While illustrating tone of good customer service -

Trainer 1: You must please your customers with every transaction. Make them smile, be courteous. Show them that they are important to us.

Trainer 2: I was listening to Irfan Khan’s (actor) interview and the interviewer asked him, if given a choice, who would you work with – Deepa Nair or Danny Boyle. Irfan: whosoever gives me more importance and time!

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Coach 1 to wicket-keeper: crouch behind the striker and stay ready for the ball to be hit, you have to get the batsman out.

Coach 2 to wicket-keeper: you are to the team as ‘Stripey the Cub‘ to ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign; i.e., very essential. So, crouch behind the striker and don’t miss the ball.

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The examples above are to expose the difference between explaining and explaining with an analogy. In his book, ‘Analogy as Structure and Process’, Esa Itkonen emphasizes that ‘analogy is a central concept of language and linguistics’.

Question – Why analogies work?

Ans – Aren’t you more likely to buy a product for which you have seen an advertisement or heard from someone? Am sure the answer would be yes, moreover,

…analogies help you in building connections…

…the listener remembers the marrow for a very long time…

…they sound out of the box and  are very stimulating…

I completely agree with Dudley Malone that “One good analogy is worth three hours discussion.”

- Shweta S Awasthi @ http://shwetawasthi.wordpress.com/