{"id":47348,"date":"2026-08-31T15:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/?p=47348"},"modified":"2026-08-31T15:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:49:13","slug":"the-power-of-analogies-and-metaphors-in-demos-and-discovery-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/the-power-of-analogies-and-metaphors-in-demos-and-discovery-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Analogies and Metaphors in Demos and Discovery \u2013 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Mary Ann Evans (pen name George Eliot)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference between the <em>almost<\/em> right word and the right word is really a large matter. It\u2019s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Mark Twain<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That&#8217;s relativity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Albert Einstein<\/p>\n<p>This series of posts will include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A couple of demo and discovery analogies.<\/li>\n<li>Why use analogies and metaphors? Retention!<\/li>\n<li>Why use analogies and metaphors? Understanding!<\/li>\n<li>Manufacturing metaphors and accumulating analogies.<\/li>\n<li>Beware the morass of mixed metaphors.<\/li>\n<li>Stories: the best!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Analogies, metaphors, and similes: Which is which? I was once told an analogous story about a metaphor, or perhaps it was a metaphorical tale of an analogy? Or a simile-like metaphor? In any case, as Steven Wright once quipped, \u201cIt\u2019s a small world, but I wouldn\u2019t want to paint it\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Demos Can Be Like\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A stunningly awful demo is like being stuck for an hour listening to music that you loathe: You can\u2019t wait to leave the venue!<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, a great demo is like enjoying a delicious meal: Just the right flavors, textures, colors, scents, timing, and just the right amount of food!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discovery Can Be Like\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For many prospects, discovery calls often feel like an inquisition, answering question after remorseless question about speeds, feeds, and needs tonelessly recited by vendors from a never-ending list!<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, well-executed discovery conversations are an engaging, <em>mutual<\/em> learning experience, like a first meeting with someone who becomes a lifelong friend. These are <em>dialogues<\/em> where both parties are mentally stimulated, curious, and are often sad to see the discussion end!<\/p>\n<p>Well-crafted analogies and metaphors help our audiences understand and remember the key ideas we present in our demos and discovery conversations.<\/p>\n<p>Next: Why Use Analogies and Metaphors? Retention!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Resources:<\/p>\n<p>Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yc7rsrmy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yc7rsrmy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Doing Discovery:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes\/dp\/B0B8RJK4C2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes\/dp\/B0B8RJK4C2\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Great Demo! Third Edition:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0C9SNKC2Y\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0C9SNKC2Y\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.\u201d \u2013 Mary Ann Evans (pen name George Eliot) \u201cThe difference between<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-47348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced_topics","tag-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47350,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47348\/revisions\/47350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}