The Persuasive Power of Analogy

The Persuasive Power of Analogy

Reader Comments (13)

  1. I’ve heard about The Terminator analogy from an interview with Arnold at Tim Ferriss Podcast. The idea is pretty great, we should talk about facts and things that emotionally affect us, not about scientific stuff that does not relate to most of the people.

  2. Very good article. Actually made me laugh out loud when you mentioned the internet trolls because i could imagine them saying it.

    Will try and add these into my own writing

  3. Great post! Bottom line is “let his come to that conclusion on his own, which is much more persuasive” … My partner uses analogies a lot and very well, I have seen first hand how well people respond to them – incredibly powerful! Thanks for the reminder.

  4. Great article. This particular example not only demonstrates the power of an analogy, but the power of an analogy combined with the power of the paradox it creates in the readers mind.

  5. It’s nice to see Arnold tackling those issues in his writing. Meanwhile, my Time feed, “5 Best Lipstick Colors to Land Any Job.”

  6. An interesting article. I’d say be careful where you use analogies OR metaphors. In daytime TV charity ads, for example, response would plummet if you asked people to think of A in terms of B. They just wouldn’t get it. Copy has to be straight and personal or you may as well go home.

    Intelligent audiences with time on their hands probably love a good analogy, although no degree of intelligence might have prevented the guy in your first example from decking his smart-arse doctor.

  7. I have always used analogies in my daily conversation with others to make them understand my point.

    Yet it never occured to me to use them in my writing. Now that I realise the power of analogy in writing a persuasive copy, am going to start using them right away. The only thing is I have to make sure I use the right analogy.

    Thank you for the useful suggestion.

  8. Brian, you’ve encouraged to make more use of this writing tool. Not only is it entertaining but – as you say – it allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions (which are, hopefully, the writer’s conclusions!). Extremely effective if done the right way at the right time. But is there a ‘trick’ to finding and/or creating these analogies?

  9. This is all pretty cool and clever and I agree with most things said but… won’t you die in both rooms? Just a thought ?

    • No. Spending an hour in a room with an electric car won’t hurt you at all.

      On the other hand, yes … we all eventually die. Thanks for that.

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