The Power of Repetition

Speaking to Inform
Advanced Project 1: Speech to Inform
Presented at AIA Changi TMC on 11 December 2008
Time taken: 7 minutes and 32 seconds
Evaluator: Pradeep Kumar

"The Power of Repetition"

4th November 2008 was a historic moment for America when Barack Obama was voted in as the 1st black President of the United States of America. How many of you have heard or read Obama’s Acceptance Speech? What is the one phrase he repeated several times during his speech? YES WE CAN! And he repeated it not 3 times, not 5 times but 7 times!

Good evening, fellow toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, there is power in repetition when it comes to public speaking. When your mother repeats, it’s called nagging; when an orator repeats, it’s called impact. Famous orators such as Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill use repetition extensively in their speeches. Why? To create emphasis, beauty and impact.

Tonight, I will share with you 3 rhetorical devices on repetition that you can incorporate in your future speeches to create impact and help your audience remember your key message better. And I will also show you examples from famous speeches for each of the rhetorical device.

The first rhetorical device is anaphora, which refers to the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses or sentences.

Let us look at this example from a speech by Sir Winston Churchill in his report to the House of Commons in 1940:
“..we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Winston Churchill

11 times, he repeated the phrase “we shall” to emphasis their commitment to win the war, no matter what. The repetition here has a rousing effect, which helps to instill confidence in his audience.

The second example is from the historic public speech by Martin Luther King Jr., when he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters, this speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in history.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “…that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice… will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice."

King repeats the refrain “I have a dream” 8 times in his speech. This is not the only instance of anaphora in his speech. In fact he uses this device at least 8 times throughout his speech.

The second rhetorical device is epistrophe, which refers to the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses or sentences.

Let's look at two examples. "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.” - Martin Luther King Jr

“… more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth.” - Obama

The third one is antimetabole (an-ti-me-ta-bo-le), which refers to reversing the order of repeated words or phrases in the form AB-BA.

Two famous examples come from John F Kennedy's Inaugural address:
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." and
“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

Do you know you can even use antimetabole to create humour? I once heard someone say: "To be kissed by a fool is stupid; to be fooled by a kiss is worse."

Conclusion
Research has shown that when we don’t review what we have learned, we forget 50% of it by the next day. If you do not repeat your message to your audience, you can be sure they will forget 100% of it. So remember, use anaphora, epistrophe and antimetabole to repeat key phrases and most importantly, your key message to the audience. Repeat for emphasis, repeat for impact. Harness the power of repetition in your future speeches and you will be able to speak with greater impact!

Comments:
Went overtime by 2 minutes. Fumbled with the slide remote control for a few minutes because I forgot to switch the device on.

Next time I present a speech with powerpoint slides, I shall switch on the remote control and ensure the first slide is on the screen before I start speaking. Press B to blackout the image on the screen.