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When delivering presentations it's important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience
can understand how everything links together and why it's all relevant.
This can be done using speech transitions because these act as signposts to the audience -
signalling the relationship between points and ideas. This article explores how to use speech
transitions in presentations.
This makes it easier for the audience to understand your argument and without transitions the
audience may be confused (https://virtualspeech.com/blog/avoid-annoying-audience-public-
speaking) as to how one point relates to another and they may think you're randomly jumping
between points.
Types of transitions
Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence - there are many different types, here
are a few:
Introduction
Introduce your topic:
Presentation outline
Inform the audience of the structure of your presentation:
Likewise...
Equally...
Similarly...
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Conversely...
Despite this...
However...
On the contrary...
Even so...
Nonetheless...
We can't ignore...
Practice your speech transitions in our VR course. Click here to learn more.
(https://virtualspeech.com/courses/delivering-presentations?referral=article_text4)
Let’s revisit...
This can be also be useful to introduce a new point because adults learn better when new
information builds on previously learned information.
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Incidentally...
Physical movement
You can move your body (https://virtualspeech.com/blog/8-elements-of-confident-body-
language) and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it
easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.
For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
Emphasising importance
You need to ensure that the audience get the message by informing them why something is
important:
More importantly...
This is essential...
Primarily...
Mainly...
Internal summaries
Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must
inform the audience:
What part of the presentation you covered - "In the first part of this speech we've
covered..."
How this links in with the overall presentation - "So that's the context..."
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What you're moving on to - "Now I'd like to move on to the second part of presentation
which looks at..."
Therefore...
Thus...
Consequently...
As a result...
Hence...
Elaboration
Also...
Besides...
What's more...
In addition/additionally...
Moreover...
Furthermore...
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Introduce an example
This is demonstrated by...
For instance...
For example...
To show/illustrate/highlight this...
Transition to a demonstration
Now that we've covered the theory, let's practically apply it...
Introducing a quotation
X was a supporter of this thinking because he said...
1. Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: "So that was a brief introduction on
what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody"
2. Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: "Now Gayle will
talk about the prevalence of health anxiety."
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3. Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name:
"Gayle".
4. The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: "Thank you Simon."
From these examples, you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which
makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.
Practice your speech transitions in our VR course. Click here to learn more.
(https://virtualspeech.com/courses/delivering-presentations?referral=article_text4)
Anecdotes
You can tell personal stories (https://virtualspeech.com/blog/great-storytelling-examples-jack-
ma) or share the experiences of others to introduce a point. Anecdotes are especially valuable
for your introduction and between different sections of the presentation because they engage
the audience. Ensure that you plan the stories thoroughly beforehand and that they are not too
long.
Using questions
You can transition through your speech by asking questions and these questions also have the
benefit of engaging your audience more. There are three different types of questions:
Direct
Rhetorical
Loaded
Direct questions require an answer: "What is the capital of Italy?" These are mentally
stimulating for the audience.
Loaded questions contain an unjustified assumption made to prompt the audience into
providing a particular answer which you can then correct to support your point: You may ask
"Why does your wonderful company have such a low incidence of mental health problems?".
The audience will generally answer that they're happy. After receiving the answers you could
then say "Actually it's because people are still unwilling and too embarrassed to seek help for
mental health issues at work etc."
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You might have a slide with just a picture on it to signify to the audience that you're moving on
to a new point - ensure that this image is relevant to the point. Many speakers like to use
cartoons for this purpose but ensure its suitable for your audience.
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Conclusion
Always summarise your key points first in the conclusion:
In short...
To sum up...
In a nutshell...
To summarise...
In conclusion...
However, using statements such as "To conclude" may cause the audience to stop listening. It's
better to say:
Call to action
Requesting the audience to do something at the end of the presentation:
Common mistakes
When transitions are used poorly you can annoy and confuse the audience. Avoid:
Using transitions that are too short - transitions are a key part of ensuring the audience
understands your presentation so spend sufficient time linking to your next idea.
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