The PR Wars “Comms 101″ segment recognizes core communication principles to help you become a better communicator.

In today’s Comms 101, we are talking about a rhetorical technique called Anadiplosis. Anadiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase used at the end of a sentence, and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence. It creates a logical sequence or a series of progressions.

In this example from the movie Star Wars, Yoda explains why fear is the path to the dark side. He uses Anadiplosis to make this progression by taking the last word of a phrase and repeating it as the first word of the next sentence.

Yoda: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”

Notice the repetition of the word “anger” and “hate.” This is a classic example of Anadiplosis.

President Barack Obama is another orator who uses Anadiplosis. Look at these phrased progressions of Anadiplosis taken from his “One Voice” speech.

Barack Obama: “One voice can change the room. And if the voice can change the room, it can change the city. And if it can change the city, it can change the State. If it can change the State, it can change the nation. If it can change the nation, it can change the world.”

You can add Anadiplosis to your speech writing toolbox. The rhetorical device will make your speech writing memorable. A memorable speech is more impactful. An impactful speech can change the world.

To learn more about improving your speech writing, listen to the PR Wars Podcast: Writing powerful speeches.