Any aspiring leader who is seeking to enthral his new subjects into doing manual labor or to garner votes for him must include three important concepts in their ‘all-important’ public speech.

The first concept was called ‘The Hook’.

Aptly named, the purpose of the ‘hook’ was to capture the unwavering attention of the crowd, be it good or bad.

The trick to doing this was to open your address with a highly controversial, popularly debated, extremely opinionated, or outright weird topic/one-liner. Not only would this grab the unilateral attention of the crowd, but it will also get them thinking, and hence provide emphasis to your ensuing words.

Atlas, being the self-proclaimed inventor of this technique, did exactly that.

“Everything is meaningless and we are all going to die.”

He declared evenly, shocking both the peasantry crowd and the kind-hearted Baron standing behind him. He then surveyed the crowd, reading their expressions and gauging their thoughts.

Seeing that his words had the intended effect, Atlas repeated the sentence to drive home the fact.

“You heard right. Everything is meaningless and we are all going to die!”

This time around, he could visibly see the shock on their faces. Their widened eyes, dilated pupils, and agape mouths…suffice to say, his words had gotten their mental gears to turn.

He then graciously gave the crowd a few seconds to process his words. It was only after seeing the emotion of confusion appear on their faces did he proceed with his words.

“I believe most of you are confused by my words. ‘What senseless words is this child yelling?’ you might wonder. But I’m afraid that I speak the truth.” Atlas took a deep breath. “For if things continue heading the way they currently are, everyone within this town, be they adult or child, is doomed to die.”

“These words, I speak not with ignorance but with experience.”

The young prince grimly prophesied, inducing doubt and spreading nervousness within the populace down below.

With these words, the opening salvo was complete. The first concept, of the three important concepts, was successfully executed. All that he had to do now was wait.

‘Go on. Take the bait. Bite the hook and take the bait.’ Atlas inwardly chanted. ‘You can do it. I believe in you.’

“Wat experience? Wat makes you say that!? You’r just a little runt that had barely moved on from sucklin his mama’s teat!!” A brave citizen –speaking with a slight lisp– yelled out from within the crowd.

‘Bingpot!’ Atlas inwardly screamed with joy.

There it was; the brave fish which grabbed onto his hook. Things had proceeded exactly like the young prince had wanted it to.

Unfortunately, not everyone seemed to share the prince’s joy.

“Shut up! I will not stand by and watch as you insult the royal heir!” Baron Helm stepped forward and threateningly barked.

His furious voice immediately frightened the brave fish, and the majority of the crowd, into submission.

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“Baron Helm, please! Calm down and step back,” Atlas hurriedly said, tugging on the large man’s sleeves.

“But my liege! That man is insulting your honor! How can I stand by and wat–” Baron Helm tried to justify himself, only to be interrupted by the prince.

“Do you find me offended, Baron Helm?” Atlas asked with a serious voice. Facing the rare seriousness of the young prince, Baron Helm faltered. “N-no, my liege.”

“Then please, stand back. His question was aimed towards me and me alone. As such, it is my duty to answer his query.” The prince replied with a voice that was just loud enough to be heard by the people below.

He then continued with a louder tone. “Also, he isn’t wrong you know.”

Taking a step forward, Atlas faced the crowd with a straight back and asked, “Indeed! What experience do I, a young fledgling, have to utter such words?”

“For you see, loyal citizens of the Constantine Kingdom, I’ve seen and heard it happen before. A noble and his loyal servants escaping the flames of war, to hide in a distant, foreign land, living each day in anxiety and fear towards the future and what it holds in store for them…this town is but the last, in a long line of similar cases that I’ve had the misfortune of witnessing.”

Atlas’ voice went quiet and a pained expression appeared on his face. His eyes even teared up a little.

Seeing his expression, the crowd, Baron Helm included, felt a slight pain and overwhelming pity within their heart.

What had the little boy witnessed to make such a pained expression? They wouldn’t know. They could, however, tell that it certainly wasn’t anything nice.

Withholding his tears, Atlas bravely faced the crowd and narrated his story.

“My journey to arrive in this town was one that was filled with hardships and fueled by luck. Were it not for the Almighty Gods looking out for me, I would have certainly not made it here.”

“This got me thinking. Why me? Why was I lucky enough to arrive at this town, alive and well, while hundreds, nay, thousands of people facing a similar situation did not make it? How am I different?”

“Ever since I first woke up within the warm comfort of the kind Baron’s home, I’ve pondered on his question. And it was only seeing you people, did I find my answer.”

Widening his arms, Atlas looked towards the sky and loudly declared.

“The Gods protected me, not to save my life, but to save yours!”

“He made me witness the sight of burning towns and listen to the voices of the starving people not to burden me with sadness, but in order to prepare me to serve you! To lead you!”

“It was not luck and chance that brought me here, but the will of the Ones’ Up Above!!”

His resounding declaration shocked the crowds into silence once again. Only this time, it was different.

The second important concept, of the three important concepts, was called ‘Empathize and Elevate’.

In this step, a leader must empathize with the feelings of the crowd. This is done in order to one, relate with them, and two, find a common ground with them. To reinforce this concept, he must not address himself as superior to them but as one amongst them. As such, he must elevate them.

A variety of means can be used to complete this step. Atlas simply took the one with the greatest effect and the highest possibility for success.

Firstly, he referred to himself as not a prince of a nation, but as a fellow citizen. Additionally, he even intentionally used his young age as another chip to elevate their lowly statuses.

After that, Atlas found his common talking ground; they were both survivors of hardships and victors of struggles. He then narrated his story to raise sympathy amongst the populace.

And finally, to legitimize his claims and provide purpose to his position, Atlas used the winning card.

He summoned God! (not literally, of course. More in the metaphorical sense.)

In this era where education was not widespread and the study of science was non-existent, the one overarching concept that every man, woman, and child was intimately familiar with was religion.

Everyone believed in a God. Atlas used this to his advantage.

He made himself out to be the carrier of God’s will; his purpose was to guide the people and warn them about their grim future.

Was it the truth? Obviously not. Was it moral? Hell no.

It was, however, incredibly, ‘incredibly’ effective.

And that was all that mattered to Atlas.

“My fellow people, I ask you to trust my words as I carry out the Almighty’s will! I request you to follow my words so that ‘we’ can walk out of this dark future together and head towards the light, as intended by the Gods!!”

“What say you!?!”

He roaringly asked.