77. The magic of metaphors

Yes, I have been called the Queen of Metaphors. In this episode I explain why you should use metaphors in your speaking and how you can find inspiration when you're stuck!

Transcript

Hello! Welcome to Episode 77 of That Voice Podcast, The Magic of Metaphors. If you're new to the podcast, welcome, great to have you here. It's not often I'm speaking about literary devices, but I thought it would be a good episode to do because people are often saying to me, "Sal, you're the Queen of Metaphors. I love your metaphors!" And it's true. I do use a lot of metaphors in my social media posting, in my coaching, and in general life as well. And it's come up because you may have seen, I am running Voice and Vinho again! I really encourage you to come along. The link is in the show notes.

And what we do in this online party is I use wine as the metaphor for all of the teachings that I'm providing. And so we're going to be branding your voice, like an eye-catching bottle of wine. What would your bottle look like if your voice was a wine? We're going to develop your voice to be as full-bodied as beautiful, rich red wine. Speak with the clarity of a beautiful, crisp white. Present with the effervescence of a vintage champagne. How do you get engagement and effervescence in your voice? And of course, we're going to be working on loving our voice and not in moderation. I'll admit, my metaphors are a bit corny sometimes, but they're really, really effective way to remember concepts. And I'd really encourage you to come along to the Voice and Vinho Party. It's happening in June, but the tickets are cheaper if you get them early. So head to the link in the show notes and join us for the party.

So what is a metaphor? Well, a metaphor is just, as you can hear, comparing one thing to another. It's making a comparison. We also use similes and analogies, but don't worry. I'm not going to take you back to high school English here. Basically, it's using language that makes a comparison. Why a metaphor is so effective? Well, they activate our imagination. The human brain thinks in pictures. So if we can activate someone's imagination, we're going to engage them. We're going to share concepts that are more memorable. And it creates a point of reference. So when you're sharing information, that's quite foreign. So in my case, let's look at something like breathing. If I was to say to you, "Okay, now, as you inhale the external intercostal muscles bring the rib cage up with an outwards to make space for the lungs to expand. And then as you exhale, the internal intercostal muscles draw the rib cage in. And at the same time, the diaphragm rise--" Oh my God! I am getting bored, listening to myself! It is much easier if I just say, "You want to be breathing low and deep. Imagine that your buttocks are your lungs..." Well actually, the more effective visualization of this is, imagine that it’s your hoo-ha - breathe down there.

And that's what wI amill get the air in, nice and low and deep. But that's a much simpler way to explain what you need to do. I use a lot of metaphors, especially in voice production. I talk about speaking from the heart, like literally have the vibrations from the heart. When I'm talking about forward focus, I say, imagine that your words are floating in space. Kind of like chips like that scene out of the Simpsons. And as you're talking, you are physically reaching forward to grab those chips. In media training, I use it all the time. I talk about staying in your lane. So if you imagine you're in lane four of the pool, you get a question from lane one, you've got to swim out, get them and drag them back into your lane. That's the way I explain using bridging. The bridging concept. And yes, if you've seen any of my posts or been part of any of my courses, you'll be able to see that I do use so many metaphors.

If you're feeling stuck about using metaphors for your own speaking, here's a bit of a process that you can go through. So the first thing is you work out, you know, what is the concept that you're trying to explain? So let's go with mine, which is breathing. So what is the message I want to get across? Step two is the message. I want to explain that oxygen powers the voice. And so then I think, okay, well, what are some other things that have that same quality? What are some other things that power, right? Well, fuel powers a car. The wind powers a kite. You know, you start thinking about these other ways. And so, I'll often say, "Oxygen fuels your voice. The car's not going to go without petrol or gas, depending where in the world you are. The voice isn't going to go without it's fuel, which is the air."

Let's apply this to a product. So let's say our concept is a beautiful face mask. And the message is that it leaves your skin feeling smooth. So you'd think about what are some other things that sound smooth? Ice? Like silky smooth? What about top-shelf Whiskey is pretty smooth? And that's where you can start to have some fun and be quite clever with your metaphors. When you're really using something totally different to the meaning of what you're trying to say. So for example, the way that I want you to have a really rich, resonant voice. Rich, like a good red, I could also say rich, like the Royal Family. So I'm using different definitions of the word "rich" to create that metaphor, to open up the imagination, to create that memorable concept. And yeah, that's about it. I just wanted to do a short, sweet podcast this week.

The takeaways are to start using metaphors. Use it in your writing, use it in your speaking, especially in your speaking. When you're trying to make that connection, if you can light up the imagination of your audience and make what you're saying, memorable. That's what it's all about, isn't it? And across the board, especially when I'm working with my one-on-one clients for conference presentations or media training, we really work on what metaphors are going to be most effective. And by all reports, they work extremely well. You can build a very effective presentation of one good metaphor. The other takeaway is come along to Voice and Vinho. It's a whole bunch of fun and it is the "taster". See what I'm doing there? It is the taster for My Six Week Voice Makeover. So if you've been thinking about doing My Six Week Voice Makeover, then come along to the Voice and Vinho Party, it will really set you up well, because we're looking at vocal brand. And that's where it all starts from. And, you get to drink wine! Oh, It's virtual, so you can drink whatever you like. So head to the link in the show notes, buy your ticket for Voice and Vinho, and I will see you next week.