WRITING ENHANCEMENTS · THE ESSENTIALS: STORY + VOICE
This article is part of Language Forging™.
Language Forging™ is the deliberate shaping of words and their delivery to optimally engage, influence, and inspire.
Drawing from fields like rhetoric, communications, advertising, and storytelling, Language Forging™ requires continuous development of two core competencies: Writing Enhancements for crafting magnetic language and Speaking Enhancements for presenting those words with impact. Through dedicated practice, a Language Forger™ perpetually hones these skills and applies them strategically to invite people in, spark curiosity, and inspire action.
Specifically, this article on using Control Time is part of Writing Enhancements: The Essentials, which includes 25+ proven rhetorical devices that make your writing easier to read, easier to remember, and harder to ignore. Deliberate language is a learnable skill.
This article includes:
- Control Time, with a plain-English definition, pronunciation, and a practical how-to
- Examples – notated so you can watch the device work
- Quick Exercises – On-the-spot exercises, with suggested answers at the bottom
- Your Turn – specific suggestions to use Control Time to your advantage, today
Write Deliberately. Be Remembered.
Story and voice devices work because your audience builds the scene themselves. Reading a described action lights up the same brain regions as doing it, and readers rebuild the picture every time the story changes place or time (N. Speer et al., 2009).
Writing Enhancement Category: Story + Voice. “Three days later, the storm arrived.” Four words, and you skip everything that didn’t matter. This is the power of Control Time. Real life unfolds minute by minute. Good storytelling unfolds consequential moment to consequential moment to consequential moment. Stories lose momentum when they linger on the ordinary. Stories gain momentum when they leap to what matters next.
“For six weeks we negotiated. Then, on that Friday, at 11am, one hour before the deadline, Mr. Moody, the client, called.” Notice what happened. You didn’t sit through six weeks of emails, meetings, and revisions. Instead, you jumped straight to the memorable moment, which changed the story. This is Control Time. Most communicators describe every step between Point A and Point B. Excellent communicators advance time with a clear marker to skip ahead to the next meaningful event. “After months and months of testing…” “Two years later…” These phrases act like a fast-forward button. They cut delay, maintain momentum, and keep your audience focused on the moments they will remember.
Below you will find the definition, examples, and ways to use Control Time today.
About Control Time
| Definition | Advance time with a clear marker, to skip to the next consequential moment |
| Explanation | The marker is a short, unmistakable, obvious phrase such as [number] years later; fast forward; cut to; by the following spring; jump ahead [number] years; now move ahead [number] months/years; skip ahead to the last day of the month; picture the same room one year later; our next stop is December; imagine the year is 20##; by Q3; and suddenly, we are five years into the future.
Examples of Control Time that have a sense of humor and personality: 400 cold calls later; 3 pots of coffee later; 85,000 lines of code later; Many gray hairs later; One very lonnnggggggg flight later; 47 “you’re on mute” reminders later; 19 versions of “Final_FINAL_v19” later. |
| Pronunciation | kən-TROHL taɪm |
| Related to | Anachrony, Analepsis, Diegesis, Ellipsis, Hysteron proteron, In medias res (Latin), Mimesis, Prolepsis |
| Etymology | Comes from two roots. “Control” comes from Anglo-French contreroller, meaning “to exert authority.” That word comes from Medieval Latin contrarotulus, “a counter, a register,” formed from Latin contra (“against”) and rotulus (“roll”), a diminutive of rota (“wheel”). The name likely reflects the medieval practice of auditing accounts against a duplicate roll. English speakers first used it in the early 1400s as countrollen, “to check, to regulate.” “Time” comes from Old English tima, “a limited space of time,” from Proto-Germanic *tima-. That traces to the Proto-Indo-European root *da-, “to divide.” The same root gives English tide, and English speakers have paired the two in “time and tide” since the early 1200s. |
| An Original from The Chief Storyteller® | You will not find Control Time in the classical handbooks on rhetoric. Ira Koretsky, CEO, The Chief Storyteller®, added it to the Writing Enhancements after 25+ years of coaching communicators. Why? Because classical rhetorical devices shape sentences and focus on exact structure. In executive communications, you need practical techniques that work time and time again. |
| How to Use | First, list the moments in your story (personal, success story, case study, etc.) where something meaningful changed such as a decision, a failure, a discovery, or a result. Everything between those moments is generally uninteresting time. And unfortunately, this “time” is where your audience tunes out. Rather, cut out the uninteresting time by replacing it with a time marker (examples above in Explanation). Keep the time marker short and concrete. Place it at the beginning of the sentence so the Control Time registers before the new scene arrives. |
| Best for | – Keynotes + Conference Talks: You have limited time. So the time marker shifts are imperative to keep audience’s attention. – Client Case Studies: Buyers care about the starting condition and the outcome. A single marker can carry the buyer from one to the other. – Founder + Origin Stories: Stay at the 50,000 level for these stories. Keep the action moving. – Leadership All-hands + Town Halls: A marker turns a long, grinding initiative into a story with visible progress. – Written Case Notes, Proposals, + Bios: On the page, a marker gives readers permission to skim nothing, because there is nothing left to skim. |
EXAMPLES OF CONTROL TIME
Most of Writing Enhancement come from the Greek or Latin languages. Control Time earns its place as there is no one rhetorical device that offers time-based flexibility.
Look at the examples below. See how Control Time is used to maintain your audience’s attention. Then experiment, mixing and combining other Writing Enhancements in your written, spoken, and social media communications.
Example 1: Jim Blankenship, MarketWatch, 2022
| Without Notation | Ready for some more magic? Let’s fast-forward to the time Sue is about to reach Full Retirement Age. She has been thoroughly enjoying the consulting work, and it gives her flexibility in her schedule to take on other projects, as well as to spend time with her granddaughter. |
| With Notation |
Ready for some more magic? Let’s { fast-forward } to the time Sue is about to reach Full Retirement Age. She has been thoroughly enjoying the consulting work, and it gives her flexibility in her schedule to take on other projects, as well as to spend time with her granddaughter. |
Example 2: Yahoo Entertainment Staff, 2018
| Without Notation | When 2018 began, Netflix had a full team of Marvel’s Defenders, plus a gun-toting wild card. Flash forward to the end of the year, and we’re just down to two: Jessica Jones and The Punisher. |
| With Notation |
When 2018 began, Netflix had a full team of Marvel’s Defenders, plus a gun-toting wild card. { Flash forward } to the end of the year, and we’re just down to two: Jessica Jones and The Punisher. |
Example 3: Michael McKnight, “Into the Wild. Twice. For Mankind,” Sports Illustrated Daily Cover, May 2020
| Without Notation | Cut to a scene one year later, in a lab on the Iowa campus. Hultin overhears a visiting physician’s remark that even though the 1918 flu infected one-third of the world’s population, no one knows the first thing about it. |
| With Notation |
{ Cut to a scene one year later }, in a lab on the Iowa campus. Hultin overhears a visiting physician’s remark that even though the 1918 flu infected one-third of the world’s population, no one knows the first thing about it. |
ON-THE-SPOT EXERCISES
Below are three “Before” passages that do not yet use Control Time. Rewrite each one before reading further (no peeking!). Our suggested “After” versions are listed at the bottom.
On-the-Spot Exercise 1
Before: We kicked off the migration in January. February was spent mapping dependencies. In March we ran the first test batch. April brought a second test batch. In May we finalized the rollback plan. In June we cut over, and the system has been stable since.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: When I joined this team, we had 40 open tickets and no triage process. Then we built the triage board. Then we added the on-call rotation. Then we set response targets. Then we trained everyone on them. Today our backlog is under 10.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Dana signed up for our beginner course in September. She finished the fundamentals module in October, the practice module in November, and the capstone in December. She revised her portfolio through January and February. In March she started applying. In April she accepted an offer.
Your Turn — Next Steps
This Week: Take one update you already owe someone. Find the stretch where nothing consequential happens, delete it, and replace it with a single time marker.
This Month: Rebuild a story you tell often around three moments: the starting condition, the change, and the result. Add two time markers connecting them. Then, deliver it aloud and compare the impact against the old version.
Next Six Months: Build your signature story as a set of scenes rather than a sequence of dates. Choose the four or five memorable moments contributing to the experience and your Better Tomorrow MessageTM. Label every time marker between the memorable moments. And use this story in your keynotes, your pitches, and your introductions until you can add the story into any situation on demand.
If your message is clear and not yet compelling, a Writing Enhancement like Control Time may help. Contact us to explore possibilities.
References and the Series
This article series goes beyond choosing better words. Drawing from rhetoric, communications, advertising, and storytelling, Language Forging™ builds two core competencies you develop continuously throughout your career.
Writing Enhancements craft magnetic language that draws readers and listeners into your message. The right word choices create impact. The perfect sentence rhythm maintains engagement. The strategic use of rhetorical devices captivates audiences. These elements combine to create prose that commands attention from the first word to the last.
Speaking Enhancements present those words with maximum impact. As Ira says, “great communicators create memorable experiences WITH YOU by blending together their voice, their body, and their words.” Vocal variety keeps audiences engaged. Strategic pauses create emphasis. Volume modulation signals importance. These techniques transform written words into memorable experiences.
Practice these techniques until they become habits: invite your audiences in, make them eager to learn more, and inspire them to act.
New to Writing Enhancements? Start with the series overview: Writing Enhancements
How The Chief Storyteller® Uses Control Time with Clients + Students
Writing Enhancements run through everything: coaching, consulting, training, workshops, and keynotes. Ira Koretsky, CEO, has been teaching them in his class for more than a decade. He teaches public speaking, data storytelling, storytelling, and presentations as an adjunct professor at The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. The student final is a five-minute TED-style talk.
And Ira tells everyone the same thing:
“You never have to remember the actual Greek word or how to pronounce it. What I want you to remember is why use it and how to use it.”
Every Writing Enhancement is written first and spoken aloud second. On the page, Control Time keeps your audience’s attention. Aloud, in the meeting, on the stage, or in the pitch, your pause, vocal emphasis, and body language help your audience follow the shift to the next consequential moment. Small, deliberate choices, practiced until they become instinct. That is how great communicators are forged.
Sources
Ira’s 35+ years of coaching, speaking, training, and teaching; Ira’s 1,000+ page Writing Enhancements Resource Guide; Fellow communications professors; American Rhetoric; Encyclopedia Britannica; LitCharts; Literary Devices; Merriam-Webster Dictionary; Oxford English Dictionary; Silva Rhetoricae; ThoughtCo; and Wikipedia. Ira’s favorite books: A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices by Robert A. Harris; The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth; and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham.
The complete list of Writing Enhancements spans more than 50 ways to make language more deliberate. We can help you decide the ones that matter most for your work. Contact us.
On-the-Spot Exercises: Suggested Answers
Suggested rewrites only. If yours reads better, use yours.
On-the-Spot Exercise 1
Before: We kicked off the migration in January. February was spent mapping dependencies. In March we ran the first test batch. April brought a second test batch. In May we finalized the rollback plan. In June we cut over, and the system has been stable since.
After: We kicked off the migration in January with 400 undocumented dependencies. { Six months later }, we cut over in a single weekend. The system has been stable ever since.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: When I joined this team, we had 40 open tickets and no triage process. Then we built the triage board. Then we added the on-call rotation. Then we set response targets. Then we trained everyone on them. Today our backlog is under 10.
After: When I joined this team, we had 40 open tickets and no triage process. { Fast forward two quarters }: the backlog is under 10, and nobody works a weekend to keep it there.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Dana signed up for our beginner course in September. She finished the fundamentals module in October, the practice module in November, and the capstone in December. She revised her portfolio through January and February. In March she started applying. In April she accepted an offer.
After: Dana signed up for our beginner course in September, with no portfolio and no interviews. { Eight months later }, she accepted the offer.
Updated 2026
Photography Source: Message Cloud/Word Cloud © Copyright, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
