What's a metaphor?

Metaphors make comparisons.  They compare one thing with another - often something quite unlike it in a literal sense - in order to illuminate.  You might remember metaphors as examples of figures of speech when you were learning about literature.  But they are not just something that perform a function in literature.  We use them all the time.

Metaphors are great at communicating meaning - in particular multiple or ambiguous meanings.  Metaphors take us beyond one meaning and open up new possibilities and avenues.

Here are some great metaphors for metaphors from Joseph O'Connor's NLP workbook:

"A metaphor is like shining a coloured spotlight on an object, making it appear to be a different colour, or like taking a piece of music and transposing it into another key while making it more elaborate.  The tune is the same but the expression is different.  A metaphor can be like a breath of fresh air in a stuffy classroom."

Metaphors have an important role to play within coaching and NLP.  Milton Erickson - whose work had a profound influence on the development of NLP - used metaphors, stories and analogies to access a client's unconscious resources, bypassing conscious resistance and allowing the client to make connections at a deeper level.