Oily Birds

I was listening to a report about how many birds die as a result of oil dumps at sea. The narrator was trying to point out that it doesn't take an oil slick to kill a bird. He was saying that a bird didn't need to be drenched in oil, just have a little oil on his feathers and he could well die.

So he used a visual image to get the point across. I found this captivating and reminded me how much we understand ideas that are put in terms of things we can understand and are familiar with.

Here's the image.

Imagine you are standing in a stream of icy cold water. But it is okay you are wearing gum boots so you are protected. Then you get a pinhole in one your gum boots, a tiny little thing. Would your socks and feet be protected because it was such a tiny hole. No way! Even the tiniest hole would inevitably lead to frozen feet.

So it with the birds and oil.

How I Would Use This

When explaining something that might be hard for your audience to grasp go back to what they know. Think hard about their world and where they are and make the connections.