26.07.2024 Today’s Insights from Inc.com – The Skill MIT Considers Essential for Career Success
Dear Students,
While the article below focuses on the use of metaphors, let’s broaden its value to include the sheer importance of communicating complex topics in a way that people can understand. To provide an example – No matter how beautiful the Mandarin an ambitious international student like you may be speaking to an employer, if the company representative doesn’t understand Mandarin, it doesn’t matter – s/he will not extract your intended message from the speech.
Similarly, young professionals (especially those of you in STEM fields) must learn, as early as possible, how to present your ideas, proposals and recommendations in ways that your supervisors and colleagues can easily “hear” and appreciate them. This is particularly true with technical concepts (which many of you are and will be communicating).
Metaphors are a great way to do this. While they take some practice to develop, when used appropriately, they present a visual depiction – the “picture that’s worth 1,000 words” – that can lead others to say “aha! Now I get what you are saying.”
As Harvard Instructor Carmine Gallo conveys, developing the power skill of using metaphors (and its sister concept, similes) represents the integration of numerous other key power skills, including influence and persuasion, listening, creativity, presentation, confidence, patience and, of course, communication. The good news?: There is no better place for you to practice and hone these competencies than in a coaching session.
Metaphors are essential to the communicator’s toolkit.
www.inc.com
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Wishing you a peaceful evening that, metaphorically speaking, unfolds like a gentle lullaby.
Best,
Amy-Louise