We often use analogies to help our clients tell their stories. We find the more complicated the subject matter or the more novel the concept, the more helpful it can be to use an analogy to help people grasp your ideas.

An analogy is a similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based: For instance, one can see a similarity between the heart and a pump.

Here are a few other examples of analogies used to explain complicated subject matter:

• Example No. 1 “We are kind of like eHarmony, but for jobs,” Rob McGovern, founder, Jobfox. This statement was made during an interview with NPR and we found it to be helpful in immediately explaining what Jobfox does – matching folks to the right jobs. In addition to highlighting Jobfox’s value proposition, we found it to be memorable.
• Example No. 2 comes to us from an article on Ragan.com containing 10 tips for writing numbers and numerals. To explain the difference between the two, Michael Moser writes: “A number is an abstract concept, whereas a numeral is a symbol used to express that number. “Three,” “3″ and “III” are all symbols used to express the same number (or the concept of “threeness”). One could say that the difference between a number and its numeral is like the difference between a person and her name.”
• Example No. 3 comes from a quote in a Serials Solutions press release and compares the Summon™ service to Google: “What Google does for the Worldwide Web, the Summon service will do for libraries,” said Jane Burke, vice president, Serials Solutions. “It’s a transformation in library service that addresses our community’s most pressing need: a simple entry point to the vastness of library collections. One search box, one results screen, one path to the best, most credible content.”

So how does one come up with a good analogy? Here are a few tips that we often use to come up with the right comparisons:

1. Get clear on the key attributes and the correlating benefits of your product or service.
2. Brainstorm “like” scenarios with a small group of people, ideally no more than four or five. Ask everyone to fill in the blanks to this statement:
   • Our service XYZ does ___________ and ________________ just like a ____________________ (person/company) does ________________ and __________________.
3. Don’t criticize the ideas as people share them, as it will inhibit creativity. Instead, record them all so you can critically review them later. Once you have your top two or three analogies, you may want to socialize them with a couple of people who are not familiar with the subject matter to see if your analogies resonate with them.
4. Remember you’re striving for a description that helps folks grasp your concept. It likely will not be an exact correlation to your product or service. This point is important if you’re brainstorming with folks who tend to take information literally, or who look for information to be presented in a tangible or concrete manner versus information that is more abstract.
5. Finally, we recommend that you start paying attention in your reading for good examples of analogies.

Analogies can be a powerful way to bring your story to life, but they need to be relevant, clear and compelling.