Using Similes and Metaphors in Presentations

In today’s busy world, grabbing audience’s attention is no easy task and so if you really want your audience to understand your message evidently, then by Using Similes and Metaphors in Presentations you can easily create a positive impact. Indeed, with the effective use of Similes and Metaphors, you can convey your ideas beautifully.

To create pictorial images in your listener’s minds, you can use similes, which say that one thing is like another varied thing. Both similes and metaphors compare two dissimilar things that have some alike properties. A metaphor is a figure of speech that connects one or more things together. Metaphors are of great use to convey complicated information simply. For example, if we need to show a business roadmap or timeline we can use the road metaphor with traffic symbols and lights, and model a timeline with milestones above a road illustration, like in the future planning template below.

No doubt, not all Metaphors and Similes will help you to explain your Presentation topic. Thus, it would be recommended to choose them carefully as they play a vital role in making your presentation successful one. Take a look at some of the guidelines of using them appropriately:

• When you are using Similes and Metaphors, they should simplify each individual component, so that you can easily extend them throughout your presentation.
• With only a brief explanation, your audience should be able to understand what all you have conveyed. It’s not like that your metaphor has to speak for itself, but it should relate a new accounting system to thermodynamics which is not useful if your listeners fail to understand.
• The main purpose of using Similes and Metaphors that they should not make your Presentation topic more difficult to understand, but to simplify it as much as possible. Only then, you will be able to deliver a great Presentation.
• Make sure you use Metaphors and Similes precisely as they are effective in explaining something unfamiliar in more familiar conditions. Further on, it enhances better understanding among audiences at large.
• To create a magnificent impression among your audience, use metaphor that captures the entire idea of your presentation and helps making your Presentation memorable one.

You can read about Presentation Etiquette.

Another example of metaphors would be for example when we need to prepare a SWOT analysis with detailed strengths, weakness, opportunity and threat. You can use a nice SWOT slide design with business men with different gestures and postures as a metaphor for each feature.

Therefore, before preparing for a Presentation it is a great idea to use metaphor and smile in your Presentation as it will certainly save you a lot of trouble and time. Not just this, the end result will come in the form of improved understanding and memory.