Top Pages
biases
cognitive effects
fallacies
deception with statistics
effective business writing
body language
Repetition in Business Writing
The Benefits of Repetition in Business Writing
Deliberate repetition is a creative-writing technique that can make your business correspondence more interesting to read.Used occasionally, deliberate repetition can:
- Be used for emphasis.
- Be memorable.
- Make an impact.
- Make you look confident.
- Over-cooking. Over-cooking occurs when you make your point so strongly that your readers grow suspicious and start questioning it.
- Redundancy. Redundancy occurs when you waste your readers' time by telling them what you've just told them and this overrides the "spice" sought with the repetition.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
(From Hamlet by William Shakespeare, 1564–1616)
(From Hamlet by William Shakespeare, 1564–1616)
How Do You Use Repetition in Business Writing?
There are three main ways to use deliberate repetition in business writing:- Anaphora. Anaphora is repetition at the starts of sentences:
- Epiphora. Epiphora is repetition at the ends of sentences:
- Commoratio. Commoratio is repeating an idea back to back, but with different words:
"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."
(Sir Winston Churchill)
(Sir Winston Churchill)
"The future's bright. The future's Orange."
(Telecommunication company Orange's slogan)
(Telecommunication company Orange's slogan)
"He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it."
"She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for her, just like you promised."
(Jack Sparrow)
(Jack Sparrow)
"It's not pinin'. It's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolical processes are of interest only to historians! It's hopped the twig! It's shuffled off this mortal coil! It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-parrot!"
(Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch)
(Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch)
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
(From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1952–2001)
(From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1952–2001)
Examples of Repetition in Business Writing
Here are some business-style examples of deliberate repetition:- "It's the cheapest solution. It's within the company's control, and it's quick to implement." (Anaphora)
- "In our opinion, the answer to the current situation is not making 10 people redundant. All that achieves is making 10 people redundant." (Epiphora)
- "We have considered your solution and are impressed by its practicality. It looks very viable. Very viable indeed." (Commoratio)
Critical Thinking Test
Are you good at spotting the biases, fallacies, and other cognitive effects? Can you spot when statistics have been manipulated? Can you read body language? Well, let's see!
Gold

Silver

Bronze
0
- This test has questions.
- A correct answer is worth 5 points.
- You can get up to 5 bonus points for a speedy answer.
- Some questions demand more than one answer. You must get every part right.
- Beware! Wrong answers score 0 points.
- 🏆 If you beat one of the top 3 scores, you will be invited to apply for the Hall of Fame.
Scoring System
Guru (+)
Hero (+)
Captain (+)
Sergeant (+)
Recruit (+)
Guru (+)
Hero (+)
Captain (+)
Sergeant (+)
Recruit (+)
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
- Do you know a bias or fallacy that we've missed?