Do you speak on a regular basis about a dry topic? Do you find the audience’s eyes glazing over? Do you feel you are boing yourself with your topic? I once had a client who was putting together a presentation about a complex set of laws that govern rules pertaining to investing in pension funds. The presentation was heavy on statistics and facts but little else. We decided to use a simple analogy …a bar! The manager became the SEC, the patrons became the investors, and the waiters became the hedge fund executives. Suddenly, the presentation came to life , and this complicated subject became much more digestible . I had another client who used her childhood experience of witnessing the aftermath of a tornado as an analogy for the aftermath of the 2008 stock market collapse. Her presentation was excellent .

Many people think that it’s enough to simply relay the facts in a presentation. It’s not. We must challenge ourselves to make our presentations digestible, and interesting. Analogies serve these purposes.

Before making your next presentation, make a list of five analogies that might work for your topic. You can use one blanket analogy for the entire presentation or a series of analogies for multiple concepts in your presentation. Keep in mind the more personal your analogy, the more likely you will catch your audience’s attention!