonna love them. We've [00:01:00] covered some really amazing classic business books. Today's Gem.

The Micro Script rules how to tell your story and differentiate your brand in a sentence or less by Bill Schley. 

Get this, the new edition of this book is dropping soon. So grab a copy.

Because this is marketing. If you read Positioning The Battle For Your Mind by Al Reis and Jack Trout, you're familiar with the idea of you've gotta be first, and if you can't be first, then be the only. and we've covered that book too. It's in the show notes. But even with solid positioning, here's where many of us get stuck, many entrepreneurs get stuck here.

How do you say what you do in a way that resonates in this eight second attention span environment.

Enter the micro script. Bill Schley kicks off the book with four and a half Big rules. Yes, four and a half because he's a marketer, 

right? Don't you love a good pattern [00:02:00] interruption? Four and a half. Big rules. And his mantra is that the right six words will always beat 6,000. 

Think about that. The right six words. will always beat 6,000, right? He mentions some of the things that in culture we all remember, if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit immediately. You know what I'm talking about? It's a story in a sentence and a micro script should point us to the heart of the matter, because in the author's words, the truth is simple. We're not trying to invent some complex, unique way. We're simply highlighting what is universally true.

Bill Schley refers to this as brain speak. To get someone to take action, your communication has to be intuitive. It has to speak to your unconscious intelligence. 

It's their brain speak. Just do it. Yes, we can. [00:03:00] These are tiny phrases that tell big stories.

So Big rule number one it's not what people hear. It's what they repeat. Nike didn't say we're selling running shoes, they gave runners a phrase that felt like a nudge from their future self. You can imagine being a runner, waking up in the morning and 

you don't feel like going for that run, the messaging of Nike is you know, you wanna do it as a runner, as an athlete, just do it. These are the battles they face every day and trying to maintain an active routine. And there comes the word that's intuitive.

it's sayable, it's repeatable, and it's ownable. Like you're saying your own thoughts. 

Big rule number two is word of mouth At the end of the day, the best form of marketing is word of mouth. That example of Nike's . I can imagine a runner telling other runners, , just do it People don't say something because they were told to. They do it because they like to.

They [00:04:00] want to. It's fun to say it. 

It just makes sense. It's almost as if the runners thought of it themselves. He says, in today's world, every screen is a word of mouth machine. 

People don't share facts. They share phrases. They share stories, and they share emotion. Big rule number three. Story isn't everything. It's the only thing. 

He says, show me a picture. Tell me a story. , immediately I thought about Barack Obama's. Yes, we can campaign. It was a vote, arguably won by the politically marginalized youth, women and people of color.

A story in three words. Yes, we can.

Big rule number four, give 'em a micro script. And this is what he says, I'm reading straight from the book. A micro script is a short phrase, almost always a rule of thumb or a key idea. That people like to repeat [00:05:00] word for word to inform, to persuade or remind themselves and others. It uses vivid description, metaphors and rhyme rhythmic language to trigger story in the mind.

All in all micro scripts are brain speak. Think about some of these famous micro scripts that have stood the test of time. Friends. Don't let friends drive drunk. A campaign developed by the ad Council in collaboration with the US Department of Transportation, 

you would think it was launched just the other day. It was launched in 1983, if you go back to the background of what he says as a micro script, he says it's a universal truth. It's brain speak. It's simple. You're not inventing something new. You're merely tapping into people's unconscious intelligence.

Christian movements of the 1990s, there was, what would [00:06:00] Jesus do? WWJD? That's The whole story. What would Jesus do? Recently, the Donald Trump campaign, whatever you believe about Donald Trump, but just looking at the messaging, make America Great again.

You can understand why people would resonate with such a message. Make America great again.

Movies like The Godfather. The Godfather, what else do you need to know? It's a story in two words, like I said in the beginning, 

. I started to think of all the marketing messaging. That almost feels like something that you've thought of yourself and you repeat it and you like repeating it. I thought of myself As a Zimbabwean, the Zimbabwean ruling party, ZANU pf it doesn't matter what you think about their politics, but they had a message, son of the soil.

To an African youth son of the soil. It's a story in four [00:07:00] words. How does this apply to us as small business owners? When you're naming your newsletter, your lead magnets, your offers, , think about giving them a micro script.

A story in a few words. Big Rule four and a half. This is for business owners, particularly. If you want a brand that sells, build your micro script on a dominant selling idea or a unique selling proposition. Some people prefer to say it that way.

Steps in the book. He says, number one, get your difference first. Know what is different about your newsletter. Know what is different about your offer. Know what is different about your business. What is different? Then step number two, what is your story? Step Number three, turn your story into a micro script.

The last step is then broadcasted to the masses in a social network. And a rookie mistake that we often make, is [00:08:00] doing it backwards.

We broadcast to the masses before. We've dialed in all those things. Before we've created our micro script, before we've understood our story, before we've identified our difference or created our difference. 

He mentions even how a mission statement should be, a micro script, and he talks about an infomercial for a back supporter, their mission statement was, we are gonna fix the way the world sits. When You think about that, what will you fix? What is your mission statement?

And it all starts by understanding the narrative that's in your target client's mind. I'd say it's more than just saying back to them what they would say. 

most marketers would advise, using the words that your audience would use. In a sense. That's one step of getting to a micro script because you stepping into what they would [00:09:00] naturally say. But I think. , the micro script goes a step further because it anchors on the fact that marketing is about elevating, it's not being literal, so you don't wanna go to the extreme where you're so fancy that it confuses but, using imagery and rhyme in a simple way.

So the other day, I dunno if I read it or I heard it, but it was this statement, the battle you fail to win, your children will have to fight and it stuck with me 

it's a universal truth. I heard it, I repeated it to other people. And then, because I've been reading this book, I think about such things like what are the things , I've heard and I've repeated, and then I think to myself, what's the battle?

Could it be. Financial stability. The battle you fail to win, your children will have to fight. Could it be building a business? The battle you fail to win, your children will have to fight. It's hijacked a [00:10:00] universal truth, 

whatever the context might be.

So to apply this, marketing isn't just about parroting what your audience would say. It's not about being literal or robotic. It's about elevating the narrative. It's about giving them language to believe something better, and it's about. Triggering transformation. You think about all those things.

Yes, you can make America great again. Just do it.

It's memorable and it's shareable. I haven't even finished reading this book. The author goes into telling you exactly how to do this chapter by chapter, if this interests you in this world of, you have to grab someone's attention really quickly, grab the book, the Micro Script Rules by Bill Schley, work the book, and hey, use AI to craft your message.

, your message is the bullseye of your marketing. If you hit it. You win. [00:11:00] If you miss it, you miss out. So if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe for more book breakdowns , to grow your small business and your brand. 

I'd love to hear things that came up for you as you were listening to this episode. There's so many things that. If Someone doesn't say it to you, don't think about it. So I definitely love that about this book that it caused me to think about how I've experienced marketing that didn't feel like marketing and without being asked to, I took it upon myself to share 

that word of mouth machine, do get this book. I'd be interested to know what you gain from it. Let's talk about some of the micro scripts that have shaped culture that are shaping culture.

Until then, let's say less and say it better. Thank You for watching.