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Speech Transitions: Magical Words and Phrases

When listening to a speech, have you ever:

wondered “how does this relate to that ?”
felt the speaker jumped randomly from one point to the next?
gotten totally lost?

If you’ve experienced any of these, there’s a very good chance that the speaker failed to use appropriate speech transitions.

In this article, we define speech transitions and learn why they are so critical. In addition, we provide dozens of speech transition examples that you can incorporate into your speech.

What are speech transitions?

Speech transitions are magical words and phrases that help your argument flow smoothly . They often consist of a single transition word or a short transition phrase, but occasionally form an entire sentence. In a written speech, speech transitions are generally found at the start of paragraphs.

Speech transitions smooth over the boundary between two ideas, and reveal the relationship between the words just spoken and those about to be spoken. In this way, speech transitions help your audience understand your message.

Types of Speech Transitions

There are many types of speech transitions. Each type highlights a different verbal relationship. For example, one type of transition highlights the contrast between two different ideas.

Each of these types is itemized below. For each type, we list a few of the many possible words and phrases. Can you think of others?

1. Transition between Similar Ideas or Points

Likewise …
Similarly …
This is just like …
In a similar way …
We see the same thing if we consider …

“ Speech transitions smooth over the boundary between two ideas, and reveal the relationship between the words just spoken and those about to be spoken. ”

2. Transition between Contrasting Ideas or Points

However …
Conversely …
On the contrary …
On the other side …
On the other hand …
If we flip that around …
Yet, we cannot ignore …
The opposing argument …
If we examine the opposite side, we see …

3. Transition to elaborate upon an idea

Also …
Moreover …
In addition …
Furthermore …
In other words …
Not only that, but …

4. Transition to Numbered Ideas or Points (or Process Steps)

First … (The first step is …)
Second … (The second step is …)
Third … (The third step is …)
Last … (The last step is …)

5. Transition to show Cause-Effect Relationship

Therefore …
As a result …
Consequently …
For that reason …
This is important because …

6. Transition to a Supporting Example

For instance …
For example …
As an example …
To illustrate this …
What’s an example of this? …
But does this happen in real life? Yes …

7. Transition to a Supporting Demonstration

Now that we’ve covered the theory, let’s see it in action …
To reinforce what we’ve learned, let’s see a demonstration …
I’ve prepared a demonstration to show how this works.
Let’s see a demonstration which applies what we’ve learned.

“ When executed well, speech transitions help make a speech understandable. When executed poorly, speech transitions can obscure meaning and frustrate audiences. ”

8. Transition to a Supporting Quotation

X said: …
In 1968, X said: …
This idea was expressed clearly by X who said …

9. Transition from Introduction into Speech Body

Let’s begin …
To get started, let’s examine …
Let’s get started talking about …
Now that we’ve given an overview, let’s start with …

10. Transition from Speech Body into Conclusion

For a short speech, you might conclude with a single statement:

In short …
In summary …
In conclusion …

In a longer presentation, your conclusion might include a review of a the key points:

Let’s summarize the key lessons …
Let’s recap what we’ve covered today …

11. Transition to Another Speaker

In a team presentation, it is necessary to transfer control between speakers.

The abrupt way to do this is to simply have one person stop talking, and then have the other person start talking. It is much smoother, however, to pass the verbal baton to the next speaker (X):

To talk about our next topic, we have X …
I’ll pass the microphone to X who will describe …
To guide us through a demonstration of this, we have X …

12. Transition Back to an Earlier Point

There are many occasions when you need to jump back to an earlier idea to add additional information. e.g. after a break, following an exercise, or returning from an unplanned interruption

Let’s return …
Let’s revisit …
Let’s go back to …
We introduced X earlier; let’s explore that further now.

Avoid Faulty Transitions

When executed well, speech transitions help make a speech understandable.

When executed poorly, speech transitions can obscure meaning and frustrate audiences.

Beware these four types of faulty transitions:

Miscount Transition This faulty transition occurs when a speaker begins counting main points, but does not do so consistently. (e.g. First, Second, Next, Next, Third, Third, …) Faulty counting can also occur when a speaker tries to number both the main points and the sub-points and gets mixed up.
Incompatible Transition This faulty transition occurs when a speaker uses a transition word or phrase which does not match the relationship. (e.g. they start with the word “however”, but they follow it with an example) Imagine the confusion you would cause if you signalled to the left, but then turned your car right. Incompatible transitions cause the same problem; your audience is expecting one thing, but you head off confusingly in a different direction.
Tangential Transition Transitional phrases like “That reminds me…”, “Ironically…”, or “As an aside…” are dangerous because they often lead to an off-topic diversion which blurs the focus of the speech and wastes time for you and your audience. Just. Don’t. Do. It.
Missing Transition This faulty transition is the most common of all. It occurs when a speaker abruptly changes from one point to another without using any transition words or phrases. The audience is left confused and lost because points get mashed together and critical relationships are obscured.

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13 comments.

Wonderful summary of transitions! Thank you so much for the article.

Hi Andrew, how useful! I always see transitions like signposts point the audience in the direction that I want to go next, but some of these will be really useful at other times during a speech, thanks these will be a great resource. Recently, when speaking on a sensitive subject where I had pointed out a number of problems which the audience identified with i transitioned to the solution section by saying, “isn’t it good to know we are not the first people to have suffered with these issues and questions,” people were then expecting a move towards a solution phase and it worked well. I will keep these as a reference for the future, thanks!

Indeed. Transitional words and phrases are minor signposts. I have a broader definition of signposts, however, which I plan to expand upon in a future article.

Excellent post, Andrew. I’ve definitely witnessed too many presentation with disjointed ideas and seemingly no connection to the subject matter, leaving me with that “What’s he talking about?” feeling.

One additional thought about (#11) “Transitioning to Another Speaker” – which I often do in my workshops. Rather than announcing that you’re about to pass the mic to Speaker X, you can actually set them up for success using one of the other transition types. For instance: (#7)- “We’ve now discussed a method for delivering effective feedback, let’s see it in action”… pass the mic. (#9)- “We know we want our employees to be motivated, let’s explore some practical ways we can inspire our team to achieve greater levels of success”… pass the mic. In each example, we’re handing the ball off (or throwing an Alley-oop pass) to Speaker X for a smoother (and less abrupt transition). It can be incredibly effective. Good stuff!

Yes, the other transition examples can absolutely be used to transition to another speaker.

It is so important to be consistent with the way one enumerates their points. For example, we don’t say first, then, finally but first, second, and third. That way the audience is not confused about when the speaker is near to completing his/her well organized speech. Excellent article!

Great guide Mr Dlugan. This is going to be very helpful for my comibg presentations this semester. Thank you.

Excelent !!!

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for this very useful succinct guide.

Regarding tangential transitions, digressional matter –even if only contextually and even if vaguely related– can be inserted in the form of a diverticulum in the flow of text or speech, with the purposely intention of weaseling in something tangentially related, but of paramount importance to the writer or speaker.

A “By the way,…” introduction to the diverticulum does smooth fairly well any abruptness in the transition. as it makes it illusively look or sound as appropriately parenthetical matter.

And, when done with the digression, flow can be reinstated with a frank and explicit “Back on track,…” return-call transition.

I have obtained miracles with the “By the way,…” and “Back on track,…” pair, even if talking about “oranges” and introducing an “apples” diverticulum…when what I actually had for sale was “apples “, not “oranges “. I know, it is a brazen “blow below the belt”, but in some particular instances, it is a pressing necessity which has to be, ineludibly, addressed.

This helped me a lot with all of my transitions through my whole speech

Thank you for this it really helped me.

Oh my goodness, Thank you so much! I really needed this for my speech!

Thanks so much for the most amazing experience i had missed it for a long time i am now able to make an exciting presentation. Thanks

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Transitions in a speech or presentation

Mannerofspeaking.

May 12, 2019

Have you ever been in the audience listening to a speaker and found yourself lost? You weren’t exactly sure where the speaker was going or how the different points in a speech were connected?

There are many possible reasons for such a situation, but one of them is faulty, or non-existent, transitions.

What is a transition?

Transitions are words or sentences that help your audience understand the flow of your speech or presentation. They make it easy for your audience to follow along.

A transition is a signpost that tells the audience where you are going, just like signposts along the highway tell you which direction you are heading. W hen a speaker says, “You’ve seen what the product can do, let’s now look at market opportunity”, the audience knows that the speaker is leaving one topic and moving on to the next.

A transition can be a single word or a phrase or even a sentence or two. It connects one idea to another and helps the audience follow along. Never forget the curse of knowledge . Things that are obvious to you will not necessarily be obvious to your audience. Transitions can help.

Types of Transitions

There are many types of transitions in a speech or presentation. Below are some of the most common ones, with examples.

The overview

This transition is used to go from the opening of a talk (during which you should have grabbed the audience’s attention) to the main part.

Today, we will look at the reasons for [X] and what we can do about it.
In the next 45 minutes, I will share with you four ways that you can [X].
As a team, we need to [X] for the following three reasons …

Moving between main points

These transitions are used to signal a change between one point and another. Too often, they are absent and the different points blur together.

The first reason is [X]; the second reason is [Y]; the third reason is [Z]
Now that we’ve seen the problem, let’s see how we can solve it.
That was the past; let’s look at what we have planned for the future.

Comparison of similar ideas

Sometimes you will want to compare ideas that are the same or similar. A simple transition can help.

Likewise …
Similarly …
In the same manner …
In the same way …
We can also see this …

Comparison contrasting ideas

When comparing contrasting or conflicting ideas, transitions are important to signal a counterargument.

However …
But …
On the other hand …
On the contrary …
Nevertheless …
Notwithstanding the forgoing …

Expanding on a point

If you use several reasons to support a point, transitions such as these are useful:

Furthermore …
In addition …
On top of the that …
Also …

For emphasis

When you reach a key moment in your presentation, it is essential that the audience understand how important it is.

And the most important reason is …
Most importantly …
Even if we put aside all the other reasons …
Above all else …

Discussing consequences

If you are discussing a causal relationship between two things or events, use transitions such as the following:

Therefore …
As a result …
As a consequence …
For these reasons …

To conclude

It is important to transition smoothly from the main body of your speech or presentation to the conclusion. Depending on how long or complex your talk was, you may wish to repeat the main points that you covered.

In conclusion …
In summary …
To sum up …
I’d like to leave you with …

A word about team presentations

Transitions in a team presentation are important and something that must be practiced. Why? Because the way in which a team performs on stage sends a signal to the audience about the cohesiveness of the team members.

I tell my clients that when the audience watches a team presentation, it wants to see one team , not two or three or four individuals. Yet mistakes are made all the time.

Too often, a speaker will finish his part of the presentation and just signal to his partner to come on stage without a word. Or he will say something banal such as, “I’ll now hand over to my colleague.” It doesn’t look good and it can easily be avoided.

The key points to cover in a transition to the another speaker are as follows:

Brief conclusion of your part
Name and position of the next speaker

– If speaking to an audience of strangers, use the first and last name

– If speaking to an audience that already knows the team, you can drop the last name and possibly the position

Brief statement about what they will cover

A good format is as follows: “I’ve shown you [X]. I’d like to hand over to [NAME and POSITION] to talk about [Y].

Here are some examples:

“I’ve shown you the challenges that the new legislation poses. Sara Jones, the Head of our Accounting Department, will discuss the steps we’ve taken to adapt.”
“Now that you’ve heard the reasons for the office move, I’d like to invite Martin Smith, our logistics expert, to explain what we have to do next.”
“I’ve set out the cost-benefit analysis of the first option. Melanie will now do the same for the second option.”

“In conclusion”

Transitions in a speech or presentation are like the stitching in a fine suit or dress. They take up a relatively small part of the whole and when they work well, you don’t really notice them. But when they are loose and of poor quality, they stick out.

You want your suit or dress to be stitched together properly. You should want the same thing for your speech or presentation.

Like this article?

It’s useful to have all the ideas you listed for transitional phrases, so thanks for sharing. I’d go as far as to say that (as well as the opening and closing) transitions are worth working out in advance, and rehearsing or even scripting. That’s because they’re key to how cohesive and persuasive your whole argument is.

I agree, Craig. All transitions are important. But they are too often overlooked.

Very useful

Pure gold, John!

I call these signposts because they help your audience walk through your reasoning with you.

The only one I hope I never hear is: “Notwithstanding the forgoing” 🤣

Thanks, Lisa. Yes, signposting is the hallmark of a professional speaker.

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