Repeat yourself a lot while driving? That can be a good thing
By Andrea Wojnicki | Published: 2025-11-01 14:00:00 | Source: Inc.com
As a leader, a big part of your job is to communicate key messages effectively. This way, your team becomes clear and focused on the right things. Often, this means repeating yourself. However, many of my coaching clients reject this premise of sharing the same message again, for fear that it will seem redundant, annoying, condescending, or even lazy.
This is the paradox of leadership communication. What habit leaders sometimes fear—repetition of the same message—is often the secret weapon of influence, relevance, and credibility. Consider the impact of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s continued focus on developing a growth mindset. There is also former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s continued focus on “performing with purpose.”
Here’s how I encourage you to think about it: Keep your internal processes and product offerings creative and fresh. Consistently communicate your message, and yes, repeat yourself. When you repeat your message, you are not an annoying boss, but a resonant leader.
Benefits of repeating yourself
There are three main benefits to repeating yourself: attention, credibility, and speed. Attention may be the most obvious benefit. The more your audience is exposed to a message, the more likely they are to absorb, recognize, and remember that message. Marketers often point to the AIDA framework, which involves guiding customers through a sequence from interest to interest to desire to action, based on repeated exposure to the message.
You can think about your communication with your internal team in the same way. Given our fragmented attention span and message overload, repetition can be the secret to attracting awareness and attention.
The second advantage of repeating yourself as a leader is credibility, also known as the illusory truth effect. This phenomenon is exactly what it sounds like. In a Research study 2021 Published in the magazine Cognitive researchparticipants rated statements they had seen multiple times as more truthful than new statements
The third benefit of repeating yourself is speed, as in speed of execution research Tsedal-Neely and her colleagues from Harvard Business School show how what they call hypercommunication can boost teams’ speed and confidence in execution. In simpler terms, repeating yourself can reduce the time it takes for communication to take action
Overexposure to a repetitive message can certainly go too far. However, the threshold for overexposure is likely much higher than many of us might imagine, based on these three real benefits of repetition. Repeated messages inspire attention, credibility, and speed. The question now is how to implement these strong and consistent messages
Your game rules around strong, consistent messaging
Your first challenge is to identify the key message you want to reinforce or repeat. Have you recently introduced a new vision, mission, strategic priority, or organizational values? Consider General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s frequent reference to her company’s vision: “zero accidents, zero emissions, zero congestion.” Do you have a slogan or rallying cry? Let us consider here Jeff Bezos’ quote, “Every day is day one.”
Repeating this new message constantly will clarify and focus your team’s attention and efforts. The type of message and how you say it depends on your industry, organizational structure, team dynamics, and personal leadership style.
How to repeat your message strategically and optimally
1. Name it. Be direct when referring to your message and label it. Use simple phrases like “This is worth repeating because it is so important” or “This is what we all need to commit to memory and focus on over the next fiscal year.” State the importance of the message and explain why it is repeated.
2. Share the message in formal and informal contexts. You can present the message in a formal letter, and then refer to it in meetings and informal conversations. Ask them when you’re facilitating the Q&A!
3. Go to Multimedia. In addition to your oral communication, reinforce your message through multimedia. This may include written materials such as your organization’s website, company reports, and perhaps in your email signature. Be creative. You can also create a consistent visual depiction of the message on a presentation slide, one page, or an infographic.
4. Leverage the network effect. While some leaders assume they must unilaterally “own” the message, encouraging others to share your message can quickly amplify your message. Encourage and celebrate others who point out and repeat your message
5. Breathe new life into your message. Maintain freshness while maintaining consistency by clearly highlighting the relevance of the message over time to new data, stories or challenges.
When you intentionally repeat yourself, you’re not an annoying boss. Rather, you are a resonant leader. As a communication coach, I remind leaders: If you’re tired of saying it, it’s a sign you’re doing something right. Â
The opinions expressed by Inc.com columnists here are their own, not those of Inc.com.
(tags for translation)Communication
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