First Chief Justice Roberts at his confirmation hearing in 2005 with his baseball analogy and now, most recently, at Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing with her Jenga and chess metaphors. It is interesting to note how in high stakes – and often controversial – situations, speakers invariably reach for metaphors to make their points.
Chief Justice Roberts
You may recall Congress and the public were concerned that a conservative Chief Justice would use his position to color his decisions. Roberts knew he had to defuse that concern and his baseball analogy — well-thought-out and easily grasped by both the public and Congress–helped him do that. In response to how he saw his role, he replied,
“My personal appreciation is that I owe a great debt to others and it reinforces my view that a certain humility should characterize the judicial role. Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them. The role of an umpire and the judge is critical to make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire…..And I will remember it is my role to calls balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat. (His full response can be seen here.)
Justice Barrett
Fast forward to a few weeks ago in our highly charged pre-election result times and Barrett used key metaphors twice during her hearing. She used an analogy (an extended metaphor) to explain a legal concept not likely known to the lay public and then a metaphor to clearly position herself as her own woman.
You’ll recall that the fate of the ACA health care law was very much on the minds of Americans during Barrett’s hearing on October 14, because its survival was about to be threatened by a case that would come before her, if confirmed, and the court on Nov. 10. The issue would come down to “severability,” i.e. if a piece of law is removed, can that law still stand?
(Supreme Court decision is expected June 2021)
Barrett came prepared to explain the issue and how the case would be decided, with, again, an analogy everyone could understand. She
said,
“If you picture severability being like a Jenga game, it’s kind of like, if you pull one piece out, can you pull it out while it all stands? If you pull two pieces out, will it all stand?” Barrett said, “Severability is designed to say, ‘Well, would Congress still want the statute to stand even with the provision gone?’” (For more on that exchange, click here.)
In another widely held concern, that of her deference to the President should the election outcome be in dispute, Barrett made her position clear, not with a baseball analogy, but with an easily understood chess metaphor: “I certainly hope that all members of the committee have more confidence in my integrity than to think that I would allow myself to be used as a pawn to decide the election for the American people.”
Take-Away
While it is unlikely you will be before a Senate Judiciary committee interviewing for the job of Supreme Court justice, it is likely you will be in any of these high stakes business situations at one time or another:
- A job interview
- Bidding on a big contract vs. competition
- Justifying a fee
- Reassuring a client when something goes wrong
- Explaining a complex concept
- Positioning yourself as a vendor of choice
Like Roberts and Barrett, in your situations, think through the best analogies/metaphors to make your points. Follow their examples and make what you say easy to understand and appropriate to your buyer’s/audience’s world to get the results you want.
Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay! – with Metaphors
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