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 diacope 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:
- Diacope, 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 diacope 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. “Let both sides… Let both sides… Let both sides… Let both sides.” President Kennedy repeated three words, and the world still quotes them. That is deliberate repetition. Our key message, planted where your reader cannot miss it, until it becomes the phrase they carry into their next meeting. You don’t need a bigger vocabulary. You need the right words, repeated in the right places.
“Bond. James Bond.” In Dr. No (1962), Sean Connery’s 007 could have simply said, “I’m James Bond.” Instead, he says his last name, pauses, and says it again. This is diacope. You repeat a word or phrase with something in between. The gap can be a single word, as it is here, or it can be a few sentences, a few paragraphs, or a few pages. The gap is what makes it work. When the word or phrase is repeated, your reader recognizes it. And recognition is what makes a phrase stick. Say your key phrase once and it informs. Bring it back later and it becomes the phrase your audience remembers.
Below you will find the definition, examples, and a way to use diacope today.
About Diacope
| Definition | Repeat a concept as a word or phrase separated by sentences, paragraphs, or pages for dramatic, strategic effect. |
| Explanation | The separation, the gap, is the point. Unlike back-to-back repetition such as with epizeuxis, diacope lets the phrase seemingly go quiet. Then, the phrase returns carrying the weight of everything the audience met in between. The distance between the two appearances is what gives the repeating word or phrase its power, its impact. The longer the audience waits, the more the phrase feels like a promise kept. |
| Pronunciation | dy – AK – uh – pee |
| Related to | Anaphora, Epanalepsis, Epimone, Epiphora, Epizeuxis, Mesodiplosis, Polyptoton |
| Etymology | From the Greek διακοπή (diakopē), a cutting through or gash, from διά (dia), through, and κοπή (kopē), a cutting. |
| How to Use | Space your word or phrase deliberately throughout your communication. Return to it at important decision points such as the end of a section, the close of an email, the last line of a talk, the end of a story. If you want to use diacope, two is the minimum for short communications. Three for five-minute presentations and stories. And five to seven repeats for an hour-long conversation or presentation. Keep the phrase short enough to survive the gap. Keep the words identical each time so the repetition registers. Choose the return point before you write the middle, so every sentence in between quietly earns a return of the words. Repeating your Better Tomorrow Message™ is an excellent example of how to use diacope effectively. |
| Best for | – Keynotes + Speeches: A phrase planted early and returned to at the close gives the audience the exact line they quote back to you. – Team Meetings + All-Hands: Opening and closing on the same line turns a routine status update into a message people repeat afterward. – Brand + Marketing Copy: A repeated tagline, spaced across the page, becomes the words customers remember you by. – Leadership Emails + Memos: Returning to your key message at the open and the close makes sure the one thing you needed to land actually lands. – Proposals + Pitches: Replanting the core benefit at each turn keeps your central promise in front of the buyer from first page to last. |
EXAMPLES OF DIACOPE
Look at the examples below. See how diacope 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: Never Give In, Never, Never, Never, 1941 – Winston Churchill
| Without Notation | In October of 1941, as England was fighting for its life against Germany during World War II, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, delivered a speech meant to galvanize the British people so they wouldn’t give up in the face of German power. The following lines were part of Churchill’s speech.
“Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” |
| With Notation |
This example is a bit complex, employing three different repetition Writing Enhancements.
“Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Note 1: { Never give in } is repeated twice. This is an example of anaphora. |
Example 2: Romeo and Juliet, 1597 – William Shakespeare
| Without Notation | “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” |
| With Notation |
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” |
Example 3: Harvard Business Review, 2020 – Lisa Zigarmi
| Without Notation | “Lisa Zigarmi is an organizational psychologist and leadership coach. She helps leaders relate more deeply, decide more efficiently, and think with more creativity. She is the founder of The Consciousness Project.“ |
| With Notation |
This is from Lisa’s author bio.
“Lisa Zigarmi is an organizational psychologist and leadership coach. She helps leaders relate more deeply, decide more efficiently, and think with more creativity. She is the founder of The Consciousness Project.” Note 1: { deeply } and { decide } is an example of alliteration. |
Example 4: Together for Better, 2022 – Umpqua Bank Website
| Without Notation | Umpqua believes that we can build economic vitality together. We do that by putting our priority on people and the communities they live in. That’s true if Umpqua is your personal bank, business bank, or private bank.
. We are the largest bank headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, with nearly $30 billion in assets and more than 200 locations in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada. In addition to retail banking, Umpqua also offers comprehensive business banking and commercial finance services. We are a bank but think of us as your financial partner. Because Umpqua knows that the best way forward is together. Together for people. Together for business. Together for better. |
| With Notation |
Umpqua believes that we can build economic vitality together. We do that by putting our priority on people and the communities they live in. That’s true if Umpqua is your personal bank, business bank, or private bank.
. We are the largest bank headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, with nearly $30 billion in assets and more than 200 locations in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada. In addition to retail banking, Umpqua also offers comprehensive business banking and commercial finance services. We are a bank but think of us as your financial partner. Because Umpqua knows that the best way forward is together. Together for people. Together for business. Together for better. Note 1: { Bank, Banking } repeated multiple times is an example of diacope. |
Example 5: Carnegie Mellon University, Language Technologies Institute, 2021
| Without Notation | Get the right information to the right people at the right time in the right language, the right format and the right level of detail. |
| With Notation |
Get the right information to the right people at the right time in the right language, the right format and the right level of detail. |
ON-THE-SPOT EXERCISES
Below are three “Before” passages without diacope applied. Rewrite each one before reading further (no peeking!). Our suggested “After” versions are listed at the bottom.
On-the-Spot Exercise 1
Before: This proposal rests on a single promise: we will save you time. The new workflow removes three approval steps, the dashboard puts every number in one place, and the support line is staffed around the clock.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: Let me be clear about where we stand. The numbers are down, the road ahead is steep, and no one is pretending otherwise. I still believe we can win this market.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Healthy living should be simple. Our app plans your meals, tracks your workouts, and follows your sleep, all in one place, so you can feel your best every day.
Your Turn — Next Steps
This Week: Choose one email. Repeat your key phrase three times: opening, middle, close.
This Month: Write your Better Tomorrow Message™ for one project. Plant it across the kickoff deck, the status emails, and the wrap-up.
Next Six Months: Choose the phrase you want your market to repeat. Plant it across your website, your talks, your proposals, and your signature stories until clients say it back to you.
Your next presentation or leadership story is an opportunity. If you’d like a partner in the preparation, 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 Diacope 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, diacope repeats 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; The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth; and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham.
Every commencement address, award acceptance speech, and retreat kickoff we help build uses Writing Enhancements such as diacope. 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: This proposal rests on a single promise: we will save you time. The new workflow removes three approval steps, the dashboard puts every number in one place, and the support line is staffed around the clock.
After: This proposal rests on a single promise: { we will save you time }. The new workflow removes three approval steps. The dashboard puts every number in one place. The support line is staffed around the clock. Every piece points back to the promise: { we will save you time }.
On-the-Spot Exercise 2
Before: Let me be clear about where we stand. The numbers are down, the road ahead is steep, and no one is pretending otherwise. I still believe we can win this market.
After: Let me be clear: { we can win this market }. The numbers are down. The road ahead is steep. No one is pretending otherwise. And still, { we can win this market }.
On-the-Spot Exercise 3
Before: Healthy living should be simple. Our app plans your meals, tracks your workouts, and follows your sleep, all in one place, so you can feel your best every day.
After: Healthy living { should be simple }. Our app plans your meals. It tracks your workouts. It follows your sleep. All of it in one place, because your best days { should be simple }.
Updated 2026
Photography Source: Message Cloud/Word Cloud © Copyright, The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
