Right off the bat, you should NOT try to memorise metaphors!
If your don’t understand the underlying message, the metaphor has nothing to “attach” to.
So the fix is not “remember more metaphors.”
It’s to be able to select and retrieve the appropriate ones, in real time, on demand.
Metaphors are powerful tools for explaining complex ideas because they link unfamiliar concepts to everyday experiences, making them more accessible and engaging. By creating vivid mental images and meaningful associations, metaphors help people comprehend, remember, and organise new information more effectively. They also simplify technical language, foster efficient communication, and make learning more relatable and persuasive.
They are the preferred method used to TRAIN rather than TEACH or TELL
Step 1 — Define The Message You’re Trying To Convey
If you skip this, you’re not going to “Master Metaphors”.
You must learn to reduce your MESSAGE to a single, short sentence:
“The point I’m trying to make is: ______”
Then refine it further:
- What is the core dynamic?
- Growth? Pressure? Trade-off? Delay? Compounding?
- What is the emotional tone?
- Urgency? Frustration? Opportunity? Risk?
Example:
- Weak: “Marketing takes time”
- Strong: “Consistent effort compounds slowly at first, then suddenly accelerates”
That second version is “metaphor-ready.”
Step 2 — Identify The Pattern (Of Your Message)
Every useful metaphor maps to a pattern humans already understand.
You need to learn to match your message to an already known, core pattern. Here are some examples:
| Business Concept | Underlying Pattern |
|---|---|
| Growth | Compounding / snowball |
| Overwhelm | Bottleneck / traffic jam |
| Strategy | Navigation / map |
| Risk | Fragility / house of cards |
| Execution | Engine / machine |
| Learning | Muscle building |
| Delay | Planting / farming |
It’s NOT about remembering metaphors.
It’s about understanding and recognising patterns.
Step 3 — Select A Familiar Domain
Now you need to attach the pattern to something visceral and familiar to the person you’re communicating with:
- Sport
- Health/fitness
- Money
- Driving
- Cooking
- Weather
- Nature
Rule of thumb:
If a smart 5th grader can’t visualise it, it’s a bad metaphor!
Example: Pattern = compounding
Domain options:
- Snowball
- Interest in a bank account
- Fitness gains
- Plant growth
Step 4 — Build The 1:1 Mapping Correspondence
This is where most people fail—they are vague and MUDDLE THE METAPHOR. This is due to their own lack of understanding of the pattern(s). You must explicitly map by associating: “In this metaphor” THIS = THAT.
Example:
“Marketing is like going to the gym”
- Marketing = workouts
- Consistency = frequency of training
- Results = muscle growth
- Early stage = no visible change
- Later stage = visible transformation
Now it becomes usable, repeatable and memorable.
Step 5 — Compress As Much As Possible
“Less is more and more is less.”
Take your metaphor and reduce it to a clean, punchy delivery:
“It’s like going to the gym — you don’t see results at first, but consistency eventually shows up as bigger or leaner muscles.”
If it takes more than 1–2 sentences, it’s too complex.
Step 6 — Store Retrieval Cues (Instead of memorising!)
Instead of trying to memorise full metaphors, try to associate them with categories based on their patterns.
Pattern → Domain → Trigger Phrase/Cue
Example:
- Compounding → Fitness → “It’s like going to the gym…”
- Bottleneck → Traffic → “It’s like a traffic jam…”
- Strategy → GPS → “It’s like using a map…”
This creates faster recall under pressure when you actually need the metaphor to accentuate your message.
The Core Rule
“If you don’t understand the idea (and the underlying pattern), muddling a metaphor will only make it worse.”
Metaphors are not for entertainment. They are a compression of understanding to enhance your message, not detract from it!
Why You Currently Struggle With Metaphors
- You try to memorise “cool phrases” with no structure and don’t know when or where they apply.
- You don’t understand the underlying patterns well enough which means you have to go back to square one to get your OWN thoughts re(organised)!
- You’re trying to recite exact wording which takes a high cognitive load when you’re in the middle of a conversation and it’s all too much to handle.
- You panic, you can’t find any threads between your message and available metaphors.
“The GOOD NEWS is you don’t need to remember metaphors.
The BAD NEWS is you MUST understand patterns to associate and apply the proper metaphor to your message — on demand.”
Common (Simple) Metaphors
More Complex Metaphors
- Running a Pizza Shop.
- 2 Guys in the woods, see a bear.
- How dolphins are trained.
- Getting to the bus stop (on time).
- Babies floating towards a waterfall.
- The $1 Bet (Movie: Trading Places).
- Matrix (movie) Metaphors.
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