Giving advice about how to live or how to succeed in business, can often, for various reasons, fall on deaf ears as “yeah, yeah, yeah.” However, add a metaphorical punch to that advice and watch what happens! Here are three pieces of routine advice delivered in a way to turn “yeah, yeah, yeah” into “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
#1: “Happiness is Caring About Others:” Use a Story
(Sent to me by a friend on Facebook. Origin: Joseph Bonner)
A professor gave a balloon to every student, who had to inflate it, write their name on it and throw it in the hallway. The professor then mixed all the balloons. The students were then given 5 minutes to find their own balloon. Despite a hectic search, no one found their balloon.
At that point, the professor told the students to take the first balloon that they found and hand it to the person whose name was written on it. Within 5 minutes, everyone had their own balloon.
The professor said to the students: “These balloons are like happiness. We will never find it if everyone is looking for their own. But if we care about other people’s happiness, we’ll find ours too.”
Thought provoking. Clever, Impactful.
#2: “You Need to Act Now to Get What You Want:” Use a Prop
(First appeared in The Metaphor Minute, November 30,2007)
Danny Easton [then] of Lifegym Ltd, a UK based company specializing in leadership performance and career development didn’t want the lessons of his seminars brushed aside like that. Many years ago, he discovered a brilliant (metaphoric) way to drive home his point and ensure that participants would take real action after his programs.
One seminar Danny teaches focuses on life management during which participants examine what they want in life in a number of areas from family relationships and careers to personal fulfillment. They look at the gap between those goals and where they are now, and then lay out specific action steps to help them reach those objectives. It’s a pretty intense exercise as people realize they are no closer to getting what they want now than they were years ago. At the end of the program, Danny as seminar leader reminds them of what they said they wanted, of what it would feel like to achieve what they wanted, and encourages them to implement their action steps immediately.
But he does this with a twist. [Feel free to play along.]
“Sometimes I end this program with a ‘life ribbon’. This is simply a strip of flip chart paper with 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 written in even spaces along the horizontal tape.
I ask the group what age they think they’ll live to on average (usually people say about 80). I show them the ribbon and
ask them to imagine this represents the time span of their life. I ask them what the average age of the group is now. Usually this is about 35-40, so I immediately tear off the first section of the ribbon, up to the 40 mark.
Then I show them the strip remaining, saying, ‘OK – so this is the time we have left to do all the stuff we’ve dreamed of in the last 84 minutes. Of this time, how long will we spend sleeping?’ and mostly people reckon a third, so I tear off another chunk. ‘How much time will we spend in traffic jams, or queueing or waiting for people?’ and tear off a bit more… ‘How much time will we spend making love? If you’re married like me this will probably be a tiny corner (ha ha!) and I tear off a tiny bit more.
By this stage I only have a small chunk of the ribbon in my hand. I then say, ‘So actually this is all the time we have left to do all the things we’ve promised – so what’s the solution? ‘ To which the answer is always, ‘Get going now .’ Often, people ask for a clip of the ribbon to carry to remind them to go for it every day.”
Says Danny. “This little demonstration helps raise the energy at the end of the session and, most important, means the participants leave with a very pro-active focus.” [Did it work for you?]
#3: “Networking is Key to Success:” Use a Hypothetical
Years ago I taught a career change course for teachers. Tentative about networking outside the comfort of their known educational circles, they needed a dramatic push to get them past their fear of pro-active networking in the great big world of business. Telling them to do that wasn’t enough. Using this analogy was.
I began the class by asking them to think of someone close to them. Then, I said, “Now imagine this person has a terrible disease and is going to die within a year.” I paused for a few seconds to let that horrible image sink in. 
Then I said, “BUT, the good news is there is one doctor in the country who can save that person. Raise your hand if you think you would find that doctor.” (Every hand shot up.)
I asked, “What would you do to find that doctor?” Answers flew back at me. “Call my doctor.” “Go online.” “Call my Congress person.” “Check out medical directories.” “Call local hospitals.” “Go on TV.” “Contact reporters.” Etc.
I followed with, “And would you do these things sequentially or simultaneously? For example, would you call your doctor and if she were on vacation for a week, would you wait until she returned, before you started an online campaign?” The responses were universal. “Of course not!” “No!” “Don’t be ridiculous!” Etc.
“And,” I continued, “What would you do, say, if you didn’t personally know an influential reporter who you really thought could help you?” Without hesitation, I heard, “I’d find someone who did.” ‘I’d go to their office.” “I’d call until they took my call.” Etc.
“Exactly!” I said. “Since you could not know which source would yield you information for finding that doctor, you would reach out to all these sources simultaneously and, if you didn’t have direct access to any one source, you would find another way to reach that person. Right?” Nods all around.
I ended, “SIMILARLY, finding your next job is like finding that doctor. You need to be reaching out to many sources simultaneously in a committed and strategic way.” You could see the light going on in their heads and feel a new, fearless energy in the room
After this exercise, it was really easy to get them to develop and execute pro-active networking strategies, which turned into jobs for many of them.
Your Turn
What advice do you give people? How can you use a metaphorical story, prop, or hypothetical situation to ensure it will be followed?
Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay! – with Metaphors
Balloon photo: Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
Ribbon Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash
Leap photo: Photo by Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash
NB Last month’s Metaphor Minute “Wrap It Up – with a Metaphor” illustrated how long, technical or complex explanations and arguments become even more powerful and memorable when wrapped up with a metaphor. Shortly after, I noticed a Wall Street Journal editorial backing Senator Joe Manchin’s resistance to extended unaffordable entitlement spending. Politics aside, The Journal used this simple, but powerful metaphor to wrap up its argument: “The point for Congress is that you don’t buy a Ferrari when you can’t afford to fix your leaky roof.”
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