The magic of metaphor
The origins of storytelling are lost in the mists of time, no one actually knows when the first stories were told, certainly before man learned to write. There are ideas amongst scholars that originally it was about using the pictures on cave walls to tell others where the best hunting might be found or perhaps to recount a hunters heroic deed. The facts remain shrouded in mystery, however that mystery I believe makes the storytelling even more powerful than we conceive it to be.
It is not unreasonable to assume that the stories began to pass on history and tradition and developed through delivery of concepts or hunting to entertainment, which is arguably what the majority of stories now do. However there are still cultures around the world that pass on tradition and history through the medium of verbal story telling.
When we are young we are entranced by stories that are told by our parents usually backed up by images in a book; as the story is told we follow the pictures our imaginations absorbing every word even though we may not understand them. This process continues as part of our early life exposing us to language and the enjoyment of stories. As we age the books disappear and the stories become verbal and even though they are words we still have the innate ability to follow and understand, creating the images for ourselves. As we move through our early years we are asked to create stories from our imagination which we do with huge amounts of enthusiasm. As we create these stories we may base some of it in reality and the remainder embellished from our imagination or experience; we often make the stories more daring than the real life because we like excitement and believe that this engenders excitement in others.
Yet once we reach a certain age, unless we earn our living from writing fiction, the use of stories begin to disappear; this is particularly true for complex business issues or is it? We use metaphor regularly in our speech and explanations to others and yet we do not class these as stories, they're just things we do. These things that we do bring incredible power to our understanding and that of others when we need to consider those complex issues.
Story telling allows the narrator to provide a colourful picture of the events that have taken place in the recent or distant past. The process requires the narrator to be able to speak with passion and clarity around their story in a way which takes and holds the attention of those who are listening. A story can be listened to by any age at all, whether the content is suitable for the ages is a different question. The reality is that stories whether true or fabricated have the ability to generate within us a way for us to provide our own view on it and to process the meaning to us as an individual. As individuals we often make assumptions based on what we hear, the same can be said of when we hear stories. However it is important for us to understand that when we hear a story that we recognise when it is real or just a tale. This becomes much more important as we get older.
Metaphor or analogy is created through the stories of life, things that you have experienced and can be described in ways that others can also understand, for example the jigsaw analogy.
You create this effect through several connections with the audiences senses in much the same way that a comedian might do in the style of Michael McIntyre, who creates an image in the mind of something that the majority of people can relate to. The image itself is not the only trigger however, to be effective the language that is used needs to also tell the story. This is particularly important when you deal with any groups or audiences as they are unlikely to have the same primary senses. Statistics tell us that the majority of people are visual the next largest group is kinaesthetic and the last group auditory.
Therefore when we tell stories it is useful to use an imagery reference such as a jigsaw puzzle or some form of common reference that everyone can understand. From this we can start to tell our story and weave in the language that people associate with and thus it all comes to life. Of course the challenge is only just beginning, it becomes necessary to continue the story and keep it alive until the final point has been made.
As we all use analogy and metaphor in our daily lives, I believe that as long as we're comfortable with it, then we can use it on any occasion. Story telling through metaphor may seem silly and immature and some audiences may see it as that. The reality is that using them plugs into parts of our highly evolved brains that has developed over millennia and flicks some switches that just make difficult issues easier to understand. Don't be scared of it, embrace it, it's a fantastic tool. If you'd like to know more get in touch.