Rule of Three

Throughout life, writing and business, there is a concept of the Rule of Three. The rule of three is an idea that hypothesises that things that come in three are funnier, more coherent, more logical and more effective than a sequence that follows a different numerical construct. Your audience is more likely to remember the content that is broken into parts of three as it is combined with simplicity, order, and rhythm - a pattern is created - hence giving you more credibility. In Hollywood, there are the three elements of a problem, conflict, and resolution. In speech structure, there are three elements of an introduction, problem, and resolution. In mathematics, there are the three dimensions of height, width, and depth. There are much more examples of the rule of three: three little pigs, three bears and three musketeers of fairytales. "Yes we can", "just do it" and "I came, I saw, I conquered" are examples of the rule of three in catchphrases. The Rule of Three, in my experiences as a consultant in corporate and speaker with Toastmasters International definitely holds true, and here are three areas of practical application.

1. Speech, Oratory and Rhetoric - Public Speaking

"Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it, then tell them what you've said" - Dale Carnegie

Public speaking is the world's number one fear and the second is death. Through learning public speaking in high school and work with the International Toastmasters, I learn that the reason is a lack of practice and guidance. Most people have a message but they do not have a structure to help deliver it. Once the structure in place, the speaking becomes much easier. The Rule of Three offers a structure:

• Introduction (Tell the audience what you are going to say): this is where you set the background and context. Without the context - the direction - then the rest of the message will be lost. This is where the tone and beginning are set.

• Body (Say it): This is where you are able to flesh out the message that you set out and make sure that what you are saying here is in alignment with your people. A great framework to use is point-story-application (PSA). You state a point you would like to make, you reinforce it with a story and then you identify the application of the point and the story. The key here is not to have content that does not reinforce the point.

• Conclusion (Then tell them what you've said): this is the summary of what you just said to highlight the key points. A good way to conclude is to say this is what I said I would say, this is what I said and this is what we can do going forward.

Example - My Three Dimensions Speech