The spoken word, wisely chosen – beats the heck out of a slick brochure.

Injecting literary devices in your speaking can help you beat the heck out of a slick brochure and win the noisy world, attention battle with other speakers – who are competing for the limited attention of your listener.

Consider this passage on pp. 60-61 of the stellar book, Made to Stick, by Dan and Chip Heath.

‘Good metaphors are “generative”. The psychologist Donald Schon introduced this term to describe metaphors that generate “new perceptions, explanations, and inventions . . . For example, Disney calls its employees, ‘cast members’. This metaphor of employees as cast members in a theatrical production is communicated consistently throughout the organisation:

• Cast members don’t interview for a job, they audition for a role. 
• When they are walking around the park, they are onstage.
• Jobs are performances; uniforms are costumes.

The above is contained in my POST, A process for constructing business metaphors. The post has a process for generating your own metaphors.

Own the Conversation

In the next seven days, construct a fresh metaphor and test drive it in a safe interaction.

Ask yourself, ‘What are the opportunities to use metaphors in my next presentation?’

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p.s. here is 2017 Nine Network article ‘What Donald Trump’s handshake says about him, which includes my analysis of Trump’s handshake. It might interest.