Thought of the Day #44/2021
How to Improve Your Speaking, Writing, and Everything with the Rule of 3
Communicate Better
Success in Life is based on the way we communicate. All successful people recommend working hard on improving public Speaking, stand up speaking, and Writing.
All three are means of communication, yet even when most people communicate as much as never before in the history of humankind, many still struggle to get the message across.
One simple trick to improve communication instantly is the
Rule of 3
What is the Rule of 3
Everybody is doing their best all the time, and many people are incredible in learning about things they love. Once passion for studying comes easily to everybody, the amount of information transformed into knowledge and know-how is astounding.
And then it happens — you are convinced that you know a lot about your craft and want to tell everything to other people in one go. Does it work? No. Barely anything will be remembered from a presentation full of facts and details.
Why is that so?
Livescience.com explains that scientific studies show the mind's limit in memorizing things. People cannot store more than 3 to 4 items at once in their conscious minds.
Masterclass builds on that and describes:
The rule of three is a writing principle based on the idea that humans process information through pattern recognition. As the smallest number that allows us to recognize a pattern in a set, three can help us craft memorable phrases. The rule of three is also incredibly useful as a structural tool: comedians use the rule of three to craft three-part jokes (set up, build anticipation, punch line) and screenplays generally follow a three-act structure.
It is also a hack used by consultants from famous companies like McKinsey.
Let's put things into practice:
How to use it in Speaking
There are so many opportunities in Life to speak up, and many of them are spontaneous.
The Rule of 3 can help you as a guideline whenever you need to express a thought.
Start with a brief opening that helps you get going, and then present 3 points.
Share three concepts, three steps, or three unique ideas.
When you must spontaneously speak up, start with Point 1, then Point 2, and finish with Point 3.
Your comments will look well organized, thoughtful, and the best of them will be easy to memorize by your audience.
An additional upside of this method is that you can start speaking immediately as mostly one point comes to mind quickly. Whenever I used this method, points 2 and 3 evolved naturally from point 1.
How to use it in Writing
Writing articles is also much simpler using the Rule of 3.
Divide your article into three parts
- An Introduction presents a pain point, a solution, and a mentor.
- The Main Part presents three ideas and
- Summarize the three main points in the conclusion
And in no time, you have fleshed out an excellent, memorable article with this simple technique.
To sum it up
The Rule of 3 is based on scientific results that the mind cannot process more than 3 to 4 junks.
Using it in public Speaking makes your speech look well organized even when it's improvised.
In Writing, it gives your article an easy-to-follow structure.
That's why I make this simple Rule the basis of my work.
Check out
- my other profiles,
- sign up for my newsletter,
- subscribe to my medium profile for frequent updates,
- or sign up to Medium to support the writer's community.
Reader:
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-use-the-rule-of-three-in-writing
