An analogy exercise for getting past the painfully obvious.
If every name on your list sounds like a search query, this is for you.
We usually steer away from names that just describe the business. They tell you what’s for sale, but often give you very little else to hold onto. Sometimes a deliberately literal name is funny enough to work. Most of the time, we’d rather give people a connection to make.
A small one. Nobody should need to defend a thesis to understand your yoga studio.
That’s the appeal of an evocative name: it suggests something about the experience, feeling, or promise of a business. An analogy can help you find it.
What else does what you do?
Start with what changes for your customer. Get specific. “We help people” will leave us here all afternoon.
For a yoga studio, that might be: people arrive wound up and leave feeling like someone turned the volume down.
Now we have somewhere to go. Where else does the volume come down? A dial. A quiet room. The space between songs. Each connection opens up a different set of words.
You’re looking for something that works in a similar way, even if it belongs to a completely different world.
See the leap
Made-up businesses. Real exercise. Example names haven’t been checked for availability.
Start
A yoga studio
A welcoming studio for people who want to come down from a busy day.
helps people
Feel less wound up
“People arrive wound up and leave with a little more room in their heads.”
like
because
Both reduce the intensity of what you’re taking in.
gives us language
volumedialquietroom tonelow
rough possibilities
Room Tone · Low Volume
“Room Tone” has a quieter, atmospheric feel. “Low Volume” is more direct and a little dry. Same starting point, different personalities.
A yoga studio: Turning down a volume dial. Both reduce the intensity of what you’re taking in.
Notice how we got from a feeling to a place to look for language. We didn’t have to start with “yoga,” “flow,” or a list of every word meaning calm.
And we don’t have to use the first thing we find. “Volume Knob” probably needs another pass.
Try it with your business
Finish the sentences below. Plain English is encouraged. You can make it clever later.
This exercise stays in this tab. Copy it before you leave.
A little help if you’re stuck
If you get stuck, look at cooking, music, sport, weather, or ordinary things around the house. What opens, steadies, translates, untangles, restores, or brings something to life?
Try three comparisons before choosing one to explore. The first is allowed to be obvious. It’s just getting you out of the driveway.
Does the connection hold?
Read this aloud: “It’s like your comparison because the connection.”
Can you explain the connection in one ordinary sentence? Does it suggest something you actually want people to feel about the business? Good. You have a direction worth exploring.
If the explanation keeps getting longer, try another comparison. An unfamiliar name can be interesting. An exhausting explanation is a harder sell.
Save the possibilities. Then put them through a more deliberate evaluation. A promising idea still needs availability and trademark checks before you commit to it.
