explain using analogies
Analogies are like building blocks for our thoughts. When you use analogies to explain topics you allow your reader to draw on what they already know. By drawing on their existing knowledge, your reader can understand new information faster. They need to learn less new information and can fill-in the gaps in their own understanding using your analogy.
Analogies are a shortcut. Analogies act like a raft over a river, only to be abandoned on the other side. It’s easy to argue that you should build a bridge of understanding – working from the foundations up – until the river can be crossed with complete knowledge. But this is not practical or feasible when working with your non technical stakeholders.
Your product manager does not want to, nor should be expected to, understand the full weight of a technical subject in-order to discuss it. If they did, they would be an engineer. You can use analogies to shortcut this knowledge difference, and give them a scaffolding to build their ideas.
Analogies work through association. They use the associations of a well known topic as a stand-in for the associations of an unknown topic.
