I was in a club meeting today, it was for religion and the bible. The basic idea was that they were reading, studying, interpreting, and generally analyzing the bible. Over and over again, they group leaders would bring in a story or an example to use as an analogy for a specific part of the bible. It worked quite well. Even though I did not agree with the person particular view or interpretation, I understood it better. I could grasp what he was saying, it came across clear. This I believe goes back to speaking to a diverse audience. Even though the stories had nothing to do with the bible. I as a person who never read the bible understood the thinking. I thought at the time of this realization, that I could use this technique to explain scientific processes to non-science majors. Just like an Art major could try to explain art techniques to me. They are an aid to a language barrier.
Yes Zii,
ReplyDeleteI agree that a good metaphor or simile can help the speaker to engage the audience and in turn, bring about a greater understanding. This might be accomplished through a narrative that acts as a metaphor for a topic's deeper meanings. Or as a simile which relates the speaker's main point to another thing to assist the audience in better grokking the subject. These are both super valuable tools in any speech writing.