Three Is A Magic Number

You can’t dispute the undeniable wisdom of School House Rock; feel free to sing along:
Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it’s a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.

Why Three? Because it resonates, it sticks, it’s memorable. We’ve been programmed from childhood to respond to patterns of three in the stories we grew up with; The Three Musketeers, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Wise Men.

As adults the pattern of three continues in virtually everything around us. Aristotle said every play has three acts: a beginning, middle, and an end. Our entertainment world functions on the rule of three; the three act play is the basic approach to every stage production and movie ever made.

Three is a simple, easy to remember formula. Apply the three Rs to your storytelling. Reason, reveal, resolution. Give the audience the reason they need to listen, the hook. Reveal the content of the story and then give the listener resolution, always have an end.

Use three to develop an uncomplicated, consistent structure for planning and executing your content: Create, Prepare and Rehearse (CPR). Create the scenario, prepare how the content will be delivered, and rehearse the execution.

Use three as your content filter: is it relatable, is it relevant and does it resonate with your audience. Can your audience relate either through the content choice or to your character? Is the content relevant to your core? Will it resonate? Will your audience be talking about it later? Will it stick?

Three is also the basis of all great comedy. Why? Because three exploits our ability to assimilate patterns, and three contains the least amount of elements.

One of the biggest challenges facing creative teams is consistency. Putting in place a simple guideline (three) will help you create and execute content consistently over time.

Remember change is not easy. It’s not easy to change the way you’ve always done something, it’s not easy to lose weight, it’s not easy to maintain and fuel a relationship. (Just ask Kim Kardashian or anyone in Hollywood for that matter.) It takes commitment, control and consistency, the rule of three.

– written by Cliff Dumas

Cliff is a CMA and ACM winning morning host and Randy Lane Talent Coach. Click here to learn more.