The point behind the discussion on metaphor is not that their expression in language should be used to excess to convince people that they should buy your products or services. If you use classical metaphors unsparingly in your messaging, you wind up sounding foolish.
The occasional use of metaphorical language helps with making a point, and the over-the-top metaphor helps jar our brains into saying, “Stop, what’s going on here?”
While it is fun, it is not necessary to make up metaphorical language about beavers. Rather the point is that we think metaphorically. A metaphor exists in the brain as a connection of synapses and neurons. It can be expressed by language. So there is a distinction between metaphorical thought and the language metaphor. Knowing this, we can create messaging based on language that fits naturally into the narratives we already have in place in our heads and that are activated by metaphorical thinking. The most influential metaphorical language construction is the “frame.”
Framing is a method for choosing the language of a debate and tying it emotionally to an easily recognized story or narrative through the use of metaphorical thinking. You find it most frequently used in politics, mostly in dirty politics from either the right or the left, although it can be used in business.
A couple of quick nonpolitical examples will help explain the frame. If I ask a child, “Would you rather eat your peas with a fork or a knife?” I am framing the debate to a choice of utensils, and not whether the child wants to eat their peas. (This doesn’t always work with kids). If I am trying to introduce a friend to a new group of people and I say, “She has a heart like a river, it just keeps flowing,” I have framed their impression of her to generosity and tied it to the positive image of a flowing river.
In a common political framing example, reasonable people might agree that a high tax rate is bad for individuals and businesses. Reasonable people might also agree that no taxes might have severe consequences for funding critical institutions like education and defense. So there is likely to be an “optimum” level of taxes. Debates rage back and forth on what this level is. Sometimes logic is used, but the issue is complex and has many sides.
However, if I want to “frame the debate” and reduce it to language that defines the debate, I could use either of the following two examples depending on whether I was for lowering taxes or increasing taxes.
In the first case, I might say, “We’re drowning in taxes. Aren’t you for tax relief?” The term “tax relief” frames the debate as “taxes are too high.” The word “drowning” creates a graphic narrative and ties it to an emotion of panic, fear and even death. In the second case, I might say, “Patriots don’t freeload, they pay taxes.” The word “freeload” limits the debate to paying a fair share and the word “patriot” creates a both a positive image and invokes an inclusion metaphor. You’re a patriot aren’t you?
Why go into so much detail? First, frames and metaphors are the building blocks of narratives and storytelling, as well as sales and market messaging. I’ll cover more about them in upcoming posts. Second, it’s helpful if you understand when a competitor or even a prospect uses a frame. In general, frames are manipulative. But sometimes it’s difficult to even tell when you’ve been framed. You wouldn’t want that would you?
Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (24×7)