--- title: Maybe Make 4 = 1+3 description: Learn how to effectively structure presentations by using a 1+3 format, inspired by classic literature like A Christmas Carol and The Three Musketeers. image: https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hubfs/1%2B3.png --- [![1679580717752](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/1679580717752.jpeg?width=25&height=200&name=1679580717752.jpeg "1679580717752")](http://www.makingpresentations.co.uk) Search toggle - [Home](https://makingpresentations.co.uk) - [About Us](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/about) About Us - [Values](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/company-values) - [Blog](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog) - [Courses](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses) Courses - [Presenter Core Skills](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-core-skills) - [Presenting Scenarios](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-scenarios) - [Presenter Styles](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-styles) - [Presenting Virtual/Hybrid](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-virtual-hybrid) - [Our Book](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/the-versatile-presenter-book) - [Other Services](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/other-services) - [Contact](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/contact) [Connect with us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/making-presentations/) [![1679580717752](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/1679580717752.jpeg?width=25&height=200&name=1679580717752.jpeg "1679580717752")](http://www.makingpresentations.co.uk) - [Home](https://makingpresentations.co.uk) - [About Us](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/about) About Us - [Values](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/company-values) - [Blog](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog) - [Courses](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses) Courses - [Presenter Core Skills](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-core-skills) - [Presenting Scenarios](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-scenarios) - [Presenter Styles](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-styles) - [Presenting Virtual/Hybrid](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-virtual-hybrid) - [Our Book](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/the-versatile-presenter-book) - [Other Services](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/other-services) - [Contact](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/contact) Search toggle [![1679580717752](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/1679580717752.jpeg?width=50&height=200&name=1679580717752.jpeg "1679580717752")](http://www.makingpresentations.co.uk) - [Home](https://makingpresentations.co.uk) - [About Us](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/about) About Us - [Values](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/company-values) - [Blog](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog) - [Courses](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses) Courses - [Presenter Core Skills](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-core-skills) - [Presenting Scenarios](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-scenarios) - [Presenter Styles](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenter-styles) - [Presenting Virtual/Hybrid](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/courses/presenting-virtual-hybrid) - [Our Book](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/the-versatile-presenter-book) - [Other Services](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/other-services) - [Contact](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/contact) [Connect with us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/making-presentations/) Search toggle What are you looking for? # Maybe Make 4 = 1+3 23 Feb 2025 [Richard Pascoe](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/author/richard-pascoe) ![](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hubfs/1%2B3.png) ![1+3](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/1%2B3.png?width=2481&height=1749&name=1%2B3.png)   I am reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. My wife bought it for me for Christmas when I admitted that I had never read it. It is an amazingly good read - as I should have expected from an all time classic. It is short, it is punchy, and it is brilliantly structured. I already know the story - not least from the amazing Muppet film. Returning to the story of Mr E. Scrooge and the many ghosts who visit him has reminded me of a presentation structure tip Kirstie and I sometimes share in our presentation skills trainings: do NOT present to the audience four, structure as 1+3. If you have four blocks of content to share, find a way to split it into two blocks - and a great way to do this is to make one of the four feel separate. Make one distinct and three clearly connected. I normally give the example of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The exact make-up of the quartet varies a little, but today we often list them as: Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence. However, in our minds they will always be 1+3: Death and the other three. Death is primary the others are secondary. Writers split a four into 1+3 in the best classic literature. Consider "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas. The story is actually about FOUR Musketeers: d'Artagnan as the new upstart and the three established fighting brothers of Athos, Porthos and Aramis . Throughout the story, it always feels like one plus three. Splitting the four in this way helps the reader follow the story - it is one new musketeer and three experienced musketeers. This is what Charles Dickens does in A Christmas Carol: one plus three. There are four ghosts: Marley (his long dead business partner), the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In writing them like this, Dickens aids us to split four into one plus three. We have Marley as the spectral klaxon foretelling the spectral arrivals to come. Marley is a separate ghost in name, type, and role to the three Ghosts that follow. When you form a presentation and you find you have four equal parts to your content, look to form a "one plus three". Maybe you will set one element as most important (e.g. Death). Maybe highlight one as being the most interesting and dynamic (d'Artagnan). Maybe you use the first one as a precursor to the other three (Marley). When you have four, stop and think whether you can make them feel like 1+3. ### Share: [Share on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/4-equal-1-plus-3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook) [Share on LinkedIn](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/4-equal-1-plus-3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin) [Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/4-equal-1-plus-3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&url=https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/4-equal-1-plus-3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Maybe%20Make%204%20=%201+3) [Presentation structure](https://makingpresentations.co.uk/blog/tag/presentation-structure) ## Richard Pascoe Richard is one of the two Master Trainers at Making Presentations. 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