A good presentation technique is the rule of three.
The rule of three is based on the technique that people tend to remember three things. In oratory it comes up all the time.
Good speeches are peppered with lists with three items
1. “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” – William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar
2. “Blood, sweat and tears” – General Patton
3. Our priorities are “Education, Education, Education” – Prime Minister, Tony Blair
They are used in religion…
1. “Father, Son and Holy Spirit”
2. “Faith, Hope and Charity”
… in Public Safety
1. “Stop, Look and Listen”
… and in the film industry
1. “The good, the bad and the ugly”
2. “Sex, lies and videotape”
Putting it simply if you want your message to be remembered put it into a list of three.
Think about – if there are only three points that I would like to leave my audience with, what would they be? And then use no more than three themes per slide.
Here are more examples of the rule of three.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
- the American Declaration of Independence
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”
- the Gettysburg Address
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”
- Benjamin Disraeli
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning”
- Sir Winston Churchill
“Never before in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many, to so few”
- – Sir Winston Churchill
“There are three principal ways to lose money: wine, women, and engineers. While the first two are more pleasant, the third is by far the more certain.
Baron Rothschild”
“Veni, vidi, vici”
(I came, I saw, I conquered) – Julius Caesar:
“Unwept, unhonored, unsung”
- Sir Walter Scott
“Duty – Honor – Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, and what you will be”
- Gen. Douglas MacArthur
“The rule is: jam tomorrow, and jam yesterday, but never jam today”
- Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass
Do you have any other examples? Please add them into the comments box below.
11 August 2006
Filed under Presentations , Hints and Tips
Comments on: Examples of the Rule of Three
Hi
How about:
Positive, negative, neutral
Liberte, fraternite, egalite (sorry about the acutes)
Australia had a sunscreen cream campaign to prevent skin cancer:
Slip (on a shirt)
Slop (on some cream)
Slap (on a hat)
Cheers
Bill
Posted by Bill — 31 August 2009 @ 12:06 am
There are three types of people: the ones who know how to count, and the ones who do not.
Posted by Anil — 17 October 2009 @ 11:23 pm
the common one is: me, myself and I.
The one bank has changed their logo from simpler,better, faster
to
inspired,motivated,involved
Posted by Mpho — 20 October 2009 @ 3:49 pm
Citius. altius, fortius
Posted by BPA — 29 October 2009 @ 10:44 pm
SORTED TRIPLETS
3 bases in Baseball
3 bears
3 Musketeers
3 Stooges
Able, Baker, Charlie
animal, vegetable, mineral
Appetizer, Main Course, Desert
Bach, Beethoven, Brahms
Blood, Sweat, Tears
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Democrat, Republican, Independent
Duty, Honor, Country
English, Irish, Scotch
Ethos, Logos, Pathos Aristotle’s three types of speeches)
Faster, Higher, Stronger
Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Friends, Romans, Countrymen
Go Fight, Win
Good, Bad, Ugly
Government of the people, by the people, for the people
Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no Evil
Homes have been lost, jobs shed, Businesses shuttered
I came, I saw, I conquered
Inky, Blinky, Clyde
Legislative, Judicial, and Executive,
Liberty Equality, Fraternity
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
Location Location, Location
Long, Long, Ago
Mayo 3 Shields ,,
Morning, Afternoon, Evening
Old, New, Benefits,
Open, Body, Close,,
Past, Present Future,
Sex, Lies, Videotape
Stop, Drop, and Run
Stop, Look, Listen
Superman: Truth, Justice, American Way
Three Wise Men–three gifts gold, frankinsense and myrth
Three-color flags
Trilogies of fiction
Tobacco, Alchol, and Guns
Tom, Dick, Harry
Verbal, Vocal, Visual (parts of a talk)
We can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground
We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the Wine, Women, and Song
Work of remaking America
Work, Rest, Play
You’re the ones who feed us, who wipe our tears, who hold our hands or hug us when we need it.
Posted by Joe Sharp — 10 November 2009 @ 5:03 am
shake, rattle and roll
Posted by han — 13 November 2009 @ 6:50 pm
stand up, speak up, shut up
Posted by nige — 1 December 2009 @ 6:27 pm
yesterday, today & tomorrow
Posted by Roisin O'Donovan — 2 December 2009 @ 3:01 pm
ding ding dong
Posted by stb — 3 December 2009 @ 11:33 am
Time, Effort, Money
Posted by Stewart Smith, Head of English — 6 December 2009 @ 8:21 am
one, two, three
Posted by ARH — 4 January 2010 @ 8:57 am
A – B – C
Do – re – mi
Posted by Anonymous — 5 January 2010 @ 5:15 pm
stop, drop, roll
Posted by Anonymous — 24 January 2010 @ 11:29 pm
en – to – tre
Posted by Mette — 4 March 2010 @ 11:28 pm
rock, paper, scissors
time, money and environment
Posted by Lauren — 9 March 2010 @ 8:57 pm
yes, no, maybe
Posted by Lauren — 9 March 2010 @ 8:59 pm
DOn’t like “English, Irish, Scotch” in Joe Sharp’s lonmg list – “English, Irish, and Scots” would be OK, as would be “American, Irish and Scotch”, but English whiskey?
Posted by Tom — 13 March 2010 @ 9:38 pm
The Few, the Proud, the Marines.
Posted by Dave — 18 March 2010 @ 2:19 pm
College, job, family.
Posted by Nellie — 3 April 2010 @ 3:30 am
“Honor, Courage, Commitment” – a motto in the US Navy
“Heat, Fuel, Oxygen” – to stop a fire, remove one of the three.
Posted by CogitoErgoCogitoSum — 13 April 2010 @ 9:15 pm
Safety – Think it, talk it, work it!
Posted by Anonymous — 4 May 2010 @ 5:52 am
Would “Lights, Camara, Action” work?
Posted by Alyssa R. — 4 May 2010 @ 9:03 pm
“Love, Hate, Loneliness”
“Adherence, Lament, Comply!”
Posted by DnGr — 3 June 2010 @ 11:17 pm
Shandrach, Meshach & Abednego
hi lilly, hi lilly, hi lo
Posted by James Roads — 13 July 2010 @ 8:02 pm
Glory Honour and Power
Posted by Pst Oluseyi Alakija — 20 July 2010 @ 4:16 pm
There are three kinds of people: those who make it happen; those who watch it happen; and those who wonder what happened
– Brian Tracey (I think)
Posted by Anonymous — 22 July 2010 @ 3:55 pm
Cut Copy Paste [Computers]
Amar Akbar Anthony [Film]
Pati Patni or Woh [Husband Wife & HER: The Love Triangle]
Posted by Vividh Pawaskar — 13 August 2010 @ 6:22 pm
Past Present Future
Good Better Best
… and so on
Posted by Yaqoob — 15 September 2010 @ 2:17 pm
Sola, perduta, abbandonata…
(Alone, lost, abandoned…)
Manon Lescaut, lost in the Louisiana desert in Puccini’s opera of the same name.
Posted by Willem — 7 October 2010 @ 5:48 pm
3 little pigs
3,2,1
3 billy goats gruff
goldilocks and the tree bears
3 blind mice
england flag-has three lions
Posted by lucyyy :) — 29 October 2010 @ 3:59 pm
up, up and away
Posted by meme — 10 November 2010 @ 1:30 am
Ho Ho Ho
Posted by Zohe — 10 November 2010 @ 1:31 am
have we had “hook, line & sinker”
Posted by Barb — 17 November 2010 @ 4:47 am
the past is history, the future is a mystery and the present is a gift
Posted by lol — 27 November 2010 @ 3:28 pm
up down left
Posted by me — 17 January 2011 @ 12:25 pm
candle, book and bell
Posted by captrick56 — 22 January 2011 @ 4:14 am
sit up,shut up and belt up
Posted by Anonymous — 1 February 2011 @ 4:47 pm
Hung, drawn & quartered
Posted by Lucianne Kidd — 7 February 2011 @ 9:55 pm
Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha
Brahma Vishnu, Eshwara
Vision Mission Action
The impossible trinity in economics
Left, Right and the Middle
Solid, Liquid and Air
Sun, Moon and the Stars
Past, present and Future
Positive, Zero and Negative
Electron, Proton and Nutron
Average, above average and below average
Yes, No, and Undecided
For, against and nutral
Like, dislike and indifferent
Length, breadth and depth
X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis
Posted by Srinath — 22 February 2011 @ 1:09 pm
In the stock market: Hope, greed and fear control all.
Posted by Ben Gan — 7 March 2011 @ 7:03 am
It wasn’t Patton who talked about “blood, sweat and tears;” it was Churchill:
“I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’” 1940
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/churchill.htm
Posted by Jonny H — 13 April 2011 @ 12:16 am
Beanz Meanz Heinz
Posted by Jack Rowland — 24 April 2011 @ 9:13 pm
Hip! Hip!! Hurrah!!
Going, Going, Gone!
Posted by TO — 6 June 2011 @ 1:40 pm
Ready, Steady, Go.
Hop, Step and Jump
Posted by TO — 6 June 2011 @ 2:16 pm
Arise , Awake and Stop not till goal is achieved _ Swami Vivekanand
Posted by riya rathore — 20 June 2011 @ 3:37 pm
See it, Say it, Do it
Posted by Anonymous — 23 June 2011 @ 7:33 pm
Yes, No, Maybe so
Posted by Anonymous — 23 June 2011 @ 7:34 pm
Money,power,respect
Posted by Justm3 — 12 September 2011 @ 3:23 am
tom dick and harry
Posted by uday — 24 September 2011 @ 2:55 pm
ave attque vale (hail and fairwell) …i think
Posted by anonymous — 25 October 2011 @ 5:14 pm
this, that and the other
Posted by Anonymous — 29 December 2011 @ 12:16 am
going, going, gone!
Posted by Anonymous — 29 January 2012 @ 3:34 pm
Shades on, scarf on, attitude on….
Posted by Anonymous — 19 February 2012 @ 3:58 pm
what was the middle one, again?
Posted by frodo — 29 April 2012 @ 9:16 pm
Hi why not look at the presentation skills: rule of three page http://www.presentationmagazine.com/presentation-skills-3-the-rule-of-three-7283.htm
Posted by rboynton — 30 April 2012 @ 10:50 am
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