Early on in my in-house career, a well-known, well-respected communications professional shared a mantra with our team: "Repetition doesn't spoil the prayer.
"Whether you've heard this particular saying or others -- "Repetition is the mother of all learning," "Practice makes perfect" or "If there's no repetition, there is no rhythm" -- the meaning is powerful and oh so true. And not only for communications professionals but for top executives and company spokespeople.
Some may be familiar with the Rule of 7, one of the oldest concepts in marketing, which states that consumers must hear or see your message at least seven times before they will buy from you. There are other similar approaches around repetition, whether it is the controversial 10,000 hours of practice to become world-class in any field or 21 days to make/break a habit. But the concept remains the same: repetition is key.
Sure, we've all gotten annoyed by the annual song of the summer that is on repeat everywhere you go or that same commercial that just won't stop playing, but you can pretty much bet that whether you like it or not, you know all of the words to that obnoxious song and you know exactly what brand or product was being pushed.
Now the examples above aren't the best or even the recommended approach to getting your message across but they show that repetition of your message is critical. Your executives and spokespeople, along with your sales teams and even your interns should know the company's one liner or elevator pitch. What does your company do? Why is it important? Why should anyone care?
Once you have those responses down to a succinct and powerful sentence or two that isn't long winded or put people to sleep with too much jargon...
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT.
