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Transitions are words, phrases, or sentences that tie the speech ideas together and enable the speaker to move smoothly from one point to the next. Considered the “neurosystem” of speeches, transitions provide consistency of movement from one point to the next and cue the audience that a new point will be made. Transitions can take the form of full sentences, phrases, or single words.
Use Transitions between Main Points
When moving from one main point to another, full-sentence transitions are especially effective. For example, to move from Main Point I in a speech about sales contests (“Top management should sponsor sales contests to halt the decline in sales over the past two years”) to Main Point II (“Sales contests will lead to better sales presentations”), the speaker might use the following transition:
Next, let’s look at exactly what sales contests can do for us.
Very often, a speaker will transition from one point to the next by first restating the points just covered and then previewing the material to be covered next in what’s called a restate-forecast transition:
Now that we’ve established a need for sales contests (restatement), let’s look at what sales contests can do for us (forecast).
Another frequently used full-sentence transition is the rhetorical question. Rather than inviting actual responses, rhetorical questions stimulate listeners to anticipate answers from the speaker:
Will contests be too expensive? Well, actually . . .
Use Transitions between Supporting Points
Transitions between supporting points can also be handled with full sentences, or with phrases or single words. For example, to move from Supporting Point A (“Sales personnel will be motivated by competition”) to Supporting Point B (“Contests are relatively inexpensive”), the speaker might use the following transition:
Conjunctions or phrases (also called signposts) such as the following can be just as effective:
Next . . .
First . . . (second, third, and so forth)
We now turn . . .
Finally, let’s consider . . .
If you think that’s shocking . . .
Similarly . . .
| To show comparisons: Similarly; In the same way; Likewise; Just as |
| To contrast ideas: On the other hand; And yet; At the same time; In spite of; However; In contrast |
| To illustrate cause and effect: As a result; Hence; Because; Thus; Consequently |
| To illustrate sequence of time or events: First, second, third . . .; Following this; Later; Earlier; At present; In the past |
| To indicate explanation: For example; To illustrate; In other words; To simplify; To clarify |
| To indicate additional examples: Not only; In addition to; Let’s look at |
| To emphasize significance: Most important; Above all; Remember; Keep in mind |
| To summarize: In conclusion; In summary; Finally; Let me conclude by saying |
Use Previews and Summaries as Transitions
internal previews can be used to alert audience members to a shift from one main point or idea to another:
Victoria Woodhull was a pioneer in many respects. Not only was she the first woman to run her own brokerage firm, she was also the first to run for the presidency of the United States, though few people know this. Let’s see how she accomplished these feats.
Similar to the internal preview, the internal summary draws together important ideas before the speaker proceeds to another speech point. Internal summaries help listeners review and evaluate the thread of the theme thus far:
It should be clear that the kind of violence we’ve witnessed in the schools and in our communities has a deeper root cause than the availability of handguns. Our young children are crying out for a sense of community, of relatedness and meaning, that they just aren’t finding in the institutions that are meant to serve them.
See Chapter 14, “Outlining the Speech,” to learn how to include transitions in the outline of your speech.