Ep #83 When Telling A Story Isn't Just Telling A Story: The Power of Metaphoric Communication

The Brain Language Podcast

1. What is important about stories, and metaphors in communication? When someone studies the great communicators, past and present, they all use metaphors and analogies to illustrate their points.
Metaphors compare things that are less understandable to familiar things. They create new meanings, make complex ideas understandable, motivate interest, and influence ideas. They create images that people can understand rather than literal words

2. What is the difference between a story, metaphor, and an analogy? A simple story conveys a description of something. A metaphor communicates two or more levels of meaning. Using metaphors can deliver directly to the unconscious.

3. How do individual words represent our experience as metaphors? George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their book, Metaphors We Live By state, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life not just in language by also by thought and action. This is the concept system. It is metaphorical in nature. Our concepts structure how we perceive the world around us. Much of our language is metaphors. So we cannot get along by language alone. How we experience our everyday life is metaphorical. Communication is war. Communication is dance. Love is a journey, time is money, love is madness

4. As one of the most important and overlooked skills in communication, how can we get better at using them in everyday interactions as well as speeches? Listen to how you use words to describe things in your world. Listen to how others use words to describe their world. Look at situations – what are they like in unrelated areas? Be more intentional about listening to others. Deeper insight into people. Linking abstract ideas to concrete

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