Examples of the Rule of Three

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 Theme Single (new)

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