The power of three

I was reading an article a few days ago about the power of three and I thought it worth mentioning again.  It’s all about using three words in your writing or speeches to give them much more importance and more memorability.

If you use the power of three you can express concepts with a lot more emphasis and it helps people to remember the message.  In the words of business consultant Andrew Dlugan, “That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Known as trios, triplets and triads many copywriters use them to make sure that their message comes across.  Remember the old Winston Churchill quote: - “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.” - misquoted and simplified over time as the classic “blood, sweat and tears.”

McDonalds are always telling us that their Big Macs are much improved. They say they are hotter, juicier, tastier.  That’s a very appealing message. I don’t go for Big Macs any more but sometimes I get really tempted simply because hotter, juicier, tastier summons up a great mental picture and appeals to my stomach. One day I’ll probably weaken and try one - that’s the power of three.  There are even three burgers in McDonalds’ promo shot shown here.   And doesn’t KFC use the power of three well with “finger lickin’ good!”

So how do we use that in our own businesses?  Try things like:

Three things you need to know about (our product)

Three reasons you should call us now

Here are three testimonials from satisfied customers

I could go on but my message would get lost with too many examples.  That’s the power of three!