By Roderick Kelly

Co-founder, K+L Storytellers

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and a happy day it is.

The Chicago River is emerald, revelers dress as leprechauns and strangers are toasting each other with pints of Guinness.

It’s a fun day. Heck, March is a happy month.

We have March Madness, spring break and tax refunds. March signals the end of winter, a time for new life and the moment students can touch their graduation day.

March is the third month and all good things come in threes.

Storytellers, speakers and comics have known this for years and use the Rule of Three to produce vibrant, fun and memorable stories like The Three Little Pigs.

Here are some examples of the Rule of Three:

·         Hip, hip, hooray – a common cheer

·         Vidi, vini, vici -- Latin for I came, I saw, I conquered

·         Stop, drop and roll -- a fire safety slogan

·         Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- from the US Declaration of Independence

·         Faster, higher, stronger -- the Olympic motto

·         An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman walk into a pub……..

Now you know one of the great secrets of storytelling. The Rule of Three is used on corporate websites, in marketing materials and in advertising because it's simple, catchy and rhythmic.

Slãinte.