Rhetorical techniques are designed to help sear your words into your audience’s brains and are just as powerful today as when they were created, over 2,500 years ago. In fact, they’re one of the major reasons President Obama is in the White House. Despite this, some people are put off using them because they fear they’ll sound ‘false’ or ‘dramatic.’ So a great way to ease yourself into using them is by trying out one of the most effective (and easiest to use): TRICOLON.
The concept of Tricolon, often referred to as the ‘Rule of Threes’, transcends being merely a rhetorical device, emerging as a powerful communication principle. This effectiveness is anchored in the intriguing propensity of the human mind to grasp and retain information more efficiently when it is structured in sets of three. This phenomenon underpins why narratives and groups, from the three Musketeers to the trio of Charlie’s Angels, and even the comedic ensemble of Curly, Larry, and Moe, are compellingly memorable without an additional member like ‘George’ disrupting their harmonious triad.
The best way to answer ‘What is a Tricolon?’ is to look at some Tricolon examples:
- “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” … President Abraham Lincoln
- “Never in the history of human endeavor has so much been owed by so many to so few” … Sir Winston Churchill
- “Veni, vidi, vinci” … Julius Caesar
It’s one of President Obama’s favorites. There are twenty two Tricolon examples used in his Inauguration speech alone and fourteen in his speech in Prague (to take two speeches at random)! Here are a few:
- “Few would have imagined that the Czech Republic would become a free nation, a member of NATO, a leader of a united Europe.”
- “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something”
Think how easy it is to use this in business presentations. All you need to do is look through your script for places you have used two nouns or two adjectives or two verbs, and add a third!
For example, let’s say you’ve originally written, ‘Our objectives this year are both stretching and ambitious’. A few strokes of the keyboard and a simple addition later this becomes, ‘Our objectives this year are stretching. They’re ambitious. Make no mistake – they’re BIG.’