Speak in 3’s

Want to sound more powerful? Try a tricolon.

Speak in 3’s.

You’ve heard these before, I imagine:

• “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

• “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

• “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

That’s a tricolon—a series of three phrases in a row. It’s one of the oldest rhetorical strategies.

It’s not the two little bears or the four musketeers.

It is the Holy Trinity.

“3 is the magic number.”

There are two ways of using tricolons, to build up or to focus down.

In 1940, Winston Churchill used a descending tricolon to strike a somber tone:

“Never in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many, to so few.”

It starts big and wide and zooms in to the focused and personal: “so much” → “so many” → “so few.” It slows the listener down. It’s reverent. It’s reflective.

But just a few months later, he used an ascending tricolon to rally a nation:

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets…”

Each phrase grows in intensity and gets longer. It builds energy, urgency, and resistance. You can almost feel the march in your chest.

Next time you want to move an audience—whether that’s in a meeting, a speech, or a slide deck—try a tricolon.

• Do I want to build energy? (Go ascending)

• Do I want to reflect or soften? (Go descending)

Rhythm. Inspiration. Influence.