WRITING ENHANCEMENTS · THE ESSENTIALS: 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 anadiplosis 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:
- Anadiplosis, 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 anadiplosis to your advantage, today
Write Deliberately. Be Remembered.
The Emphasize + Repeat category rests on a simple, durable finding. Repetition is one of the most powerful and reliable ways to strengthen memory (D. Hintzman, 1976).
Writing Enhancement Category: Emphasize + Repeat. “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” In Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace, Yoda could have said, “Fear causes anger, hate, and suffering.” Instead, Yoda ends each sentence on a word. And then, opens the next sentence with that same word. This is anadiplosis. The last word of one sentence or phrase becomes the first word of the next.
Each repeated word works like a link in a chain. Your audience sees exactly how one idea leads to the next, with no gap in the logic. By the final link, your conclusion feels earned instead of simply stated. Your audience walked every step with you, so they are far more likely to accept where you ended up.
Below you will find the definition, examples, and a way to use anadiplosis today.
About Anadiplosis
| Definition | Repeat the last word of a sentence to begin the next to link ideas and create flow. |
| Explanation | The repeated word is a hinge. It closes one thought and opens the next. Instead of asking your audience to leap between ideas, you hand them a rope and pull them across. Used two or three times in a row, the repetition also builds a sense of cause and effect, one idea seeming to produce the next. That is why anadiplosis reads like logic. Your audience feels the connection before they pause to analyze it. |
| Pronunciation | an – uh – duh – PLOH – sis |
| Related to | Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Epanalepsis, Epimone, Epiphora, Gradatio, Homoioptoton, Mesodiplosis, Polyptoton, Symploce |
| Etymology | From the Greek ἀναδίπλωσις (anadiplōsis), meaning “doubling” or “doubling back,” from ana (“back” or “again”) and diploun (“to double” or “to fold over”). |
| How to Use | Use anadiplosis when you want two or three ideas to feel linked. Take the last word of one sentence, or a close variant of it, and place it at the start of the next. Then, let the handoff carry your logic forward. Three links is the sweet spot. Put it at a turn in your argument or the close of a section, where you want momentum, rather than in the middle of dense, technical passages. Avoid chaining so many links readers notice the technique instead of your point. If the exact word feels forced, repeat its idea rather than the identical term, so the linking remains smooth. |
| Best for | – Keynote + Speech Closes: the chain builds momentum toward your final line and gives the audience a rhythm to carry out of the room. – Proposals + Pitches: link problem to solution to outcome so your recommendation reads as the natural conclusion, not a leap. – Persuasive + Opinion Writing: make cause and effect feel inevitable instead of merely asserted. – Taglines + Campaigns: a short chain is compact, quotable, and easy to remember. – Teaching + Explanation: a short chain walks a learner from cause to effect, one clear step at a time. |
EXAMPLES OF ANADIPLOSIS
Look at the examples below. See how anadiplosis is used to dramatically 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: Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace, Yoda Talking to Anakin
| Without Notation | “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.” |
| With Notation |
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to { anger }. { Anger } leads to { hate }. { Hate } leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.”
Note 1: Notice there are two examples of anadiplosis – anger and hate |
Example 2: Margaret Thatcher, United Kingdom Prime Minister, Conservative Party Address, 10 October 1980
| Without Notation | “Without a healthy economy, we can’t have a healthy society. Without a healthy society, the economy won’t stay healthy for long.” |
| With Notation |
“Without a healthy economy, we can’t have a { healthy society }. Without a { healthy society }, the economy won’t stay healthy for long.”
Note 1: “Without a healthy” at the beginning of both sentences is using anaphora |
Example 3: Tom Bodett, American Author, Humorist, Radio Personality
| Without Notation | The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson. |
| With Notation |
The difference between { school } and { life }? In { school }, you’re taught a { lesson } and then given a { test }. In { life }, you’re given a { test } that teaches you a { lesson }.
Note 1: Anadiplosis examples include school and life |
Example 4: Ernest Hemingway, “Old Man and the Sea,” 1952, page 63
| Without Notation | “He had seen many that weighed more than a thousand pounds and he had caught two of that size in his life, but never alone. Now alone, and out of sight of land, he was fast to the biggest fish that he had ever seen and bigger than he had ever heard of, and his left hand was still as tight as the gripped claws of an eagle.” |
| With Notation |
“He had seen many that weighed more than a thousand pounds and he had caught two of that size in his life, but never { alone }. Now { alone }, and out of sight of land, he was fast to the { biggest } fish that he had ever seen and { bigger } than he had ever heard of, and his left hand was still { as tight as the gripped claws of an eagle }.”
Note 1: anadiplosis examples include alone and biggest/bigger |
Example 5: Confucius, 551 – 479 BCE
| Without Notation | “If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone…” |
| With Notation |
“If language is not correct, then { what is said } is { not what is meant }; if { what is said } is { not what is meant }, then what must be done remains undone…”
Note 1: Epiphora example includes not what is meant |
ON-THE-SPOT EXERCISES
Below are three “Before” passages without anadiplosis 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 on-boarding process is too slow. New hires wait weeks for system access, and the delay leaves them frustrated. Some of them quit before their first project even starts.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: If we miss this launch date, we lose the retailer’s trust. Without their confidence, they give our shelf space to a competitor. That would set us back a full year.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: A good night’s sleep helps you concentrate. Better concentration makes your work stronger. Work that is strong gets you noticed.
Your Turn — Next Steps
This Week: Start one sentence with the last strong word of the sentence before it. One email, one link chain.
This Month: Build a three-link chain into a proposal or presentation: problem to solution to action. Practice it aloud until the handoffs feel natural.
Next Six Months: Make the chain your signature closing move. Every major proposal ends with a three-link chain from problem to solution to payoff.
Questions about applying anadiplosis to your communications materials? 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 Anadiplosis 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, anadiplosis 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 email, Q&A answer script, and presentation we help build uses Writing Enhancements such as anadiplosis. 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 on-boarding process is too slow. New hires wait weeks for system access, and the delay leaves them frustrated. Some of them quit before their first project even starts.
After: Our on-boarding is too { slow }. { Slow } access leaves new hires { frustrated }. { Frustrated } hires quit before their first project starts.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: If we miss this launch date, we lose the retailer’s trust. Without their confidence, they give our shelf space to a competitor. That would set us back a full year.
After: Miss this launch date and we lose the retailer’s { trust }. Lose their { trust }, and they hand our shelf space to a { competitor }. A { competitor } on that shelf sets us back a full year.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: A good night’s sleep helps you concentrate. Better concentration makes your work stronger. Work that is strong gets you noticed.
After: A good night’s sleep sharpens your { focus }. { Focus } makes your work { stronger }. { Stronger } work gets you noticed.
Updated 2026
Photography Source: Message Cloud/Word Cloud © Copyright, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
