Introduction
This is the best manifesto to create emotion. It wasn’t until I was studying manifestos regularly that I even noticed the pattern for this type of structure. Now that I’ve tuned into it, I see it everywhere.
The structure has two distinct halves. The first half always pulls the listener down into the valley of the problem. The manifesto then turns upward, and we rise up, up, up, up toward the insight at the end. The positivity in the second half is essential for success. The strong rise balances the bad vibes from the first half.
Because of that, you need to make sure that you have an insight or story with enough power to pull us all the way out of the valley. You can’t just drag us in with tales of how bad it is and leave us there to die. But if you have a really good insights or really good solutions, everyone will agree it’s worth the journey.
How it works
Step 1 — Downward: Demonstrate the depth of the problem.
There are two common types of U Shape manifestos: story and examples. For stoy-based U Shapes, this downward slope is easy to create. Simply tell us a story that drags us into the depth of whatever problem you’re solving. Make it tangible, relevant, or relatable. The Girl Effect does this incredibly well in “The Clock is Ticking”:
We have a situation on our hands. And the clock is ticking. When a girl turns 12 and lives in poverty her future is out of her control. In the eyes of many, she’s a woman now. No, really she is. She faces the reality of being married by the age of 14. Pregnant by the time she’s 15. And if she survives childbirth she might have to sell her body to support her family. Which puts her at risk for contracting and spreading HIV. Not the life you imagined for a 12-year-old, right?
Example-based U Shapes are different. This is where you list a series of bad examples, followed by a list of positive examples. Surprisingly, the thing most writers struggle with is having enough of the bad examples. They want don’t the discomfort and go positive too soon. But for this structure to work, you need to have half the script be negative examples. Make things worse and worse and worse.
Why? Two reasons. First, that crushing feeling is what makes the listener want a solution even more. Our brains start to crave a freedom from the discomfort. Second, we have an intuitive sense that if you’re going to be this negative, there’s a lot of positive stuff waiting for us soon. That anticipation is what creates more powerful emotion when it arrives.
Here’s a series of downward examples from Nike’s, “Dream Crazier”:
If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic. If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, delusional. If we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy.
We could write an entire chapter on how good “Dream Crazier” is. For now, just take note of how the examples get more and more intense. The piece goes from words like “dramatic” and “nuts” to “hysterical” and “crazy.” They also did a great job of demonstrating the importance of what women in sports are accomplishing. Rather than just saying versions of “if we show emotion,” the script talks about equal opportunity, standing for something, and excellence. That raises the stakes and gives the piece more power.
Step 2 — Turn: A short line that signals a shift upward.
Amazingly, it’s actually worth mentioning this part of the script. Every good U-Shape manifesto has a turn. It’s essential. Despite that, you actually don’t need to think that hard about it. More than half of the ones I’ve studied just use the word “But” in a really dramatic way. It works every time. Our brains are waiting for the signal. We want the hopeful music to start.
That said, there are ways to turn the script without saying the word “But.” One is by adding a bit more context. In “#ShareTheLoad” from Ariel, their turn is, “But it’s not too late.” That little extra bit works well with the tone of the piece. Effective, but not required.
You can also expand this section a little. You really don’t want to take too long here, but there can be reason to put in a few extra lines that make the transition work harder. Take this example from TBWA\Chiat\Day. They’ve spent the first half of the script telling people not to do the right thing. Rather than just turning the corner with something like “Instead,” they say this:
So, what are you supposed to do? The wrong thing? Of course not.
This works because it dispels the most pressing question that the listener might have at this point in the script. Since the writer wants to take the manifesto in the less obvious direction of doing the “brave thing,” the lingering thought is squashed so the listener can stay engaged in the emotional arc being created.
Step 3 — Upward: Positive build toward your solution.
Now it’s time for the clouds to part. Your goal in this section is to raise heart rates. This is where we feel the power of the solution or insight. It’s not enough to just say it. You need to make to resonate.
How do you do that? Simple: be concrete, tangible, specific. Make us feel it. If it’s a story, make the solution seem effortless but powerful. If it’s a series of examples, reach for rich verbs and captivating examples. Do research. Don’t guess.
Remember to have this part be of equal length as the first half. The two halves sometimes feel more or less like mirror images. If someone is apologizing in the first half, they’re demonstrating what they’re going to do differently in the second. If the script has been about negative examples in the first half, we see positive examples in the second.
It’s crucial that you save your best phrasing (or at least the most impactful) version of your line for the end. The U Shape often demands a strong close. That’s where it will have the best emotional impact.
Nike’s “Dream Crazier” does this by stacking a lot of impressive examples over and over, followed by an end line that sticks in our mind:
So if they want to call you crazy—fine. Show them what crazy can do.
If that had come in the middle of the script, or halfway through the second half, it wouldn’t have been as effective. And if it had, we would be expecting an even better line at the end. That’s just what our brains are programmed to expect with a structure like this. Always end strong.
That said, the ending doesn’t have to be monumental. It just needs to be the thing you want your audience to remember.
Example: The Girl Effect, “The Clock is Ticking”
We’re going to take a look at at story-based U Shape. This piece by the Girl Effect does an excellent job of pulling us into the problem and then lifting us out. I return to this script time and again for the the simplicity of the story.
Downward:
We have a situation on our hands. And the clock is ticking. When a girl turns 12 and lives in poverty her future is out of her control. In the eyes of many, she’s a woman now. No, really she is. She faces the reality of being married by the age of 14. Pregnant by the time she’s 15. And if she survives childbirth she might have to sell her body to support her family. Which puts her at risk for contracting and spreading HIV. Not the life you imagined for a 12-year-old, right?
Structurally, we can feel the pull downward. Every sentence adds a new depth to the gravity of the situation. This is one of the straightest scripts on this site. There are very few techniques or tricks with the language. But because of the magnitude of the situation, nothing else is needed. The story can stand on its own and the words can just get out of the way.
Now that we’re in the depth of the problem, it’s time to make a turn.
Turn:
But the good news is, there is a solution.
This is what the audience is waiting for. We’re ready for good things to come. We’re burning to get the answer to what keeps this from happening again.
Upward:
Let’s rewind to her at 12. Happy and healthy. She visits a doctor regularly. She stays in school. Where she’s safe. She uses her education to earn a living. Now, she’s calling the shots. And it looks something like this: She can avoid HIV. She can marry and have children when she’s ready. And her children are healthy like she is. Now imagine this continuing for generation after generation. You get the picture, right? 50 million 12-year-old-girls in poverty. Equal 50 million solutions. This is the power of the Girl Effect. That starts with a 12-year old girl. And impacts the world. The clock is ticking.
Although this might look longer than the first section, the two halves are almost even. There are 94 words in the first part, 106 in the second. But in this section, the sentences are shorter. There’s a cadence to them that propels us upward and builds energy. Done well, punchier sentences can raise can generate excitement because we the facts start coming rapid fire. Quite a difference from the longer sentences in the first section.
More importantly, this script does a great job pulling us all the way out of the valley. We not only see that there is a solution. We also see the simple changes needed to help her. Visiting the doctor. Staying in school. There are, of course, monumental challenges, but the script does the right move by making them feel accessible and achievable. The important thing it’s asking us to do is appreciate that solutions are possible and necessary.
At the end, the script also widens out to show us how this one story represents 50 million girls. That bigness is often found at the end of U-Shape manifestos. As we mentioned earlier, it’s not enough just to have a few good things in the upward slope. We need a lot of them to make us feel like it was worth the emotional journey. Too few, and we feel either cheated or sad. The Girl Effect reaches full height end with “The Clock is Ticking,” and the spot continues to be memorable and relevant as a result.
Homework
Regardless of whether you’re telling a story or listing examples, the preparation for almost all U-Shape manifestos is to do research about the depth of the problem. Often, we have a good idea of the solution baked into the concept, but we need to have a fuller, authentic understanding of what the bad side is. Take a look at all the facts we get in the first half of “The Clock is Ticking”:
- A impoverished 12-year-old-girl’s life is out of her control.
- Although we think of her as a girl, many view her as an adult.
- It’s possible or likely that she’ll be married at 14.
- It’s possible or likely that she’ll be pregnant at 15.
- Childbirth poses potentially-fatal health risks.
- Supporting her family may require her to sell her body.
- This puts her at risk of contracting HIV.
- This also puts her at risk of spreading HIV.
These are the kind of facts that seem inevitable after the script is written, but it can be incredibly challenging and time-consuming to collect and organize these facts during the writing process. Just think of all the things that could have been included but were left out. Also think about the research and legal conversations required to validate these statements.
Why is the research important? In my experience, it’s vital not to guess or assume. Failure to be factual with a script like this exposes the brand or the cause to widespread dismissal from the public. There are horror stories of brands that have spent millions making commercials only to shelve them a week after they come out because the script didn’t resonate the way they intended.
There is a second thing to focus on as well. For story-based scripts, you also need to have a crystal-clear explanation of your solution. You can’t make the solution seem more complex than the problem. Take this example from “The (RED) Manifesto.” That script is not a U-Shape structure, but it’s a great illustration of the point:
If they don't get the pills, they die. We don't want them to die. We want to give them the pills. And we can. And you can. And it's easy. All you have to do is upgrade your choice.
In that many words, you understand the core goal of Project (RED). They want to give people pills so people don’t die. The same thing happens in “The Clock is Ticking.” Take time to really figure out the simplest explanation. If you need a good test, call up a friend and say it out loud. Or just say it out loud as if you’re talking to a friend. There’s something about the act of actually speaking that is a good pressure test for how well we actually know something.
If you demonstrate great research in the first half and extreme simplicity in the second half, changes are you have a pretty good script.