How do you test and refine your metaphors and similes before using them in your stories?

Know Your Audience Metaphors must resonate with your audience. If your audience is college-aged, it may be good to familiarize yourself with pop-culture words so you assemble appropriate metaphors. If you say "waiting for the bus felt like waiting for the iceman to come in summer", you will likely find your metaphor doesn't connect with college students. Waiting for ice may be suited for senior-citizens remembering waiting for the man who literally delivered ice to their front doors. Audience may not be age-defined. It may be defined by geography, ethnicity or native-language. Knowing your audience before you write metaphors may be a key to knowing your true purpose which among other things, is always to speak fluently to your audience.

Similes and metaphors have their place in storytelling but they should not distract from clear, concise writing. Write to express, not to impress. Write with nouns an verbs -- the road to hell is paved with adverbs and adjectives. Write in the active tense. Be brief, make every word count. As much as possible, stick to one sentence, one thought. Avoid too many clauses that muddle the idea and clutter the copy. To sum it up, write in white heat, then edit in cold blood. Don't feel sorry for stuff you wrote and now have to cut -- and that includes those similes and metaphors. If they don't help push your story forward, cut them.

Creating effective metaphors is a technique I use to simplify complex technical ideas, especially when translating concepts for non-technical audiences. For example, in explaining cloud FinOps, I might use a metaphor like "keeping a close eye on a thermostat"—conveying the need for ongoing, precise adjustments to control costs. When talking about DevOps, I often describe it as "the engine room of innovation," making the importance of seamless collaboration and automation more relatable. Whether the goal is to clarify or persuade, the right metaphor can bridge the gap, making challenging concepts accessible and memorable.

Using metaphors is one of my go-to strategies for making technical content relatable. With cloud FinOps, for example, I might compare it to "managing a leaky faucet" to highlight the importance of catching small inefficiencies before they turn into big costs. For DevOps, I like to describe it as "the orchestra conductor" of digital transformation—coordinating various elements to deliver harmony and speed. These metaphors don't just simplify; they resonate with both technical and business audiences, making complex concepts feel tangible and memorable across the board.

When I'm crafting metaphors for technical content, clarity and relevance are key to ensuring they resonate without feeling forced. For example, in explaining generative AI, I might liken it to "an high school kid learning by example"—which feels intuitive yet isn't overly familiar. Testing metaphors like this with peers or sample audiences helps confirm they're fresh and relatable. I aim to create metaphors that bridge complex ideas to accessible, meaningful comparisons without slipping into cliché—making sure they reinforce, rather than distract from, the core message.

This might sound obvious, but I read my figures of speech out loud to myself as I'm revising. If they sound trite to me (or if I'd roll my eyes at them if I read them somewhere else), I try to fine-tune them, using words that are less common or phrases that are less ornate. Simplifying the language (that is, making it feel more down to earth, instead of more flowery) almost always helps.

For me, crafting a memorable metaphor means going beyond the obvious to find a comparison that catches the reader's attention. When I describe cloud optimization, for instance, rather than calling it "a well-oiled machine," I might say it's like "fine-tuning a vintage guitar, where each section must play in harmony to avoid discord." It's fresh, and it immediately paints a picture that goes beyond the literal. Testing these kinds of comparisons not only helps them stand out but also keeps the content engaging and reflective of my voice, bringing technical topics to life in a way that sticks with the reader.