Frequency, Repetition, Relevance--then change the diaper

We’re trying to teach the baby a little sign language. We watched a DVD, we need to read a book, and then we’ll be qualified to teach a very small human a language that we barely know. Our motivation is that babies can make signs to communicate much earlier than they can communicate with speech. So, in theory at least, when she’s one and a half and pitching a fit at the mall, she might be able to tell us that her teeth hurt or that she’s hungry/wet/tired with her hands. And then we can solve the problem (and here’s the best part!) END THE FIT. So, it’s sort of a pre-emptive strike. There are other benefits too--socialization skills, etc.

So, 98 times each day, my husband and I ask her if she wants milk (squeeze hand like squeezing an udder). 7 times a day we tell her it’s time to change her diaper (make 2 fists, bring them together, twist like you’re wringing something). And so on. We’re just working on a couple signs right now. The DVD recommends doing 3 or fewer at first. And, much to my husband’s dismay, we could be doing it for months before we see any signing back from her.

Eventually, we’ll be adding more signs, one at a time. I think there are about 100 included in the package we bought.

It’s going to take some patience and some frequency and repetition. Just like advertising.

Don’t throw out too much information at first. Focus on a couple important things. Let them sink in. Then add another. And keep saying it, even if it doesn’t seem like people are catching on quickly. There is a period in the beginning of doing anything like educating, exercising or branding where the work is not worth the payback. Given time, you get more out of it than you put in, but you have to make it to that point. You’re trying to get deep into the brain where the reaction to your name, your category or your product is immediate and unconscious. Thoughts so automatic that a baby could remember them. You have to keep on saying the message to the point where you're sick and tired of it. That's when the listeners are just starting to get it. I'm sure we'll be ready to stop the air-udder-squeezing too--but hopefully not before she learns it.

Your message also needs to be relevant to the listener--I can't teach my baby the sign for e-mail just because I like it. I'd get a big fat "so what?!" if she could say that. (Oh, I dread the teen years!) She doesn't care right now. It's not in her world. So, I'm talking (with my hands) about things pertaining to her basic needs. Your advertising messages also need to be crafted around what's relevant to your customers' needs. What can you do for them that makes their life better, that saves them time or money?