"Tired, tired, tired!" Repeat your setup...
Remind the audience of why you’re talking about a topic – and why they should care. Chris Rock shows the way.
The longer you stick on a topic, the more you should remind the audience of why you’re talking about it.
Lines that Chris Rock repeats multiple times in Bring the Pain (transcript):
We’ve got too much food in America.
He speaks so well!
I’m not saying he should have killed her…but I understand!
I’m tired of this sh*t, man. Tired, tired, tired!
Wanna cheat? Can’t cheat!
Each time you repeat the premise, it’s a good remember what you’re talking about, your angle on it, and why you care so much about it. It’s like bringing them back home before taking them out on another trip. It also forces you to come up with a thesis/mission statement for a chunk of material which can help tie it all together.
Related: Make important points three times [Big Think via JS]
Repetition is a powerful communication tool because it helps us identify key information and transfer it from short-term to long-term memory…
Anytime you repeat something, it signals that this information is important, so pay attention. It’s why song, speech, and soliloquy writers use repetition so liberally. Think Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the many soliloquies of Shakespeare, and, of course, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”