How to Create Breathtaking Analogies
One summer, I was hired for an internship at an aerospace company.
It was a transformative experience that allowed me to work with business analysts, electrical engineers, coders, and more.
Once I came back from summer, plenty of engineering students were eager to understand what I did.
My response may have swayed their careers.
Once the upcoming year was done, we’d graduate and begin applying for full-time jobs.
- Should they set their eyes on the aerospace field as well?
The students gathered around me.
I began explaining the technical concepts from my internship.
- Knots, altitude, air pressure, instrumentation systems, and much more.
I went into detail.
These technical concepts must have lit a fire in their belly, right?
Nah.
All I saw were glazed faces desperately trying not to fall asleep.
Soon, students began to excuse themselves one by one.
The next day, I was chilling with one of my friends who doesn’t sugarcoat anything.
He said:
‘Armani, they didn’t like your message because they didn’t understand your message.’
After hearing that blunt response, I realized I needed a do-over.
I was going to explain what I did for the summer.
This time, I was going to do it correctly…
The next day, I go to the same spot that the students fled from a few days earlier.
I gathered them around me once again.
My explanation would start off with a series of questions.
I asked:
‘You guys drive all the time. Let me ask you. How would life be different if you did not have the left or right side view mirrors?’
That question sparked their imagination.
Some of them began looking left and right.
One guy responded:
‘If I didn’t have those mirrors, I’d always be abruptly turning my neck when switching lanes.’
Then I raised the stakes:
‘Imagine you didn’t have the rearview mirror either. What then?’
They thought about it.
Eventually, one guy angrily responds:
‘That’s the mirror that lets me know if some fucker is tailgating me. If they are, then I drive slower! Without that mirror, I’d always be looking like this…’
He dramatically turns his body around, with a crisp middle finger, and begins waving it at the potential tailgater.
The students burst out laughing.
Time to raise the stakes even more.
I asked:
‘Now imagine you didn’t have the speedometer and gas tank meter either. What then?’
The already uncomfortable faces turned more uncomfortable.
One guy said:
‘Dude, I could do without the mirrors. But if the speedometer and gas tank meter weren’t there, then I could never drive in peace. I’d always feel uncertain. Am I driving too fast or too slow?? Do I need gas or am I good?’
Sensing their frustration, I said:
‘Do you see how uncomfortable you feel because you don’t have important information while driving?’
The students nod.
I respond:
‘Well, a lot of pilots feel the same level of discomfort when they are flying. Before, they were missing a lot of crucial information for flight. My company created tools to give them important information. We gave them their versions of mirrors, speedometers, and gas tank meters.’
As soon as I drew a connection between my internship and driving, I saw a bunch of faces light up.
1st Ingredient to Create Analogies: Knowledge
Number 1, we need knowledge from a variety of fields.
If I barely knew anything about driving, then I would not have been able to draw a parallel from my job to driving.
But since I drive, I was able to draw a parallel.
How do we know if we know enough to create an analogy?
2 simple tests are:
- Can you ramble on it?
- Can you explain it to a 5-year-old?
If you can ramble on it, then chances are you have a decent amount of theory/experience to form a coherent analogy.
If you can explain it to a 5-year-old, then chances are you understand the fundamentals of the field to form a coherent analogy.
The more you know, the easier it becomes to create stunning analogies.
But it’s not only about knowing a lot.
There is another ingredient.
2nd Ingredient to Create Analogies: Explain
The 2nd ingredient to create breathtaking analogies is to explain something.
The fact that I had to explain what I did at my internship provided an incentive to create an analogy.
- Explanations lead to connections.
When explaining something, activate the analogy irony.
Analogy Irony:
- View yourself as a genius.
- View the recipient as a dumbass.
When you view yourself as a genius, you are inclined to talk about something that you know in-depth.
Let’s say you are the Einstein of podcasting.
If you assume the other person is a genius like you, then you will get too technical.
If they ask, what is a podcast?
You’ll give a response like:
‘It is raw audio that has been converted into mp3 format which is uploaded into an audio server that is distributed to major platforms thru a RSS feed…blah blah blah.’
But let’s say you view the recipient as a dumbass.
They ask, what is a podcast?
You’ll give a response like:
‘A radio show for the internet.’
Crisp analogy!
Analogy Exercise
Try out the following exercise:
- Find a topic that you know very well.
- Assume the other person is an idiot.
- Explain the topic to the other person.
Let’s say you’re a master of the sport, Cricket.
You know the rules of the game & play it with your buddies.
The person you are explaining to knows nothing about the sport.
The only cricket they know is the insect.
Transfer your knowledge of Cricket into their mind.
As you are compressing your message, you’ll notice 1 analogy organically pop up in your explanation.
Keep viewing this fellow as an idiot.
Another analogy shows its face!
See?
This is fun.
When you sprinkle analogies into your talk, that’s when your message comes to LIFE.
For more public speaking tips, check out my eBook, the Speaking Wizard!
– ArmaniTalks 
