Have you ever held an object that instantly transported you back to a cherished memory or a profound experience? It could be a pen gifted by a mentor, a painting that captured a turning point in your life, a souvenir from a transformative journey, or even a simple birthday card from a loved one. These seemingly ordinary items hold extraordinary power – they are symbols that encapsulate the essence of our most meaningful experiences. Lists of personal and workplace symbols along with visual examples are at the bottom.
Symbols are more than just physical objects. Symbols are powerful emotional anchors that connect us to our stories.
When you incorporate these powerful symbols into your narratives, you create what we call, “Symbol Stories.” These stories transcend the realm of ordinary storytelling by forging a deep, instantaneous connection between the symbol and the experience it represents.
The true strength of a Symbol Story lies in its ability to evoke an immediate and profound response from the audience. The moment you introduce the symbol, your audience is drawn into the heart of your experience.
They visualize. They feel. They relate. To your story on a much, much deeper level. Why? Because the symbol acts as a tangible bridge between the narrative and their own emotions.
To craft an effective Symbol Story, the symbol must be a concrete representation of a noun – a person, place, or thing. This physical embodiment is crucial because it allows your audience to form a strong mental and emotional connection with your message. When you share your story alongside the symbol itself or an image of it, the narrative comes alive, engaging your audience and creating a lasting impact.
Symbol Stories are truly transformative. They simplify complex ideas. They evoke powerful emotions. They create an enduring connection with your audience. Whether you’re sharing a personal anecdote or conveying a business concept, incorporating a symbol can elevate your story from ordinary to extraordinary.
WRITING ENHANCEMENTS · THE ESSENTIALS: COMPARE + CONTRAST
This article is part of Language Forging™.
Language Forging™ is the deliberate shaping of words and their delivery to optimally engage, influence, and inspire.
Drawing from fields like rhetoric, communications, advertising, and storytelling, Language Forging™ requires continuous development of two core competencies: Writing Enhancements for crafting magnetic language and Speaking Enhancements for presenting those words with impact. Through dedicated practice, a Language Forger™ perpetually hones these skills and applies them strategically to invite people in, spark curiosity, and inspire action.
Specifically, this article on Symbol is part of Writing Enhancements: The Essentials, which includes 25+ proven rhetorical devices that make your writing easier to read, easier to remember, and harder to ignore. Deliberate language is a learnable skill.
This article includes:
- Symbol, with a plain-English definition, pronunciation, and a practical how-to
- Examples notated so you can watch the device work
- Quick exercises, with suggested answers at the bottom
- Your Turn, a way to use symbol today
- Lists of personal and workplace symbols, to start your own collection
Write Deliberately. Be Remembered.
There is a reason an object outperforms an adjective, and memory research names it. Concrete words are remembered better than abstract ones because they get encoded twice, as language and as image (A. Paivio, 1971). A symbol takes that advantage and presses it further, because your audience is not imagining the object. They are looking at it.
Writing Enhancement Category: Compare + Contrast. “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates.” One comparison, and thirty years later the whole world still quotes it. That is the power of this category: metaphor, simile, symbol, and their cousins connect your idea to something your reader already knows, loves, or fears. Explanation informs. Comparison connects.
Below you will find the definition, examples, and ways to use Symbol today.
About Symbol
| Definition | Use an object or visual to represent an abstract idea, evoking an immediate and visceral emotional response |
| Explanation | The symbol must be a concrete noun: a person, place, or thing you can photograph, hold up, or set on a table. That physical form is the whole point. An abstraction asks your audience to follow you. An object meets them where they already are. |
| Pronunciation | SIM – bul |
| Related to | Allegory, Enargia, Hypocatastasis, Metaphor, Personification, Simile, Synecdoche |
| Etymology | From the Greek σύμβολον (symbolon), meaning “token” or “sign,” from syn (“together”) and ballein (“to throw”) |
| How to Use | Choose an object that already carries the meaning rather than one you have to explain into meaning. Show it, then tell the story it belongs to, in that order, because the object buys you the attention the story needs. Keep one symbol per message. A second object competes with the first, and the audience remembers neither. Then use the same symbol again next quarter and the year after that, because a symbol that reappears becomes shorthand for everything it has ever meant. |
| Best for | – All-Hands Meetings/Town-Halls/ERGs: One object on the stage gives several hundred people the same reference point in a single second, which no slide of priorities has ever done. – Board Meetings: A symbol carries a year of work into a room where you have twelve minutes, and it survives long after the deck is filed. – Onboarding and Welcome Meetings: Handing a new employee something physical on day one turns your culture from a paragraph they read into an object they own. – Sales Meetings and Customer Conversations: When a buyer cannot picture the problem, put the problem on the table and let them pick it up. – Donor and Sponsor Outreach: An abstract cause becomes a specific thing someone is waiting for, and waiting is what people act on. – Team meetings, cultural events, and holiday parties: Traditions need props, and the prop is what people describe when they tell somebody else what it is like to work here. |
Examples of Symbol
The word itself started as a physical object. In classical Athens, a symbolon (σύμβολον) was an object, intentionally split so you could prove who you are. You might use is in trade, diplomacy, and friendship. The break was deliberately irregular, so a given half could join only its original half.
To prove who you were, you produced your piece and fitted it to theirs. The Greek verb behind the noun, symballein, means to throw together. It combines two smaller Greek words: Syn- (σύν) meaning “together” and Bállein (βάλλειν) meaning “to throw.” Every symbol you use today is using the same function as it was intended thousands of years ago.
Metaphorically, you hold up half, which is the physical or visual of your symbol. Your audience supplies the other half, out of their own experience, and the fit is what they feel.
See how symbol increases the effectiveness and impact of your words. Then experiment, mixing and combining other writing enhancements in your written, spoken, and social media communications.
As you read through these two lists, think about your own personal and workplace situations. What symbols should be part of your storytelling?
Personal Symbols
- Acceptance letter to university
- Acceptance letter for your first job
- Birthday card from a grandparent
- Childhood toy
- Framed art
- Jewelry
- Picture
- Piece of clothing
- Postcard
- Recipe from a loved one
- Report card from grade school
- School mascot stuffed animal
- Sculpture
- Souvenir
- Tchotchke
Workplace Symbols
Here are some examples where you can find powerful workplace Symbols.
- Traditions & Culture
- Rub the nose of a statue or figurine for good luck, such as the bull statue on Wall Street or a university mascot
- Fist-bump or high-five coworkers after a successful project or sale
- Ring a bell or gong to celebrate a significant achievement or milestone
- Sign a wall or beam during the construction of a new building
- Group stretch or exercise before the start of a shift, particularly in physically demanding jobs
- Throw a pie in the face of a manager or executive for charity fundraisers
- Pass a trophy or plaque to the employee or team with the best performance each month or quarter
- Award the best parking spot to the employee of the month/quarter/year accompanied by a certificate/plaque
- Wear branded clothing/spirit wear for casual Friday’s
- Join in the charity walk or run to raise money for a good cause and wear the shirt at work
- Participating in “silly hat day,” Halloween, or Ugly Sweater Contest
- Receiving a birthday card every year from the CEO
- Organization-Specific
- First page of the contract with your very first customer / first dollar
- Miniature Vehicle that sits in the lobby: tractor, delivery truck, crane
- Miniature Equipment: bolt, assembled product, hammer
- Spirit Wear awarded at milestones
- Your logo
- Pictures of events employees attend
- Awards
- Specialty Branded Items: bobble heads, characters, lapel pins (see below for examples)
- Coins (especially in the military and emergency services)
Visual Examples
Bobble heads are awarded to each employee at their five-year anniversary. Two bobble heads are purchased. One for the lobby display, which is shown here. One for the employee to take home or show off with pride at their desk.
The bison is a unique animal. Its strength and intelligence have deep meaning for one of our client CEOs. As such, the bison appears in their yearbook, code of honor, presentations, and more. The bison is deeply ingrained into their culture.
Mike, an executive at a manufacturing company was an attendee at a Vistage event where Ira Koretsky, our CEO, presented his LeadersSTORY ( Leaders to the Power of Story ) program. This valve sits on Mike’s desk today as a reminder, a lesson learned, not just for him, for everyone on his team and colleagues. He brought the valve to the program to learn how to shape his story into a powerful visual metaphor he can use in his various communications.
Every year, Adham, CEO of Socotra Capital, distributes t-shirts to his employees at the annual All-Hands Meeting. Every year, employees try to sneak into his office to get a peak at the design and message for the forthcoming year, both of which are synched to their culture and values.
In preparing for his Storytelling for Leaders keynote for the Federal Department of Transportation (FHWA) Innovation Conference, our CEO, Ira Koretsky, interviewed the Delaware Secretary of Transportation, Jennifer Cohan. After the conference, Secretary Cohan gave Wally to Ira. Wally the Work Zone Warrior, is a 7″ figurine, that represents the heart of innovation for Delaware. Wally’s large counterpart is about 15 feet tall and travels throughout the state as part of its innovation outreach.
One of our customers rents and sells large vehicles, many of them are for construction. E-V-E-R-Y year, the CEO inscribes a short message and signs his name to E-V-E-R-Y one of the 800 plus people. During their Storytelling for Leaders workshop, we learned that some of the participants have kept E-V-E-R-Y card received–some being there for more than 30 years. How’s that for a symbol? and Impact!
We had the pleasure of spending time in Chicago with a company that provides freight and transit systems globally. While working with members of the executive team on their conference presentations, we learned about the bogie (pictured). The bogie is their symbol, their rallying flag. The bogie represents more than a hundred years of innovation, dedication, and hard work. Irrespective of who sees the bogie, they always smile.
Charles Wayne O’Brien from Kansas, an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient, donated his medal to the New York City’s firefighters in Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. O’Brien was inspired by their acts of bravery on 9/11. Today, his framed Purple Heart, seen in the picture, sits on the wall below the plaques of the 15 fallen firefighters from this station.
References and the Series
This article series goes beyond choosing better words. Drawing from rhetoric, communications, advertising, and storytelling, Language Forging™ builds two core competencies you develop continuously throughout your career.
Writing Enhancements craft magnetic language that draws readers and listeners into your message. The right word choices create impact. The perfect sentence rhythm maintains engagement. The strategic use of rhetorical devices captivates audiences. These elements combine to create prose that commands attention from the first word to the last.
Speaking Enhancements present those words with maximum impact. As Ira says, “great communicators create memorable experiences WITH YOU by blending together their voice, their body, and their words.” Vocal variety keeps audiences engaged. Strategic pauses create emphasis. Volume modulation signals importance. These techniques transform written words into memorable experiences.
Practice these techniques until they become habits: invite your audiences in, make them eager to learn more, and inspire them to act.
New to Writing Enhancements? Start with the series overview: Writing Enhancements
How The Chief Storyteller® Uses Symbol with Clients + Students
Writing Enhancements run through everything: coaching, consulting, training, workshops, and keynotes. Ira Koretsky, CEO, has been teaching them in his class for more than a decade. He teaches public speaking, data storytelling, storytelling, and presentations as an adjunct professor at The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. The student final is a five-minute TED-Style Talk.
And Ira tells everyone the same thing:
“You never have to remember the actual Greek word or how to pronounce it. What I want you to remember is why use it and how to use it.”
Every Writing Enhancement is written first and spoken aloud second. On the page, symbols enrich your message, making your message (very) memorable. Aloud, in the meeting, on the stage, in the pitch, your voice and body language give your words oomph, force, impact. Small, deliberate choices, practiced until they become instinct. That is how great communicators are forged.
Sources
Ira’s 35+ years of coaching, speaking, training, and teaching; Ira’s 1,000+ page Writing Enhancements Resource Guide; Fellow Communications Professors; American Rhetoric; Encyclopedia Britannica; LitCharts; Literary Devices; Merriam-Webster Dictionary; Oxford English Dictionary; Silva Rhetoricae; ThoughtCo; and Wikipedia. Ira’s favorite books: A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices by Robert A. Harris; The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth; and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham.
Every client success story, webinar narrative, and all-hands meeting script we help build uses Writing Enhancements such as symbol. Yours can too. Contact us.
Photography Sources:
Photography/visuals marked are © Copyright, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Purple Heart photograph from Engine 54, New York City, New York
Content refreshed 2026. Images updated 2024.
