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June 10, 2014
Metaphors on Broadway
Everyone loves a Broadway play and if you saw the Tony awards this past Sunday
evening, you know why. Whether you prefer musicals or dramas, as soon as the
lights go down and the curtain goes up, our real world problems melt away and we
are transported to the magic of make believe that lights up our story-loving
right brain.
For sharp communicators, another
reason to love Broadway are the reviews that follow a show’s opening. When
critics review a play, they want to give you a feel for what they saw, so that
you, the potential buyer, can decide whether or not to see the show. In a sense,
they are selling you on their experience. Since metaphors and analogies make the
unknown instantly known, it isn’t surprising that they frequently use this
visual language to share that experience. The sharp Metaphorian (you), ever on
the lookout for fresh images, saves and adapts these to appropriate business
situations. Here are three examples.
Kinky Boots (2013 Tony Winner for Best Musical)
Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote, “Cindi Lauper knows how to work a
crowd. Making her Broadway debut as a composer with Kinky Boots the new musical
that opened on Thursday night at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, this storied singer
has created a love-and heat-seeking score that performs like a pop star
on Ecstasy.”
Possible adaptation: Do you sell a service or product with
superior performance in its market? Can you use this metaphor to describe its
power? If the Ecstasy reference is inappropriate, can you use a different
metaphor to conceptually communicate the same thought? E.g., This
system performs like a race horse on steroids.
Bullets Over Broadway (2014 Nominee)
David Rooney of wrote, “There's a ton of talent onstage in
Bullets Over Broadway, evident in the leggy chorines who ignite into explosive
dance routines, the gifted cast, the sparkling design elements and the
wraparound razzle-dazzle of director-choreographer Susan Stroman's lavish
production. So why does this musical, adapted by Woody Allen from his
irresistible 1994 screen comedy about the tortured path of the artist, wind up
shooting blanks? Flat where it should be frothy, the show is a watered-down
champagne cocktail that too seldom gets beyond its recycled jokes and
second-hand characterizations to assert an exciting new identity
Possible Adaptation: Perhaps you lead a company or a department
where sales, morale, or productivity is down and you want to introduce some
change. You could say, “We have been very successful up to now and we are
justifiably proud of that performance, but of late, our sales have been flat,
like watered down champagne. We need to uncork a fresh bottle of champagne,
i.e., change the way we are operating so that we can once again be ‘frothy’, the
leader in our field. This is what I propose…” (And, you might have a bottle
of champagne with you for everyone to drink at the end of your talk!)
Twelfth Night and Richard III (2014 Nominee)
Elisabeth Vincentelli, of The New York Post wrote, "The
shows are presented in repertory by London's Shakespeare's Globe. They kick it
¬old-school: with an all-male cast in period 17th-century costumes - which they
put on in full view of the audience in an entertaining pre-show ritual. The
result, directed by Tim Carroll, is a feast for the senses...Samuel Barnett … is
a winsome Viola, as eloquent as she is romantic. And the comic second bananas
take advantage of every single opportunity to score laughs,...Twelfth Night is
the better show, but seeing both productions lets you watch the actors slip into
completely different roles. You're not just going to the theater -
you're experiencing what makes it magic.”
Possible Adaptation: Suppose you sell financial planning
services, then, you know that it is devilishly difficult to differentiate
yourself from competitors in a prospect’s mind. But you could play on
Vincentelli’s phrase. You could say, “You are not just running the numbers
on your investments and insurance. You are creating a lifetime of freedom and
security for you and your family. (In fact, quite apart from this review,
Steve Jobs did a variation of this technique when he introduced the ipod. He
didn’t say, “You’re getting a new small gadget for listening to songs. He said,
“You’re getting 1000 songs in your pocket!”)
Casa Valentina (2014 Nominee)
Dissatisfied that the play doesn’t actually come to a resolution at the end,
David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter wrote “Like a soap opera,
it suggests that the story continues, without actually resolving anything.”
Possible Adaptation: Suppose you are tired of attending
meetings that waste everyone’s time, you could borrow Rooney’s metaphor and say,
“Look, our meetings are like soap operas that seem to move forward, but
which in reality never resolve anything. I propose we put more discipline into
them by doing the following…” The same metaphor could be used to support
your recommendation to change sales presentations. “Our presentations are
like soap operas. They seem to tell a story, but they never really result in a
concrete close. I propose we do the following...”
And the Tony Goes To…
John Fleming, who writes for the Huff Post UK, wrote, “If you are a
performer, reviewers are like Americans. It is difficult to live with them, but
it is difficult to live without them.”
I would add that if you communicate for a living (and who doesn’t), then your
next best argument clincher may be as near to you as the next theater or movie
review that you read.
Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay — With Metaphors.
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