The classic novel, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, takes place in the 17th century. It follows the adventures of a young man named d’Artagnan who leaves his home to join the Musketeers of the Guard, a prestigious group of soldiers who serve the King of France. Although d’Artagnan cannot join this elite guard immediately, he is befriended by three of the most formidable musketeers.
The Three Musketeers
⚔ Athos: The wisest, calmest and most noble-minded of the three. Athos is actually the Comte de la Fère, a nobleman with a mysterious and tragic past. He becomes a father figure to d’Artagnan.
⚔ Porthos: The strongest, most cheerful and most flamboyant of the three. Porthos enjoys the finer things in life, including good food, extravagant clothing and social gatherings.
⚔ Aramis: The most intellectual, strategic and diplomatic of the three. Aramis is often torn between his duty as a musketeer and his desire to join the clergy. He is a romantic at heart.
The motto of the three musketeers was “All for one and one for all!” They knew that they were strongest when they worked together.
The Three Rhetorical Musketeers
For speeches and presentations, a speaker needs the three rhetorical musketeers:
⚔ Logos: Logic and intellectual insights. Does it make sense? Do the facts, data, statistics, evidence support it? Logos appeals to left side of our brain.
⚔ Ethos: Personal credibility and ethics of the speaker. Experience, authority and reputation all contribute to your ethos. It is all about who you are as a person and how much the audience trusts you
⚔ Pathos: Emotional connection. Aristotle said that an emotional speaker always makes his audience feel with him. Emotions can be positive or negative and you can tap into them through storytelling, humour, surprise and images.
Without all three, your speeches and presentations will suffer.
“All for one speech and one speech for all!”
