WRITING ENHANCEMENTS · THE ADVANCED: EMPHASIZE + REPEAT
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 epiphora is part of Writing Enhancements: The Advanced. There are more than 25 rhetorical devices for communicators ready to move past The Essentials. The devices here are more nuanced, more demanding, and more rewarding.
This article includes:
- Epiphora, with a plain-English definition, pronunciation, and a practical how-to
- Examples – notated so you can watch the device work
- Quick Exercises – quick on-the-spot exercises, with suggested answers at the bottom
- Your Turn – specific suggestions to use epiphora to your advantage, today
Write What Audiences Quote
Pattern is not decoration, and there is evidence it is part of the pleasure. When unfamiliar music was digitally altered to add repetition, listeners rated it more enjoyable, more interesting, and more likely to be the work of a human artist (E. Margulis, 2013).
Writing Enhancement Category: Emphasize + Repeat. You mastered repetition with The Essentials. Now master resonance. Repeat endings, so every idea impacts in the same place. Bookend a sentence, so it closes where it opened. Bend one root word into three forms: fight, fought, fighter. Let the pattern do the persuading. Subtle on the page. Unmistakable in the mind. Build the line they repeat outside the office.
“… government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Abraham Lincoln could have closed the 1863 Gettysburg Address with “government of, by, and for the people.” Instead, he ended three phrases in a row on the same two words. In this way, the idea that mattered most was repeated three times. This is epiphora. You repeat the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences. Attention gathers at the end. The word you place at the end is the word that is remembered. Anaphora claims the beginning of a sentence. Epiphora claims the ending of the sentence.
Below you will find the definition, examples, and a way to use epiphora today.
About Epiphora
| Definition | Repeat the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences. |
| Explanation | The end of a sentence is its point of greatest emphasis, so a repeated ending gets extra force each time it comes back. By the second repetition, the audience expects the phrase. By the third, they may be saying it with you. That expectation is what makes epiphora memorable. Anaphora puts the repetition at the start of each line and draws attention to where each thought begins. Epiphora puts it at the end and draws attention to where each thought lands. |
| Pronunciation | eh – PIF – or – uh |
| Also Known As | Epistrophe, Antistrophe |
| Related to | Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Epanalepsis, Epimone, Gradatio, Homoioptoton, Mesodiplosis, Polyptoton, Symploce |
| Etymology | From the Greek ἐπιφορά (epiphora), meaning “a bringing upon,” from epi (“upon”) and pherein (“to carry”). |
| How to Use | Choose the word or phrase you want remembered. Write three short clauses or sentences that each reach it from a different direction. Change what comes right before the repeated ending, since that variety keeps each point distinct and the pattern fresh. Keep the clauses short enough so the ear can hold all three at once. Stop at three. With more, the pattern becomes predictable and hides what makes each point different. |
| Best for | – Keynote + Speech Closes: The audience hears the same word land three times in a row, which is exactly what your audience needs to remember. – Executive Decision Memos: Repeating the ending forces you to name the one thing at stake and lets every reason you list point at it. – Objection Handling: Sending several different concerns to the same ending shows the buyer that you have one answer, not five. – Brand Lines + Campaign Copy: The shape compresses well, so a three-clause version can shrink to a two-clause headline without losing the effect. – Values + Culture: An abstract word gets concrete when three specific behaviors all end on it. |
EXAMPLES OF EPIPHORA
See how epiphora is used to increase the effectiveness and impact of your words. Then, experiment, mixing and combining other Writing Enhancements in your written, spoken, and social media communications.
Example 1: “Tuesdays with Morrie,” book by Mitch Albom
| Without Notation | “…There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don’t know how to compromise, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.” |
| With Notation |
“…There are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don’t respect the other person, { you’re gonna have a lot of trouble }. If you don’t know how to compromise, { you’re gonna have a lot of trouble }. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, { you’re gonna have a lot of trouble }. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, { you’re gonna have a lot of trouble }. Your values must be alike.” |
Example 2: Dr Pepper Soft Drink Commercials from 1970’s
| Without Notation | “I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a Pepper, we’re a Pepper. Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too? Dr Pepper.” |
| With Notation |
“I’m a { Pepper }, he’s a { Pepper }, she’s a { Pepper }, we’re a { Pepper }. Wouldn’t you like to be a { Pepper }, too? Dr { Pepper }.” |
Example 3: President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 1863
| Without Notation | “… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” |
| With Notation |
“… that government of { the people }, by { the people }, for { the people }, shall not perish from the earth.” |
Example 4: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream,” August 1963
| Without Notation | “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” |
| With Notation |
“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work { together }, to pray { together }, to struggle { together }, to go to jail { together }, to stand up for freedom { together }, knowing that we will be free one day.” |
Example 5: Ralph Waldo Emerson
| Without Notation | “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” |
| With Notation |
“What lies behind { us } and what lies before { us } are tiny matters compared to what lies within { us }.” |
ON-THE-SPOT EXERCISES
Below are three “Before” passages without epiphora applied. Rewrite each one before reading further (no peeking!). Our suggested “After” versions are listed at the bottom.
On-the-Spot Exercise 1
Before: Our retention numbers slipped again this quarter. Support response times are up, onboarding now takes eleven days instead of four, and three of our largest accounts have told us the product feels harder to use than it did a year ago. None of that is about price and none of it is about the competition. We stopped paying attention.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: I want to be clear about why we are consolidating the three regional teams. Nobody underperformed, and budget pressure was not the main factor. What finally moved us was hearing that customers cannot tell which of the three teams owns their account. That confusion has been costing us renewals for two quarters.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Most training programs hand your people a framework and send them back to their desks. Two weeks later the slides are in a folder nobody opens, and everyone is presenting the way they always did. We built ours differently. Our clients practice on the presentation they are actually giving next month.
Your Turn — Next Steps
This Week: Open the last important message you sent and find its final sentence. Write the one word you want that reader repeating. Then, rebuild the ending as two clauses that both end on it. Read both versions aloud before you decide which one you would send.
This Month: Choose a low-stakes meeting or conversation where you expect resistance. Prepare one three-clause line whose repeated ending names the thing actually at stake. Send three different objections to the same landing and watch how the argument gets shorter and better.
Next Six Months: Build a repeating word. Pick the single word your market should associate with you. Write an epiphora line that ends on it. Then, use that line in the ending of every keynote, the last paragraph of every proposal, and the final slide of every pitch for two full quarters. A signature line is not written once. It is repeated until other people start saying it for you.
The right device depends on the message, the audience, and the moment. If you’d like help choosing well, contact us.
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.
Techniques, practiced until they are habit: inviting your audiences in, making them eager to learn more, and inspiring them to act.
New to Writing Enhancements? Start with the series overview: Writing Enhancements
How The Chief Storyteller® Uses Epiphora with Clients
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, epiphora sharpens your message. Aloud, in the meeting, on the stage, in the pitch, your voice and body language give your words oomph, force, impact. Small, deliberate choices, practiced until they become instinct. That is how great communicators are forged.
Sources
My 35+ years of coaching, speaking, training, and teaching; my 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. Favorite books: A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices by Robert A. Harris; Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth; and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham.
Every client success story, webinar narrative, and all-hands meeting script we help build uses Writing Enhancements such as epiphora. Yours can too. Contact us.
On-the-Spot Exercises: Suggested Answers
Suggested rewrites only. If yours reads better, use yours.
On-the-Spot Exercise 1
Before: Our retention numbers slipped again this quarter. Support response times are up, onboarding now takes eleven days instead of four, and three of our largest accounts have told us the product feels harder to use than it did a year ago. None of that is about price and none of it is about the competition. We stopped paying attention.
After: Our retention numbers slipped again this quarter. A growing support queue is not a pricing { problem }. An eleven-day onboarding that used to take four is not a competitor { problem }. Three of our largest accounts telling us the product feels harder to use than it did a year ago is not a market { problem }. It is an attention problem, and attention is the one thing on the list we fully control.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: I want to be clear about why we are consolidating the three regional teams. Nobody underperformed, and budget pressure was not the main factor. What finally moved us was hearing that customers cannot tell which of the three teams owns their account. That confusion has been costing us renewals for two quarters.
After: I want to be clear about why we are consolidating the three regional teams. Underperformance did not { drive this decision }. Budget pressure did not { drive this decision }. A customer who cannot tell which of three teams owns her account { drove this decision }, and her confusion has been costing us renewals for two quarters.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Most training programs hand your people a framework and send them back to their desks. Two weeks later the slides are in a folder nobody opens, and everyone is presenting the way they always did. We built ours differently. Our clients practice on the presentation they are actually giving next month.
After: Most training programs hand your people a framework and send them back to their desks. We coach on { the work }. Not a case study, { the work }. Not a role play, { the work }. The presentation you deliver next month, the proposal due Friday, the story your board still has not heard: { the work }.
Updated 2026
Photography Source: Message Cloud/Word Cloud © Copyright, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
