It is grounded in the wisdom of the past (beginning with Aristotle’s ethos, pathos, and logos) and yet written for modern speakers with countless references to everyday persuasive examples.

This article is the latest of a series of public speaking book reviews here on Six Minutes.

• What’s Inside?
• The Price
• What I Loved
• How could it be better?
• What Others Think
• Verdict

What’s Inside?

You might think that a book which discusses ancient public speaking theories would be dull and boring. I did.

But I bought it anyway, and I’m glad I did. I was wrong. The author, Jay Heinrichs, has accomplished a rare feat. He has written a highly educational book which is also lively and entertaining.

Thank You For Arguing covers the core rhetorical teachings of Aristotle and Cicero, but Heinrichs does it entirely using modern examples, drawing on political, marketing, workplace, and cultural references, as well as his own family arguments. One paragraph discusses Socrates; the next discusses Sherlock Holmes. The balance between formal lessons and practical examples makes the book highly valuable and applicable to everyday speaking.

Among other things, you will learn:

• A deep understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos
• Many figures of speech
• How to recognize strong and weak logical arguments
• How to recognize (and use, or defend against) persuasive techniques
• How to construct a persuasive speech

The Price

At the time of writing this review, you can get this paperback book for only $10.08 from amazon.com. This is 28% off the list price.

As you can see from the Amazon screenshot below, the book is both popular and well-liked.

3 Things I Love about Thank You For Arguing

The three things I liked most about Thank You For Arguing are:

1. Figures of Speech Abound

I bought this book to gain a deeper understanding of figures of speech, and I am completely satisfied. The book delves into dozens of figures of speech, like accismus, anadiplosis, and anaphora just to name a few of the A’s. Heinrichs provides not only definitions and examples, but also the origins of the techniques. He discusses them in context with related figures and rhetorical concepts. As a result, you learn not only how to recognize the figures, but also when and where it would be to your advantage to use them.

2. The Honest “Persuasion Alerts”

The pages are littered with sidebar “persuasion alerts” which the author introduces by saying “it’s only fair to show my rhetorical cards — to tell you when I use devices to persuade you.”

These sidebars make it clear that this book is not only written about persuasive techniques, but also written with persuasive techniques. For example, antithesis is discussed on page 217 in depth, but the sidebar on page 5 points out that the author just used that technique in the introductory chapter. I admire the transparency of his approach.

Like all the best teachers, Heinrichs teaches best by demonstrating his own lessons.

3. Valuable Reference Materials

The Appendices are worth the price of this book alone. These include, as expected, a summary of figures of speech, and also a valuable guide to speechwriting techniques that I will utilize as I write and re-write my future speeches.

How could it be better?

1. Sidebar Layout could be Improved

Although I loved the sidebar persuasion alerts (and many other sidebar notes), I would have preferred if they were placed in distinct margins without text wrapping around them. (See the page excerpt at right.)

Because they are so instructive, I think they deserve a little more whitespace. The “extra” whitespace created would also provide more room for readers to scribble notes of inspiration.

2. Chapter 22

I agreed with most of the other twenty-four chapters, but Chapter 22 (talking about the presentation medium) caused me to utter a few “I don’t think so”s. If I were asked to edit the book, this is the only chapter I’d focus on.

I must concede that Heinrichs more than makes up for it with Chapters 23 and 24 where he applies all of the lessons in the book to common, everyday situations that we all might face: speaking up at a local town hall meeting, acing the job interview, persuading others in a social club, or seeking investment for a business idea.

3. Cultural Bias

The flip side of all of the practical examples drawn from popular (American) culture is that it has introduced a cultural bias. Most Six Minutes readers are probably okay (I, too, write with a western culture bias), but it’s something you should be aware of if you are considering this book.

What Others Think

Gordon Alley-Young, American Communication Journal:

… the short, succinct chapters make the book an easy reference that can be picked up and set down to be read at short intervals. This makes the book well suited to readers with busy schedules or for those who commute via mass transit a lesson can be gleamed on a short trip to campus.

Jay Heinrichs’ blends a popular cultural savy with an equal opportunity approach to critiquing any political and/or cultural figure.

Peter Kimpton, The Observer:

This entertaining volume is a romp through the rules of rhetoric, a primer in the art of argument. [...]

We’re offered ways to seduce, avoid conflict, manipulate the present tense to succeed at work, write speeches and even use eristic techniques to stop a US cop from issuing us with speeding fines.

Tom Boncza-Tomaszewski, The Independent:

If you’re the kind of person who wants to win people over, this book will help you succeed.

Verdict

Every speech and presentation is an opportunity for persuasion, even those business and scientific talks which speakers casually treat as “just informational talks.” No matter what type of speeches you deliver, your speechwriting skills will improve by reading this book, and your well-constructed arguments will be more persuasive. I learned a great deal, and you will too.

I highly recommend Thank You For Arguing for all speakers.

Similar Articles You May Like... Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking 18 Paths to Pathos: How to Connect with Your Audience What is Pathos and Why is it Critical for Speakers? Public Speaking Tips: Weekend Review [2010-03-06] Book Review: Made to Stick Which College Textbook for Public Speaking is Best?

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Metaphors help a skeptical or apathetic audience better embrace and value a new concept or idea.

Metaphors make the connection of that new idea to an object the audience already knows.

Read on to discover a treasure chest of metaphor speech examples.

The dictionary defines a metaphor as an implied comparison between two unlike things (e.g. human body and garage) that actually have something important in common (e.g. storage). “Your body is a garage to park your soul,” writes author Wayne Dyer.

Metaphors are Meaningful Bridges in Speeches

Think of a metaphor as a connection or a bridge between the new and the familiar. This connection provides a new perspective and a new meaning that can persuade an audience to reconsider its skeptical or apathetic attitude.

Metaphors are so powerful that Aristotle said: “The greatest thing by far is to have mastered the metaphor.” And the Spanish philosopher and writer Jose Ortega y Gasset added, “The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man.”

Metaphors provide a frame of reference to more fully apply new concepts or ideas. That’s why the first trains were called horseless carriages. After all, people already knew the purpose and the premise of a carriage. So a carriage without a horse must roll on wheels.

Metaphors pique the interest of an audience to see the old in a new way. Even the students who think science is boring might reconsider if they thought that those who studied astronomy were “peeping Toms at the keyhole of eternity,” as author Arthur Koestler observed.

When Kodak invented the camera, the technology was so new and different the camera could only be valued by linking the new technology of a camera to something more familiar. Kodak called its camera a “mirror with a memory.” They connected two dissimilar things that actually have something in common. A camera’s film is the memory and the lens is the mirror. Link the two knowns to the unknown — a camera — and a metaphor is born.

Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon, used his metaphorical thinking to expand the reach of his business. “In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope.” Likewise Porsche pays homage to the metaphor in its advertising: “A Porsche is not a car. It is the best engineered executive toy in the world.” Metaphors are so powerful they can transform much like the antique dealer who says your trash is our treasure.

Metaphorically Speaking… More Metaphor Examples

Consider the following speech metaphor examples:

• Chances are your audiences would see more value in making an appointment to see a smile stylist rather than a dentist.
• Chances are your audiences would be more interested in learning how to purchase jewelry for their windows rather than window accessories such as curtain rods, rings, tie-backs and swag.
• Chances are your audiences would do more research if they thought of themselves as infonauts and the library as the delivery room for the birth of ideas.
• Chances are your audiences might enjoy exercise more if they thought of their treadmill as a flight simulator.
• Chances are your audiences would eat more fruit if they thought they were eating God’s candy.
• And chances are members of your audiences might more readily volunteer to become the designated driver if everyone kept calling him or her the Life of the Party.

Analogies: Close Cousins to the Metaphor

In addition to the metaphor, polished speakers show up with their “A” game to engage audiences and help them better understand a complex policy or procedure.

Use an analogy whenever you need to explain a new process or new procedure particularly to a general audience. The dictionary defines analogy as a “similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.” To create an analogy, find an object that your audience is already familiar with. Then look for characteristics in that object that could be compared to traits or various aspects of your process.

Example of an Analogy to Open a Speech

Let’s say you are a nutritionist and you want to deliver a speech on the value of fasting for a general audience, many of whom would be completely turned off by the prospect of not eating every 4-5 hours. Let’s call up the A-team and begin your speech with an analogy that engages the audience and builds greater understanding first with something they already are familiar with.

In your research on fasting you find that one of the key benefits to fasting is that your digestive system gets a lot more efficient after a fast. During a fast it reorganizes parts and pieces of the digestive system that normally are too busy digesting food.

Is there something in your audience’s everyday lives that reorganizes itself and gets more efficient especially when you are NOT using that process as you normally would?

How about computers? Is there any way to connect computer processing to a fasting process that reorganizes the digestive system to make it work better? Consider the following analogy that opened a speech on fasting to a general audience:

My computer was running so slooooowwwwww. Defrag it, my friend told me. I thought he said “Rag it.” What! What was I supposed to do with a rag? Dust off the computer? Well after my friend had his good laugh at my expense, he explained that defragging helps the computer better digest information you feed it. And then your computer works better, faster and more efficiently, he told me.

I wondered if there was a defragging process for the human body… to make the food I eat digest more efficiently and make me feel that much better! Voila! There is! Fasting is like the defragging process for the human body.

When you fast, you make The Pit Stop of Your Life. And like that pit stop at a NASCAR race track for example, we stop briefly to reset repair, and restore. We stop. (pause) eating for several days or more.

And we free up our body’s digestive system, so that it no longer is expending 60 percent of the body’s energy on digestion. Now it can redirect that energy to reset, restore and repair itself to be that much more effective and efficient when eating resumes.

Another Speech Analogy Example

Here’s another example of an analogy that links specific processes of a stove and stomach to encourage people to eat breakfast. This one is written by John Gray in his book The Mars and Venus Diet and Exercise Solution:

“Think of your body as an old-fashioned steam engine. You need to feed the fire with coal. When there is no coal available, the stoker slows down so that all the available fuel is not consumed. Likewise, your metabolism slows down for the rest of the day when you don’t eat breakfast.”

Metaphor and Analogy: Tools for Every Speaker

The metaphor and analogy are two of the sharpest tools in the public speaker’s shed to weed out the confusion in your audience and plant the seeds of understanding.

Similar Articles You May Like... Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) Do You Provide Great Customer Service to Your Audience? How to Add Power or Humor with the Rule of Three Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr.

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Peter Jeff has served an adjunct public speaking instructor at Grand Valley State University for the last 10 years. He is a former leadership development consultant with more than 20 years experience in corporate public relations. Mr. Jeff is also the author of a personal leadership book -- Get a Grip on Your Dream: 12 Ways to Squeeze More Success Out of Your Goals -- and can be reached at jeffp@gvsu.edu.

In this article, you will learn how adding an unexpected twist to the third element can add power or humor to your speech.

Rule of Three + Unexpected Twist = Speech Gold

As we’ve learned in the earlier articles, there’s something magical about words, phrases, or sentences that come in sets of three. Three-element sets are found in many cultural areas, including religion.

In Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, author Nick Morgan searches for an explanation:

Why do we respond so powerfully to them? It’s a mystery — something psychological. Some say it has to do with religious symbolism, since there are groups of three in most major religions, but that may be putting the cart before the horse: the religions may have settled on groups of threes for the same psychological reasons that everyone else finds them powerful. Whatever the reason, we find something complete and satisfying in a group of three, like a three-legged stool that can stand firmly on uneven ground [...]

Triads are a classical speechwriting technique, but you can squeeze even more power out of them by carefully choosing your order and adding a twist to the third element.

In Lend Me Your Ears: All you Need to Know about Making Speeches and Presentations, Professor Max Atkinson suggests one way to add a twist:

If your third point is the most important of the three, making it longer is a simple way of implicitly highlighting its greater significance compared with the first two.

The third element in a list of three is often followed by a pause when speaking, so it will linger longest in your audience’s memory. This creates a natural emphasis on this element, even if the three elements are perfectly parallel.

You can take advantage of this natural emphasis by deviating from true parallelism. You could make the third element longer, or shorter, or give it a twist in meaning. All of these will cause your audience to think deeper.

In Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark advises writers to “establish a pattern, then give it a twist”. He notes that three parallel elements create a rhythm of “boom boom boom”, but adding a twist to the third element creates the more memorable “boom boom bang“.

Consider the “bang” created in these examples where the third element deviates from the pattern in length and/or meaning:

• Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness [U.S. Declaration of Independence]
• Truth, Justice, and the American Way [Superman]
• Sex, Lies, and Videotape [movie title]
• “we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America” [Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech]
• God, grant me
  the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
  the courage to change the things I can; and
  the wisdom to know the difference.
• “[1] It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. [2] It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. [3] It means to say your goodbyes.” [Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement]

Humor and the Rule of Three

Adding a twist to the third element is also the key to creating humor in your speeches.

Consider one popular example that is attributed to both Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain:

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Why does this work? Let’s break it down. The first two elements (“lies” and “damned lies”) set a pattern in the mind of the audience. They expect a third element such as “white lies”, “torturous lies”, ‘or even “deadly lies”. Humor results from the mismatch between expectation and reality.

I like this technique because it is like a magician who is able to distract us with one hand while deftly completing the “trick” with the other. In speeches, the pattern distracts, and thus magnifies the surprise.

Thus, the recipe for a humorous triad in your next speech is simple.

• Set a pattern with the first two elements to create audience expectations. These elements could be words, phrases, or sentences.
• Break the pattern with the third element. Maximize your audience response by making the third element as absurd as you can while ensuring there is still a connection.

In my “Face the Wind” speech (the focus of a 10-article series on Speech Preparation), I opened with a humorous triad.

Eighteen months ago, my wife and I traded our condo keys for house keys. [1] Our floor space doubled. [2] Our mortgage tripled. [3] Our income didn’t change.

This triad works because the pattern begins with doubled and tripled. The audience expected quadrupled or some other multiplier in the third element.

To perfect the rule of three  humor technique, study stand-up comedians. Watch for it the next time you are watching the monologue on the late-night talk shows. The first sentence introduces a new topic. The second sentence establishes the pattern. The third sentence breaks the pattern with a punch line.

Some time ago, I delivered a humorous (and rhyming) speech about the (fictitious) origins of Toastmasters. In the couplet below, I suggested (with tongue firmly in cheek) possible motivations for young men to improve their speaking skills:

Strong speaking will earn you money, diamonds and pearls,
Dignity, respect, and — most importantly — girls!

The couplet above includes two different triads:

1. The first triad — money, diamonds and pearls — includes three common material benefits. It is not very memorable because all three elements form a consistent pattern.
2. The second triad, on the other hand, begins with two desirable character traits — dignity and respect — and concludes with an unexpected twist. This line provokes laughter from audience members. They expect the pattern to continue with another noble quality (e.g. wisdom, charisma, confidence); while the third element may be human, it’s not exactly noble.

Remember, the last element of your triad is the key which will determine whether you are humorous, memorable, or forgettable.

Similar Articles You May Like... Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) Book Review: Confessions of a Public Speaker (Scott Berkun) How to Make Metaphorical Magic in Your Speech 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

In this article, we will learn how the rule of three improves speeches at the macro-speech level when applied to speech stories or to entire speech outlines.

Storytelling and the Rule of Three

Last week, my daughter and I visited our local library to fetch another bounty of  children’s books. We returned with a diverse collection that included:

• the educational Sesame Subjects: My First Book About Fish,
• the hilarious Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business; and
• the classic The Golden Goose from the Brothers Grimm.

(Note to parents: All highly recommended!)

The Golden Goose is the story of three brothers who attempt to chop down the thickest tree in the forest. First, the oldest brother fails; then, the middle brother fails; finally, the youngest brother succeeds — a three-part plot structure.

The three-part story outline is a common structure in folk tales, Biblical tales, and Hollywood plots:

• Three Little Pigs — The first two pigs get eaten because their houses are weak; the third pig’s house of bricks is strong.
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears — The porridge was too hot; the porridge was too cold; the porridge was just right.
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff — The first two goats sneak past the troll, while the third goat defeats the troll.
• The Good Samaritan [New Testament, Bible] — The first traveller passes. The second traveller passes. The third (the Samaritan) helps the injured man.
• Boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl in the end.

The Three Act Structure

These fall under a general pattern known as a Three Act Structure. It is widely used in storytelling and screenwriting because it is a proven formula. Stephen J. Cannell claims that “Every great movie, book or play that has stood the test of time has a solid Three-Act structure.”

Syd Field (author of The Screen Writer’s Workbook and other instructive screenwriting guides) asserts that most successful screenplays follow a structure like this:

• Act I: Setup (approximately 30 minutes of a 2-hour movie)
• Act II: Confrontation (approximately 60 minutes)
• Act III: Resolution (approximately 30 minutes)

He further asserts that these acts are separated by two plot points: events that thrust the plot in a new direction. For example, plot point #1 might be the pivotal moment when the reluctant hero is convinced to join the crusade for justice (after spending most of Act One refusing to do so). Plot point #2 might be the moment when the momentum swings from the villain to the hero, eventually leading to a triumphant climax.

This three-part structure is so pervasive in movies, books, and other storytelling forms that audiences feel naturally comfortable when it is used. This comfort can be leveraged by a skillful public speaker.

Three-Part Speech Outlines

When you apply the rule of three to your speech outline, you gain all the benefits of the three-part structure. Your presentation gains warmth, familiarity, and understandability. With the three-part outline framing your ideas, your speech will be easier to follow and remember.

Let’s examine a variety of three-part speech outlines, beginning with the most basic.

Speech Outline #1A: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Even if you don’t read the rest of this article, you will improve as a speaker if you consistently apply this generic speech outline.

It seems obvious. Almost too obvious. Yet two of the most common speaking blunders are:

1. Omit the introduction: The speaker launches directly into the meat of the content without providing a roadmap or context.
   • Result: The audience wonders “How did we get here?“
2. Omit the conclusion: The presentation ends abruptly immediately after the last statistic or slide with “So… any questions?” Perhaps this is the result of poor time management and a novice speaker who decides “I’m running short on time. I’ll skip the conclusion.”
   • Result: The audience feels stranded, far from the point of origin, wondering “That’s it? What does it mean?“

Speech Outline #1B: Tell them what you’re going to say, Say it, Tell them what you said

This isn’t a new speech outline, but a slight elaboration of the first:

1. Tell them what you’re going to say (Introduction)
2. Say it (Body)
3. Tell them what you said (Conclusion)

Some may say that this speech structure is almost too simplistic. If it is accompanied by boring content and lifeless delivery, that’s a fair critique.

However, repetition is a powerful speechwriting technique, and you can do much worse than repeating your key points three times during a speech to persuade your audience. Take inspiration from Lewis Carroll in The Hunting of the Snark:

I have said it thrice: What i tell you three times is true.

Speech Outline #2: Past, Present, Future

This speech outline can either stand on its own:

• Past, Present, Future

or take the place of “Body” in the pattern above to make:

• Introduction, Body [= Past, Present, Future], Conclusion

A common application is a persuasive speech where you pitch a solution to a business problem:

• Past – You set the context by identifying a problem facing your company, and describing how it came to be.
• Present – You lay out the decision to be made now, and the alternatives to choose from.
• Future – You paint a picture of prosperity that will be realized if the right choice is made (perhaps you use a successful case study).

If you apply this speech outline well, your audience will more easily understand your message. On the other hand, your audience is more likely to be confused if you jump forward and backward in time repeatedly (talk about the decision first, then the future prosperity, then the root cause of the past problem, then another alternative, then…)

Speech Outline #3: Complication, Resolution, Example

Another three part speech outline for persuasive speeches is the S.Co.R.E. method offered by Andrew Abela in Advanced Presentations by Design: Creating Communication that Drives Action (read the Six Minutes book review).

Abela recommends starting your speech (Introduction) by establishing the Situation, and then iterating through a three-element series of Complication, Resolution, Example. In a sequence form, your speech might look like:

• Introduction – Situation
• Body
  • Complication, Resolution, Example
  • Complication, Resolution, Example
  • Complication, Resolution, Example
  • …, …, …
• Conclusion

The three-part Complication-Resolution-Example structure can be repeated once (e.g. a five-minute speech) or many times (e.g. a one-hour seminar).

Speech Outline #4A: Three Main Points

A basic three-part informative speech outline is as follows:

1. Introduction — Establish topic and core message; list supporting points
2. Body
   1. Supporting Point One
   2. Supporting Point Two
   3. Supporting Point Three
3. Conclusion — Recap main points; summarize core message; call-to-action

In this case, the rule of three magic lies in limiting yourself to your best three points. Any fewer, and your message won’t be compelling. Any more, and your message risks becoming tedious. Brainstorm many, but select your best three.

The Decker Grid System (from You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard – reviewed here) is built on this foundation. Bert Decker goes on to say that, for longer speeches, each of your three supporting points can be reinforced with (no surprise) three sub-points each.

Speech Outline #4B: Three Stories

Stories can strengthen any type of speech, but are especially powerful in motivational speeches where making an emotional connection with your audience is required. When you tell stories, pattern them on the three-act structure for maximum impact.

The Three Main Points speech outline can be given a storytelling slant with the following:

1. Attention grabbing opening which introduces the topic and core message
2. Tell story #1.
   • Make point #1.
3. Tell story #2.
   • Make point #2.
4. Tell story #3.
   • Make point #3.
5. Memorable conclusion which ties together all three stories to support the core message.

Speech Outline #5: Pros, Cons, Recommendation

We’ll conclude with a common speech outline used for persuasive speeches where you are recommending a course of action.

1. Introduction – Brief setup of problem and proposal
2. Body
   1. Pros – What are the benefits of this proposal?
   2. Cons – What are the drawbacks of this proposal?
   3. Recommendation – Why do the pros outweigh the cons?
3. Conclusion – Restate the pros and repeat the recommendation

Other Three-Part Speech Outlines?

Do you use other speech outlines that follow the rule of three? Please share in the comments.

Conclusion of the Rule of Three Article Series

The final article addresses how the rule of three applies to speech humor.

Similar Articles You May Like... How to Add Power or Humor with the Rule of Three How to Use the Rule of Three in Your Speeches 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech Toastmasters Speech 4: How to Say It Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) Book Review: Made to Stick

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Using the Rule of Three allows you to express concepts more completely, emphasize your points, and increase the memorability of your message.

That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

What is the rule of three? What are some famous examples? How do you use it in speeches? Read on!

Western Culture and the Rule of Three

Trios, triplets, and triads abound in Western culture in many disciplines. Just a small sampling of memorable cultural triads include:

• Christianity
  • Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
  • Heaven, hell, and purgatory
  • Three Wise Men with their gold, frankincense, and myrrh
• Movies & Books
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
  • Sex, Lies, and Videotape
  • Superman’s “Truth, Justice, and the American Way“
  • Nursery rhymes such as the Three Little Pigs or Goldilocks and the Three Bears
  • In a more general sense, there is the allure of trilogies as with Indiana Jones, The Godfather, The Matrix, Star Wars, and many others.
• Politics
  • U.S. Branches of Government: Executive, Judicial, and Legislative
  • U.S. Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
  • French motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
  • Abundance of tri-colored flags
• Civic, Organizational, and Societal Mottos
  • Fire safety motto: Stop, Drop, and Roll
  • Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius or Faster, Higher, Stronger
  • Real estate: Location, Location, Location
    

Historic Rule of Three Speech Examples

Speechwriting is, of course, part of our culture. Examples of the Rule of Three can be found in some of the most famous speeches ever delivered:

• Julius Caesar
  • “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered)
• Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
  • “Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears.“
• Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
  • “We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground.“
  • “Government of the people, by the people, for the people“
• General MacArthur, West Point Address, 1962
  • “Duty, Honor, Country” [repeated several times in the speech]
• Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech
  • “we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America“

What’s Magical About the Rule of Three?

It is reasonable to ask what’s so special about three? Why is it so popular in our culture? Aren’t there just as many examples of two- or four-element famous speech lines?

For a famous duo, there is Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death.”

For a classic quartet, it is tough to beat Winston Churchill’s “I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Despite examples like these, there is something magical about the Rule of Three in the way that it allows a speaker to express a concept, emphasize it, and make it memorable.

In his book Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark provides insights to the magic of the number three:

… the “encompassing” magic of number three … in our language or culture, three provides a sense of the whole …

… in the anti-math of writing, the number three is greater than four. The mojo of three offers a greater sense of completeness than four or more. …

Use one for power. Use two for comparison, contrast. Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundness. Use four or more to list, inventory, compile, and expand.

Rhetorical Devices — Rule of Three

The rule of three describes triads of all types — any collection of three related elements. Two more specific triad variants are hendiatris and tricolon.

Hendiatris

A hendiatris is a figure of speech where three successive words are used to express a central idea.

Examples of hendiatris include:

• “Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
• “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité“ [French motto]
• “Citius, Altius, Fortius” [Olympic motto]
  
• “Wine, women, and song” [Anonymous]

Tricolon

A tricolon is a series of three parallel elements (words or phrases). In a strict tricolon, the elements have the same length but this condition is often put aside.

Examples of tricola include:

• “Veni, vidi, vici.” [Julius Caesar]
• “Be sincere, be brief, be seated.” [Advice for speakers from Franklin D. Roosevelt]
• “Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation – not because of [1] the height of our skyscrapers, or [2] the power of our military, or [3] the size of our economy.” [Barack Obama, Keynote speech to Democratic National Convention, July 2004]

Contemporary Speech Examples using the Rule of Three

Nearly every speech critiqued on Six Minutes has wielded the magic of the Rule of Three, as shown by numerous examples below.

• Click through the links to read the detailed analysis.
• Watch the speech being delivered, and note the delivery of these key triads.
• Note how memorable these passages are within the whole speech.

Examples like these cross a wide array of speech types and settings. You can study these examples, and then apply the lessons to your own speechwriting to see how you can incorporate the Rule of Three.

• 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech

Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered.

• Steve Jobs: Stanford Commencement Address, 2005

[1] It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. [2] It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. [3] It means to say your goodbyes.

• Dalton Sherman: Do you believe?

You’re the ones [1] who feed us, [2] who wipe our tears, [3] who hold our hands or hug us when we need it.

• J.A. Gamache: Toastmasters, 2007

A sandal of hope when you reach out.
A sandal of joy when you listen to your heart.
A sandal of courage when you dare to care.

• Electrify Your Audience with a Shocking Speech Opening

Tobacco. [long pause]
Alcohol. [long pause]
Guns. [long pause]
Criminal items seized in a search [slight pause] of a 6th grade locker in a bad school district.

• Patrick Henry Winston: How to Speak

Your careers will be determined largely by how well you speak, by how well you write, and by the quality of your ideas… in that order.

• Speech Preparation #6: Add Impact with Rhetorical Devices

… we cannot predict when the wind blows. We cannot predict how strong it will be. We certainly cannot predict its direction.

Other Magical Ways to Harness the Power of Three in Speechwriting

The next Six Minutes articles in this series show you how to apply the Rule of Three to speech outlines, and how to create humor with the Rule of Three to get your audience laughing.

Similar Articles You May Like... How to Add Power or Humor with the Rule of Three Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) How to Make Metaphorical Magic in Your Speech 5 Speechwriting Lessons from Obama’s Inaugural Speech How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman.

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

Do you write your speeches with encyclopedic diction?

Do you draw your speechwriting inspiration from legal documents?

Technical writing, essays, financial reports, and legal writings all have their place — but none of them belong in your speechwriting.

Speeches which use simple, conversational language are more enjoyable to listen to, easier to follow, and more likely to be remembered.

The fourth Toastmasters speech project guides you to use simple, but descriptive language in your speeches. This article of the Toastmasters Speech Series examines the primary goals of this project, provides tips and techniques, and links to numerous sample speeches.

Why is This Speech Important?

The aims for this speech project focus on your selection of words and phrases:

• Choose words and grammar which communicate clearly.
• Choose words and grammar which appeal to the senses.
• Eliminate jargon.

Tips and Techniques

1. Choose Descriptive or Story-based Topics

Any topic can work, but to flex your speechwriting muscles, choose a topic which lends itself to vivid descriptions. Speeches based around stories or experiences will challenge you to select words and phrases to transport your audience from their chairs to the setting where your speech takes place.

2. Use Sensory Language

Make your audience see what you see, feel what you feel, taste what you taste, smell what you smell, and hear what you hear. In short, draw upon all five senses to create a completely immersive description. Transport your audience to a movie theatre by describing:

• Sight: the dizzying special effects of the martial arts scene
• Smell: the wafting aroma of buttered popcorn
• Sound: the booming surround-sound effects which made you jump from your seat
• Taste: the sweet licorice Twizzlers which melt in your mouth
• Touch: the claustrophobic squeeze of your knees pressed into the seatback in front of you

3. Use Repetition Wisely

Repetition of phrases throughout a paragraph, and repetition of sentences throughout your speech make your speech memorable. Wrap your speech around a signature phrase.

4. Avoid Topics About Words or Language

I often see Toastmasters choosing topics for project 4 which are about words or some other aspect of language, like poetry or figures of speech. For example, both Barren Words and Metaphors (by Oleg) and Swearing (by Andrew E. Scott) are very interesting speeches with language themes.

However, I recommend against choosing this type of topic. Rather than talking about words, let the focus be on your use of words, phrases, and grammar. Similarly, for project 5 (your body speaks), you should choose a topic that allows you to use your body, not a topic that is about body language. Further, in project 8 (get comfortable with visual aids), you will learn more by using visual aids to enhance your message rather than talking about projectors or flip charts.

What I Did for Speech 4

I wanted to choose a topic that would allow me to employ sensory words, so I elected to speak about my recipe for barbecued hamburgers.

The title of my speech was Recipe for Love, although it came to be known by its signature phrase (“the Meat, the Method, and the Merge”).

Speech Organization

The speech was organized quite simply around the burger preparation process:

• Introduction — I introduced the topic by placing it in the context of things which had been said the previous week and were thus familiar to the audience.
• The Meat — Preparation of the burger patties
• The Method — Cooking the patties
• The Merge — Combining the patties with the bun, “fixings”, and condiments
• Conclusion — Quick summary which restated the signature phrase in the speech.

Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical devices employed in this speech:

• Alliteration: “tasty tips”, “brilliant barbecued burgers”, “the meat, the method, and the merge”, “personally prepared patties”, “manufacturing a mouthwatering masterpiece for your mate”
• Repetition: “the meat, the method, the merge” was used throughout the speech

Sensory words and phrases

I deliberately crafted the speech so that it would appeal to all five senses:

• Sight — “could cause flames to shoot up, enveloping your burgers”, “pleasing cross-hatch pattern”, “feast for the eyes as well as the palette”
• Smell — “The spiced butter will start to percolate through the meat and will release aromas that will make you the envy of the neighborhood”
• Sound — “you’ll hear the pleasing crackle of the barbecue”
• Taste — “spicy butter mixture”, “crisp lettuce, ripe tomato, onions with pop, sweet pickles, chili peppers, smoky bacon”
• Touch — “take each patty in the palm of your hand, and press down forming a valley”, “massage the patty into a pleasing thickness and shape”

Topic Ideas for Toastmasters Speech 4

Example #1

The Impossible Task by Sara Piaskowy (written)

• Alliteration: “The task seems impossible, insurmountable, the idea is incomprehensible!”, “Sometimes it is staccato, sometimes smooth”
• Repetition: “smell” repeatedly (see below), “Now I LOVE mangos. Love in capital letters L.O.V.E. mangos.”; “I have learned how…” used in three consecutive sentences; “Burkina Faso has…” in four consecutive sentences near the conclusion.
• Simile: “the time like sand slipping through the hour glass”, “hit you like a brick wall”, “the strength and intensity of the heat makes you feel like the sun has come unhinged and is on a trajectory path headed straight towards you”
• Metaphor: “colors that can lift even the saddest of moods”
• Sensory phrases
  • Sight — “a river of motos zooming past”, “Ruffles and feathers and zigzag hem lines”
  • Sound — descriptions of music, “when there is no music… the sound of the language is what is entrancing”, “sing song, up and down, loud and soft quality to what I hear”
  • Touch — descriptions of dry, reddish dust everywhere; extreme heat
  • Smell — “there are several types of smells; there are rancid smells, urine smells, the smell of garbage, a body odor smell, dried fish smells, and don’t forget the smell of exhaust or the unpleasant odor of burning plastic which somehow wafts through your house unannounced.”
  • Taste — mangoes and other fruits, rice with red sauce, etc.

Example #2

1, 2, 3… Full stop! by Shrilatha Putthi (written)

• Repetition — “3-speech Toastmaster” is repeated many times in the speech; “nightmarish nightmare”
• Similes — too many to list (how many did you find?). Many go culturally beyond my North American roots, but one must remember that Shrilatha’s audience would be quite familiar with these cultural references.
• Alliteration — “tormenting truth”; “fun and frolic”; “gloriously grand gold”
• Triad (several are alliterative too) — “dejected, disgusted, and devastated”; “enjoyment, excitement, entertainment”; “I was, I am, and I will be…”

Example #3

Get Your Motor Running by Karen Woodson (video)

• Simile: “hit me like a ton of bricks” [0:57]
• Sound: “and then the powerful statement ‘Gentlemen, Start your engines’ is announced over the loud roar of the audience” [1:25]
• Sight: “a night race when the lights reflect off the shiny paint” [2:25]; numerous references to flags of different colors flying
• Triad: “bone-jarring, teeth-gnashing, wheel-spinning crash” [4:05]
• Alliteration and Triad: “covered in confetti and either champagne, coca-cola, or gatorade” [5:55]
• Another descriptive phrase: “as the rubber burns… roar of the engines… only during ‘cautions’ do the crowds relax enough to sit down” [3:35];

Example #4

The House on Silver Spring Lake by Leena Oh (video)

The opening paragraph embodies the goals of this project wonderfully. Fifty-nine words, and Leena uses sensory phrases which draw upon all five senses:

Imagine waking up in the morning, the sun streaming through the pine branches into your bedroom window (sight). You hear birds chirping (sound), and woodpeckers tapping for their breakfasts (sound). It’s chilly, so you try to stay in the warmth of your covers (touch) as long as possible, but you can’t resist the smell of breakfast and coffee (smell) drifting up from the kitchen.

Further, note that of those 59 words, only three have more than two syllables: imagine, woodpeckers, and possible.

More Examples of How to Say It

Here are a few more sample written and video speeches which may provide inspiration for you.

Written Speech Examples

• The Brain is Our Universe by Edwin Vinas
  Edwin provides a detailed analysis of his goals for the speech, and the audience reactions he hoped to provoke. This analysis includes a review of the rhetorical devices he employs.
• My Uncle Dinny by Séamus McInerney
  Filled with sensory phrases. e.g. “We would have tea stretched out before the cream coloured range. I can still smell the turf fire and hear the big clock ticking as it always did.“
• The Greatest Thing I’ve Done by Noryfel Bien
  The opening is especially strong for two reasons: 1) It darts through a series of descriptive experiences that are easily visualized. 2) It uses repetition effectively. “I haven’t” and “I’m not” are used multiple times before the key transition phrase “I am a teacher” which leads into the body of the speech.
• Are you getting the most out of your chocolate by Lu
  The choice of topic allows numerous taste, smell, and touch sensory phrases.
• Fueling the Cooking by Les Aquino
• Apocalypse Now by Nitesh Luthra
• You’re What You Eat for Your Breakfast by Amit Bhatnagar
• The Key to Understanding Me by comment dit-on

Video Speech Examples

• How to Keep a Conversation Going by Jason McGarva
• People Who Have Inspired Me by Pa Toastmasters member
• Why Skill Based Play is Good by Paul Miller
• Unknown by Capital Communicators member
• Kindergarten by Michelle Cohen
• Say Cheese by Sherry Lu
• Our Motivations by Eric Brown
• Unknown by Deepak Mittal
• Unknown by Daniel Habedank
• China is My Future by Beau
• The Decline of the U.S. Dollar by Elie Ishag
• Goodbye by Zeki Yimdirim
• How to eat during the holidays by Mary Ann
• The Art of Communication by Shenequa Mitchell
• The Language of Play by Emilie Staryak
• Profits of the Journey by Rosetta Ishag
• So Many Topics, So Little Time by John Armstrong
• The Endangered Species Act by Elizabeth Guzman
• Where Words Can Lead You by Arnie Buss
• Unknown by Tom Wilson

Next in the Toastmasters Speech Series

The next article in this series examines Toastmasters Speech 5: Your Body Speaks.

Similar Articles You May Like... Toastmasters Speech 3: Get to the Point Speech Preparation #6: Add Impact with Rhetorical Devices Why Successful Speech Outlines follow the Rule of Three Speech Analysis: I Have a Dream – Martin Luther King Jr. How can you inspire your audience? Ask 10-year-old Dalton Sherman. Toastmasters Speech 2: Organize Your Speech

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

The previous article in the Speech Preparation Series showed you how to edit your speech for focus, clarity, and concision.

However, your speech can be focused, clear, and concise and still lack vitality.

If your speech is void of rhetorical devices, it is like a painting void of color.

On all technical points, a black and white sketch might clearly be a woman smiling, or group of men having a meal, but without color, it’s not the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper.

With many examples, this article demonstrates how you can inject rhetorical devices into your speech during the editing process.

Writing for Impact and Beauty

The study of rhetoric provides speechwriters with numerous rhetorical devices. When you use these devices, your presentations will be more impactful (easier to remember) as well as more beautiful (more pleasurable to listen to).

Of the very large number of rhetorical devices, we’ll investigate three types in this article:

1. Devices which involve sounds (often with repetition)
   e.g. alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia
2. Devices which involve repetition of words, phrases, or ideas (often with parallelism)
   e.g. anaphora
3. Devices which change the usual meaning of words
   e.g. metaphors, similes

Many other devices not discussed here are worthy of study:

• Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric
• Wikipedia: Figures of Speech

1. Rhetorical Devices: Sound

Sound-based rhetorical devices add a poetic melody to speeches. Not surprisingly, the net effect is that speeches are more pleasurable to listen to. Three of the most common forms are:

• alliteration — repetition of the same sound at the beginning of nearby words
  e.g. “what my wife wanted”, “her husband has had”
• assonance — repetition of the same vowel sound in nearby words
  e.g. “how now brown cow”
• onomatopoeia — a word which imitates the sound of itself
  e.g. “buzz”, “whoosh”, “meow”

2. Rhetorical Devices: Repetition of Words or Ideas

Two common forms involve repetition in successive clauses or sentences.

• anaphora — repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses or sentences
  e.g. Winston Churchill

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, [... many more ...] We shall never surrender.”

• epistrophe — repetition of a word or phrase a the end of successive clauses or sentences
  e.g. Emerson

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.”

Repetition is a powerful technique used in other ways as well.

• Repetition is commonly used for emphasis.
• Repeating a word or phrase in different parts of the speech helps the audience make connections as if you were sewing your speech elements together with a thread.

3. Rhetorical Devices which change word meanings

Three common rhetorical devices by which words can take on new meanings are:

• Personification — giving human qualities to abstract ideas, inanimate objects, plants, or animals
  e.g. “The trees called out to me.”
• Metaphor — a comparison of two seemingly unlike things
  e.g. “Life is a highway.”
• Simile — same as metaphor, but using either “like” or “as”
  e.g. “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

These rhetorical devices, along with related concepts such as symbolism and analogies, are often the essence of storytelling as an effective means of communication.

Speech Critiques Showing Impact from Rhetorical Devices

Two of the speeches I previously critiqued are rich in the use of rhetorical devices:

• J.A. Gamache: Being a Mr. G. (Toastmasters, 2007)
• Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (Stanford, 2005)

Why bother? I’m not a Greek orator

It’s true that your business colleagues may look at you funny if you deliver your next project status report sounding like Martin Luther King. While you may want to limit your use of these techniques a bit, don’t discount them entirely. Rhetorical devices in a business context are powerful. For example:

• Metaphors and analogies are excellent tools for explaining new concepts or new visions for your company.
• Repetition in a set of slides can be used to emphasize key results or recommendations.
• Devices like alliteration can be employed for slogans, mantras, etc.

Rhetorical Devices Example — Face the Wind

Below is one of the final drafts of my 2007 contest speech Face the Wind. Unlike the example shown in the previous article, the words highlighted are the result of many editing iterations, not just one.

• The left column has the speech text.
• The right column has a description of rhetorical devices used in the corresponding passage.

Key to Color-Coding

In addition to comments, I have provided color-coding for a few of the more commonly used rhetorical devices.

• Red marks alliteration.
  
• Green marks local repetition.
• Blue marks references to two phrases used throughout the speech: “strong roots” and “face the wind”.

Next in the Speech Preparation Series

Now that you have completed writing and editing your speech (for now), the next step is bringing it to life off the page. The next article shows you how to choreograph your speech with vocal variety, gestures, and staging.

Similar Articles You May Like... Toastmasters Speech 4: How to Say It Speech Preparation #5: Six Power Principles for Speech Editing Speech Preparation #4: Wrestling Writer’s Block to Write the First Draft Speech Preparation #1: How to Prepare a Presentation Book Review: Thank You For Arguing (Jay Heinrichs) How to Make Metaphorical Magic in Your Speech

Have a Question? Contact me anytime, or find me on Twitter: @6minutes

Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.