Story Plot Selector

Pick the right story plot (Challenge / Connection / Creativity) and structure it so it drives the specific action you need — and decide whether to deliver it as a springboard story or a direct argument. Use this skill whenever the user needs to find, pick, or shape a story, anecdote, or case study for a message, talk, pitch, announcement, training session, change effort, or culture push. Activate on "what story should I tell", "find me an anecdote", "how should I open this presentation", "we need a story here", "help me structure a case study", "which of these stories is the right one", "need an inspiring example", "tell a story about", "I have three anecdotes — pick one", "make this talk more human", "how do I open the all-hands", "what's the right case study for this pitch", "story for a keynote", "story to rally the team", "story for onboarding", "change management story", "need a motivating example", "story that shows why this matters", "the talk needs a narrative", or whenever a draft is pure argument/data and the user wants to replace or supplement a claim with a single concrete tale. Also triggers when the user has raw story material (news clipping, customer anecdote, personal experience, historical event) and asks how to frame or structure it. The skill classifies the story need into Challenge (overcoming obstacles — inspires perseverance), Connection (bridging differences — inspires empathy and cooperation), or Creativity (mental breakthrough — inspires experimentation), applies the matching structure, and decides between a springboard story (audience has agency, diverse contexts, you want buy-in) versus a direct argument (single unambiguous action). Also decides whether the story should work as simulation (mental rehearsal of how to act) or inspiration (motivation to act), or both. The skill does NOT fabricate events or invent characters — it works with real stories the user provides or helps them mine from real material. It does NOT write full emotional appeals (use emotional-appeal-selector) and does NOT score the full stickiness rubric (use stickiness-audit).

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Install

Claude CodeClawhHubnpxCursorCodexGemini CLI

1. Add marketplace

› /plugin marketplace add bookforge-ai/bookforge-skills

2. Install plugin

› /plugin install made-to-stick@bookforge-skills

3. Use the skill

› /story-plot-selector

CC-BY-SA · Open sourceGitHub

Source Book

Made to Stick

Chip Heath, Dan Heath

More from Made to Stick

Communicationhybrid

Concrete Language Rewriter

Rewrite abstract, theoretical, or jargon-heavy passages into sensory, schema-based language the audience can already picture — using three named techniques (schema tap, high-concept pitch, generative analogy). Use this skill whenever a draft sounds abstract, strategy-level, or theoretical and the user wants it grounded in concrete imagery the reader can see, hear, touch, or do. Activate when the user says "this sounds abstract", "make it more concrete", "feels jargon-y", "how do I explain this", "rewrite this pitch", "too theoretical", "simplify the language", "ground this", "make it tangible", "the reader can't picture it", "I'm stuck at the strategy level", "translate this into plain language", "make this vivid", "needs an analogy", "give me a one-liner pitch", "explain this to a 5-year-old", "we need a metaphor for this", or provides an abstract passage plus an audience and asks to concretize it. Also triggers when a mission statement, value prop, policy memo, product page, cultural value, onboarding doc, or training scenario reads like a thesaurus of abstractions (synergy, excellence, alignment, optimize, empower, leverage, robust, scalable, best-in-class). The skill does NOT invent fake sensory details to ground a claim the user has not actually made, does NOT score the whole SUCCESs rubric (that is the stickiness-audit skill), and does NOT write full narrative stories (that is the story-framing skill) — it produces a side-by-side before/after rewrite of each flagged abstract passage with the technique used and why.

Messaginghybrid

Core Message Extractor

Extract the single-sentence core of any message — the one thing that must survive if everything else is lost. Use this skill whenever the user asks 'what's my one sentence?', 'simplify this pitch', 'find the core', 'one-liner for this', 'elevator pitch', 'boil this down', 'what's the headline?', 'TL;DR this', 'what's the one thing?', or has a draft, announcement, pitch, product description, speech, or strategy memo that says too many things at once. Also invoke when the user struggles with 'my message isn't landing', 'I have 30 seconds to explain this', 'we can't agree on messaging', 'nobody remembers our pitch', or wants a Commander's Intent, high-concept pitch, tagline, mission statement, or forced prioritization of candidate points. This is the foundation skill for all sticky messaging — run it BEFORE any unexpected/concrete/credible/emotional/story framing work.

Credibilityplan-only

Credibility Evidence Selector

Pick the strongest credibility evidence for a claim and kill weak evidence chains with the Sinatra Test. Use this skill whenever the user asks 'how do I prove this?', 'how do I make this more credible?', 'which statistic should I cite?', 'do I need a source for this?', 'how do I build trust?', 'this claim sounds unbelievable', 'they won't believe us', 'we need a case study', 'should I quote an expert?', 'is this testimonial strong enough?', 'which proof point should I lead with?', 'my pitch needs more evidence', 'the numbers aren't landing', 'how do I back this up without a credentials wall?', 'who should say this for maximum credibility?', or 'is one example enough or do I need data?'. Also invoke when the user has a marketing claim, sales pitch, fundraising ask, research finding, policy argument, product benefit, or security/reliability promise and must choose between authority quotes, customer stories, statistics, vivid details, testable demos, or a single hero example. This skill ranks evidence across six named credibility categories (external authority, antiauthority, testable credentials, vivid details, Sinatra Test hero example, statistics-as-illustration) and applies the Sinatra Test as a pass/fail filter to cut weak chains. Run BEFORE shipping any claim that a skeptical audience might doubt.

Communicationhybrid

Curiosity Gap Architect

Build an Unexpected hook for a message, pitch, essay, ad, talk, or email — first break the audience's expected pattern to CAPTURE attention, then open a curiosity gap (a knowledge gap they didn't know existed) to HOLD attention all the way to the core message. Use this skill whenever the user says 'how do I hook them', 'what's my opening line', 'I need to get attention', 'this is boring how do I make it interesting', 'what's my angle', 'stop losing the audience', 'hook for my post', 'cold-open', 'lead paragraph', 'ad headline', 'landing page hero', 'intro for my talk', 'title that makes people click', 'my opening is flat', 'people tune out in the first 10 seconds', 'how do I make this dry topic interesting', 'email subject line', 'tweet hook', 'YouTube intro', 'TED-style opener', 'how Nora Ephron taught leads', 'Cialdini mystery opening', 'how to use surprise without being gimmicky'. Applies the two Unexpected mechanisms from Made to Stick Chapter 2: (1) SURPRISE via schema-break for short-term attention capture, (2) CURIOSITY GAP via Gap Theory of Curiosity (Loewenstein) for long-term attention hold. Every surprise option is scored against the POST-DICTABLE TEST — a good surprise feels inevitable in hindsight and drives home the core message; a gimmicky surprise gets a laugh but the audience can't remember the point. Produces 3 scored hook variants the user can drop into their draft. Does NOT rewrite the body of the message — only the hook and the gap structure. Does NOT manufacture shock or clickbait for its own sake. Relevant for: copywriters, marketers, product marketers, founders pitching, teachers, trainers, public speakers, content writers, journalists, fundraisers, PR, messaging, narrative design, persuasion, attention, Heath brothers, SUCCESs, Unexpected, Gap Theory, Loewenstein, schema break, postdictable, Ephron lead, Nordstrom Nordies, Cialdini Saturn rings, popcorn Silverman.