Verbal images -- examples, metaphors, analogies and stories -- help audiences better understand complex matters and feel more comfortable about change. Here's how to make them work better for your goals:
*Use verbal images that your audiences will easily understand. What sounds better to you? "Trapped between Scylla and Charybidis" or "Caught between a rock and hard place." They say the same thing.
*Be aware of your audience's emotional response to the verbal image. A New York City-base planner was working on a .development plan for a suburban Long Island town. In his initial presentation, he used examples of good planning from the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bad mistake. A number of the town's residents moved out of places like Brooklyn. You can imagine what they thought of a planner who they thought was trying to bring Brooklyn into their town.
*Use imagery that elicits strong, but not extreme, emotions. I was talking with a planner in Montana about how I could both support the concept of the American Institute of Certified Planners' Certification Maintenance program while opposing its design. I said "you can support economic development, but that is not a blanket endorsement of eminent domain." I picked this image because of the strong emotions elicited by the words "eminent domain" (especially in Western states). The planner said that analogy helped him see the issue in a new light.
*Use verbal images that your audiences will easily understand. What sounds better to you? "Trapped between Scylla and Charybidis" or "Caught between a rock and hard place." They say the same thing.
*Be aware of your audience's emotional response to the verbal image. A New York City-base planner was working on a .development plan for a suburban Long Island town. In his initial presentation, he used examples of good planning from the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Bad mistake. A number of the town's residents moved out of places like Brooklyn. You can imagine what they thought of a planner who they thought was trying to bring Brooklyn into their town.
*Use imagery that elicits strong, but not extreme, emotions. I was talking with a planner in Montana about how I could both support the concept of the American Institute of Certified Planners' Certification Maintenance program while opposing its design. I said "you can support economic development, but that is not a blanket endorsement of eminent domain." I picked this image because of the strong emotions elicited by the words "eminent domain" (especially in Western states). The planner said that analogy helped him see the issue in a new light.
*Use images that connect to what concerns your audiences. Parents are concerned about the safety of their children. If you're trying to promote the development of sidewalks, you would have more success getting audiences to envision the dangers to children walking on streets.
*Unless you feel there is no better image, avoid images that elicit extreme emotional responses. Words like "steal," "rape," "Nazi," "Hitler," are more likely to cause your audience to roll their eyes than raise their eyebrows.
*Use images of experiences that you might have in common with your audiences. No matter how different we are, we all have experiences of growing up, being nervous, shopping, having friends. These kinds of images will help you connect with your audience.
*Stories -- also known as visions, scenarios or simulations -- are excellent tools for helping audiences feel comfortable about pursuing change. They help audiences understand and visualize complex and abstract information. My favorite stories make the audience members the main characters in the world that the plan envisions. ("Imagine you are walking down _________. You see _______. You hear _____."
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1 comment:
Stories may be good in some circumstances. However, with some people, especially some cultures or when English is not the 1st language, they tend to be very literal. Analogies do not work well.
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