Using Analogies

I have written, so far, numerous articles about using analogies to explain away complexities.  Well, I’m glad that out there in the online world, there are advocates to it, too.  I just receive an email from TechRepublic Daily Digest; the Head of Blogs Editor, Toni Bowers advised that it’s very useful to use analogies to help layman understand and appreciate technicalities - Use analogies to explain technical subjects to end user.

So, my readers out there, do heed this – whichever areas you are akin to, or are a specialist to, remember that there are many around you who are not familiar with your trade, hence the jargons you are so familiar with.  If you continue to explain technicalities with technicalities, then you will expect that those listening to you will be baffled.  What’s worse, they will also be turned off by you, and probably try to avoid you, having been made to feel so ’stupid’ for not knowing and not understanding.

So, bottomline – it’s wise to always think of how you could explain technical jargons using analogies.  Yes, there are alot out there who may feel that using analogies is simple and a logical thing to do, yet if you don’t take effort to think of appropriate, and related ones, you may baffle people even more.