Manufacturing Metaphors and Accumulating Analogies
Some people can generate effective analogies and metaphors as needed, on the fly. Other folks may want to have a handful of prebuilt and tested examples to draw from.
If you are in the first group, congratulations! Your job is to generate, test, refine, and share the most successful specimens with your team.
For those of us in the second group, we need to use our eyes and ears to identify and capture engaging examples. Professional songwriters often keep notebooks handy to jot down interesting lyrics and melodies, so they don’t forget them. We can do the same for analogies and metaphors!
- Any time you hear a terrific metaphor or analogy, write it down and include the context.
I watched with delight as a presales person used two plastic water bottles to model the impact of siloed data: When closed, there was no way to bring the data together, but when opened, they could be poured together into a cup, combining the information in ways that were previously impossible. Ahhh, refreshing!
- Collect promising candidates from your reading and listening. From books and articles to podcasts and webinars, any time you come across something you like, capture it.
- The web has numerous sources for metaphors and analogies, from simple examples to famous quotes. Take a look!
- Poll your colleagues (particularly those who can create them on the fly). At your next team meeting ask, “Is anyone using any particularly effective analogies or metaphors?” It is likely that one or more of your team have some great ones!
When you actively listen for metaphor and analogy candidates, you awaken your brain and sharpen your focus. Imagine chatting with colleagues in a bar where a jazz band is playing softly: It’s the difference between ignoring the music vs realizing that the group is good and leaning in to listen intently to the sweet, sultry sounds of the sax!
Once you have captured examples you want to apply, here are some tips for daily use:
- Like so many things in the Wonderful World of Discovery and Demos, practice is important! Rehearse your new analogies and metaphors in dry runs and role-play sessions. Get feedback from your peers on how they resonate and get comfortable with your delivery.
- Next, test with real audiences and assess the impact. Are people nodding their heads? Does it appear that the ideas resonate with them? One of the best ways to determine success is when you hear your prospects and customers repeat and reuse the analogies and metaphors you shared with them!
- Next, take a lesson from stand-up comedians: They test new material and if it works, they include it in their act going forward, refining and improving the “bit” with each delivery. And, of course, material that fails is scrapped. You can apply the same methods in your demos and discovery calls as well.
- Finally, when you have material that really resonates, share it with your colleagues. Make it a virtuous feedback loop!
Next: What about stories?
Resources:
The Power of Analogies and Metaphors in Demos and Discovery Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4:
Examples of Metaphors:
https://blog.udemy.com/metaphor-list/
Examples of Analogies:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/analogy
Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)
Doing Discovery:
https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/
Great Demo! Third Edition:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/
Visual Aids and Props:
https://greatdemo.com/remarkable-demos-what-makes-a-demo-truly-memorable/
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