Become a Master of Metaphor and Multiply Your Blogging Effectiveness

Aristotle and countless other masterful communicators have harnessed the power of metaphor to effectively persuade and inform.

Metaphors allow you to make the complex simple and the controversial palatable.

Conversely, metaphors allow you to create extraordinary meaning out of the seemingly mundane.

People often associate metaphor with poetry, literature, and art, but we all use metaphor in our day-to-day conversation, often without realizing it. Because they are so effective at instantly communicating both tangible and conceptual information, metaphorical expressions are woven throughout the fabric of the English language.

Metaphors ignite understanding

Consider the following:

She has a special place in my heart

I’m at the height of my career

Education is the gateway to success

Life in the fast lane

She followed in her mother’s footsteps

A blanket of snow fell last night

While metaphor is pervasive in our everyday discourse, the strategic use of metaphorical expression can be one of the most persuasive techniques in your linguistic toolbox. Simply altering a single word, phrase, or story can make the difference between the success and failure of an argument or presentation.

Lee Iacocca and the Chrysler Safety Net

In her book Metaphorically Selling, Anne Miller recounts the tale of the 1980 Congressional grant of $1.2 billion in loan guarantees to the then failing Chrysler Corporation. To avoid the bankruptcy of Chrysler and the inevitable loss of thousands of jobs, Lee Iacocca went to Washington looking for a bailout.

Of course, a bailout was the last thing Congress was interested in providing at that point. Iacocca reframed the request using the vivid metaphor of a “safety net” that would prevent a significant percentage of American citizens from falling into economic turmoil.

With that one simple phrase, Iacocca turned the perception of the loans away from a potential blight on taxpayers, and towards an exercise in responsible government.

Visual words rock harder

Metaphors are so powerful because of one simple fact of human psychology: we react more readily to the emotional than the rational.

Thanks to the differences between the two hemispheres of our brains, what catches our attention and sticks with us is what we see and feel via our right brain. After that, the rational left hemisphere can be engaged by the relational nature of the metaphorical information itself.

Put another way, visual words work better than words lacking in imagery when it comes to effective communication, as long as they also satisfy our left brain by being something we can logically relate to.

Iacocca substituted the concept of the “safety net” in lieu of the inevitable “bailout” stigma in order to invoke a strong image in the mind, which also coincided with many people’s view of the purpose of responsible government. The “safety net” visual reframed the issue, thereby allowing the members of Congress to logically justify the loan guarantees not as a corporate favor, but as the duty of a sound governing body.

How to blog metaphorically

Crafting great metaphors takes time and thought, even for the most proficient of wordsmiths. After we’re through with the Blogging Metaphorically series, I’m convinced that anyone will be able to harness the power of metaphor to become a stronger blogger, even if your vocabulary is as bad as, like, whatever.

So right. I try to use this when sharing complex ideas with clients. A good metaphor paints a picture your reader (or listener) can grasp instantly. Dishing up the same information in word form is an invitation to nap.

On the other token, I love it when newspeople mix their metaphors.
~;>)

Marc, I want to make sure that I comprehend one of your statements:
“Dishing up the same information in word form is an invitation to nap.” Are you saying that metaphors bore the reader?
If so, I disagree. I believe that written metaphors stimulate the reader and keep the writing more interesting. If I misunderstood you, will you please clarify your comment? Thanks!

In my opinion it is also something that comes natural.
I.e. In Amsterdam we’re big fans of comparing; we speak in similes and metaphors in daily conversation.

On the other hand if you get used to it, the risk of using it too often is bigger. In that case it’ll start to look like rambling in writing, which offcourse will result in boring the HELL out of your readers.

It’s important to note the difference between a metaphor and its (arguably) less powerful cousin the simile. Similes are pretty easy to identify since they use ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make the comparison between two things.

To take one of the examples from the post:

Metaphor: A blanket of snow fell last night.
Simile: Last night’s snow was like a blanket covering everything.

I think the original poster gets the difference … but drops the ball in the final line with:

I got that it was a joke! I’m really looking forward to this series on metaphor, so excited in fact, that I was inspired to comment for the first time! Thank you for all your valuable tips and lessons, your blog is a frequent resource for me.

have you ever read aristotle? i’m pretty sure he could not be counted as a great writer. most of what he wrote was only half-finished and in note form.

this is not to say that he was a poor thinker; he’s ideas and observations are very much applicable in today’s world. however, calling him a great communicator is an elephant of an exaggeration. special thanks should go to the translators for making aristotle comprehensible.

Great series–I’m sure your readers will greatly benefit from a succinct primer on metaphor, simile, and analogy. I did my dissertation on using it skillfully in developing the branding and communication strategies for complex, “really new” products and services. But understanding at least the basics is critical for converting casual surfers into a commited congregation of devotees–and we all know “stickiness” is make or break for long-term blogging success.
Thanks also for reminding me that I need to pick up Miller’s book to see how she’s distilled the key concepts for marketing and PR contexts.

P.S. gotta love the Chicago Trib blurb for her book–“Metaphors are communication home runs. This book shows you how to hit them.”

Your readers who are interested in more depth from one of the top academics studying metaphorical THOUGHT as opposed to just language might want to read works by George Lakoff such as More than Pure Reason or Metaphors We Live By. (They’re fairly accessible to a general audience)

The quote from Aristoteles is not a bad opener, but I believe this one would have served you well as your closing argument by underlining that regardless how great metaphors are they cannot stand alone: “Imagination could hardly do without metaphor, for imagination is, literally, the moving around in one’s mind of images, and such images tend commonly to be metaphoric. Creative minds, as we know, are rich in images and metaphors, and this is true in science and art alike. The difference between scientist and artist has little to do with the ways of the creative imagination; everything to do with the manner of demonstration and verification of what has been seen or imagined.” Robert A. Nisbet

What about the distinction between a tired metaphor and something new or an old one with a twist?

“Old hat” metaphors, or those that have become cliched, bear the danger of having a reader’s brain gloss right over the impact point – metaphors are best used to call attention to a point so you have to grab the reader. Give them something that their mind doesn’t immediately jump to, stop them in their tracks so they can say “Wait a minute…oh, i see.”

Are there any sample extended metaphors in here? Metaphors describe somethings rather exaggeratedly yet are enjoyable than saying ,’She fell.’
Instead say that ,’She was trash that slipped its way out of the bag onto the unbreakable driveway.’ Ok. Kind of lame but I think you get my point.

I was so excited about these ideas that I only gave credit to the person (Kevin Tan) who’s link led me here. Unfortunately I neglected to give the credit where it’s really due to (Brian Clark) the author. My apologies.
Rick Clark

Good site, great advice, writing is a skill like any other that will improve with practice, even the most gifted authors continue writing in order to get better at it. I’ve had dreams of writing for a long time and started out by visualising the story but never got to writing anything down. My head is full of stories, the hesitation to write things down is because you wonder if others will find your writing interesting. Anyway I started blogging in November last year and it’s a great way of expressing creativy and honing my skills. Another skill that improves writing is reading!