transition words for powerpoint presentation

Improve your practice.

Enhance your soft skills with a range of award-winning courses.

Speech transitions: words and phrases to connect your ideas

June 28, 2018 - Gini Beqiri

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.

What are speech transitions?

Speech transitions are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

This makes it easier for the audience to understand your argument and without transitions the audience may be confused 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:

We will be looking at/identifying/investigating the effects of…
Today I will be discussing…

Presentation outline

Inform the audience of the structure of your presentation:

There are three key points I’ll be discussing…
I want to begin by…, and then I’ll move on to…
We’ll be covering… from two points of view…
This presentation is divided into four parts…

Move from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
First, let’s begin with…
I will first cover…
My first point covers…
To get started, let’s look at…

Shift between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

In the same way…
Likewise…
Equally…
This is similar to…
Similarly…

Shift between disagreeing points

You may have to introduce conflicting ideas – bridging words and phrases are especially good for this:

Conversely…
Despite this…
However…
On the contrary…
Now let’s consider…
Even so…
Nonetheless…
We can’t ignore…
On the other hand…

Transition to a significant issue

Fundamentally…
A major issue is…
The crux of the matter…
A significant concern is…

Referring to previous points

You may have to refer to something that you’ve already spoken about because, for example, there may have been a break or a fire alarm etc:

Let’s return to…
We briefly spoke about X earlier; let’s look at it in more depth now…
Let’s revisit…
Let’s go back to…
Do you recall when I mentioned…

This can be also be useful to introduce a new point because adults learn better when new information builds on previously learned information.

Introducing an aside note

You may want to introduce a digression:

I’d just like to mention…
That reminds me…
Incidentally…

Physical movement

You can move your body 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.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
You discuss your second point from the centre again.
You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
The conclusion occurs in the centre.

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…”
What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Speech transitions during a team meeting

Cause and effect

You will have to transition to show relationships between factors:

Therefore…
Thus…
Consequently…
As a result…
This is significant because…
Hence…

Elaboration

Also…
Besides…
What’s more…
In addition/additionally…
Moreover…
Furthermore…

Point-by-point or steps of a process

First/firstly/The first one is…
Second/Secondly/The second one is…
Third/Thirdly/The third one is…
Last/Lastly/Finally/The fourth one is…

Introduce an example

This is demonstrated by…
For instance…
Take the case of…
For example…
You may be asking whether this happens in X? The answer is yes…
To show/illustrate/highlight this…
Let me illustrate this by…

Transition to a demonstration

Now that we’ve covered the theory, let’s practically apply it…
I’ll conduct an experiment to show you this in action…
Let me demonstrate this…
I’ll now show you this…

Introducing a quotation

X was a supporter of this thinking because he said…
There is a lot of support for this, for example, X said…

Transition to another speaker

In a group presentation you must transition to other speakers:

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”
Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Gayle will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Gayle”.
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.

You can tell personal stories 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 questions require an answer: “What is the capital of Italy?” These are mentally stimulating for the audience.

Rhetorical questions do not require answers, they are often used to emphasises an idea or point: “Is the Pope catholic?

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.”

Transition to a visual aid

If you are going to introduce a visual aid you must prepare the audience with what they’re going to see, for example, you might be leading into a diagram that supports your statement. Also, before you show the visual aid , explain why you’re going to show it, for example, “This graph is a significant piece of evidence supporting X”.

When the graphic is on display get the audience to focus on it:

The table indicates…
As you can see…
I’d like to direct your attention to…

Explain what the visual is showing:

You can see that there has been a reduction in…
The diagram is comparing the…

Using a visual aid to transition

Visual aids can also be used as transitions and they have the benefit of being stimulating and breaking-up vocal transitions.

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.

Always summarise your key points first in the conclusion:

Let’s recap on what we’ve spoken about today…
Let me briefly summarise the main points…

And then conclude:

If you have a shorter speech you may choose to end your presentation with one statement:

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:

I’d like to leave you with this…
What you should take away from this is…
Finally, I want to say…

Call to action

Requesting the audience to do something at the end of the presentation:

You may be thinking how can I help in this matter? Well…
My aim is to encourage you to go further and…
What I’m requesting of you is…

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.
Too many tangents – any digressions should still be relevant to the topic and help the audience with their understanding, otherwise cut them out.
Incompatible transitions – for example, if you’re about to introduce an example that supports your statement you wouldn’t introduce this by saying “but”. Use transitions that signify the relationship between points.
Over-using the same transition because this is boring for the audience to hear repeatedly. Ensure that there is variety with your transitions, consider including visual transitions.
Miscounting your transitions – for example, don’t say “first point”, “second point”, “next point” – refer to your points consistently.

Speech transitions are useful for unifying and connecting your presentation. The audience are more likely to remain engaged since they’ll be able to follow your points. But remember that it’s important to practice your transitions beforehand and not just the content of your arguments because you risk looking unprofessional and confusing the audience if the presentation does not flow smoothly.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

13 Transitions: Bridging Ideas for a Seamless Presentation

Good transitions can make a speech more important to the audience because they feel they are being taken to a positive conclusion without having to travel a bumpy road. – Joe Griffith

Transitions

The difference between a novice speaker and an advanced speaker is in how they bridge the gap between ideas. Learning to use transitions effectively will help take your speaking to the advanced level. Transitions can be one word, a phrase, or a full sentence.

The audience is dying to know the relationship between ideas. Their brains are hard-wired for that. It’s more important when you are speaking than when you are writing because the listeners can’t go back – they have to get it when it happens. If the brain is bored, or gets tired because it’s overwhelmed, or gets confused – it can’t stay in that place, so it daydreams, creating its own interest. Speech Coach Max Dixon, Westside Toastmasters.

So, let’s get started. I have included various transition types for you to consider. These do little good if you read them and do not use them. This list works best if you read it now and then revisit it every time you write a speech.

Let’s begin with…
First, I’d like to share with you…
Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
Our first stop is…
I will first cover…
My first point covers…
To get started, let’s look at…

The Order of Things

After that…
Next…
Second thing…
Our next stop is…
Let me tell you about your next step.

Steve Jobs Commencement to Stanford University

Steve Jobs clearly previews his main points, “Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.” He flows smoothly between points with clear transitions.

“The first story is about connecting the dots.”
“My second story is about love and loss.”
“My third story is about death.”

Watch Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Address

Between Similar Points

In the same way…
In addition…
Likewise…
Similarly…

Between Disagreeing Points

Conversely…
Despite this…
The flip side of the issue…
However…
On the contrary…
On the other hand…
On the other side …
Yet, we cannot ignore …
The opposing argument …
If we examine the opposite side, we see …

Introduce an example

This is best illustrated by an example…
For instance…
Take the case of…
For example…
To understand this…
Let me illustrate this by…

Introduce Research

To make the point…
As illustrated by…
Case in point…
To solidify this point…
As researched by…

Cause and effect

Therefore…
Thus…
Consequently…
As a result…
This is significant because…
Hence…
Resulting in…
For that reason …
The effect is…

Elaboration

Also…
Besides…
What’s more…
In addition/additionally…
Moreover…
Furthermore…

Transition to a Demonstration

Let me show you how this works…
Let me demonstrate this…
Now that we’ve covered the theory, let’s see it in action …
Next, I’d like to let you see this for yourselves…

Introducing Your Visual

As you can see from this chart…
I’d like you to notice that…
The table indicates…

Questions as Transitions

Now that you know the problem, what do you think will solve it?
What do you think will solve this crisis?

Connective: A word or phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship between them.

Transitions: A word or phrase that indicates when a speaker had finished one thought and it moving on to another.

Internal preview: A statement in the body of the speech that tells the audience what the speaker is going to discuss next.

Internal summary: A statement in the body of the speech that summarizes the speaker’s preceding point or points.

Signpost: A very brief statement that indicates where a speaker is in the speech or that focuses attention on key ideas.

From the Art of Public Speaking by Stephen Lucas

THOUGHTS FROM A FORMER STUDENT

One thing I learned in class that made me a better speechwriter was to pay attention to the transitions. In our outlines, there was space for our main points, but also our transitions between them. At the beginning of the semester, I thought this was a waste of time planning out my transition for a speech and that I would just wing it the day of, but I soon realized how important they were. Transitions are like the finishing touches that make everything fall together in a speech.

You may have some interesting points or facts to give to your audience, but without transitions, you have nothing to connect your points and create a narrative. An audience is much more interested in a talk if there is a continuing idea or theme, and transitions help create this. I found this out by watching the other students in my class as they learned to use transitions as well. I loved the speeches that were clearly organized and had a common idea with transitions.

Zoe Lawless, Honors Public Speaking, University of Arkansas

Movement as Transition

Many people don’t think about movement as a type of transition, but it can be a very powerful way to help your audience transition between ideas.

Setting out a visual or putting it away signals a change in ideas.
Some speakers will imagine a baseball diamond laid out on the floor and move to each base throughout the speech. Their opening comment is at home plate. Point one is delivered on first, point two on second, and point three on third. They stand back on their home plate to deliver the final closing statements.
One speaker that I met said he always has a special place that is his big idea place. He may move around during his speech but when he wants the audience to know it is an important point, he stands in the big idea place.

Silence as a Transition

John Chappelear, speech consultant, suggests that the use of silence can be powerful. It is powerful, but it is not easy. Being able to stand silently in front of a large audience for 15-45 seconds requires practice. Sometimes you can use silence as a way to let the audience catch up and think deeply about what you just said.

Transitioning Between Slides

As the next slide shows…
As you can see…
Next, I will show you…

Transitioning to Visuals

I’d like to direct your attention to…
This diagram compares…
Now, I’d like to illustrate this with…

Signaling the End is Near

In conclusion…
To sum it up…
Lastly…
In a nutshell…
To recap…
I’d like to leave you with…
Finally, I’d like to say…
The takeaway from all of this is…
To summarise…

Moving to the Next Speaker

I told you about the most credible theories about climate change, now John will share with you some examples of what you can do.
I’m going to turn it over to Malachi, who will take you through the next few points.
Next, Angie will come up and talk about…
To help us understand this topic better, we have Beatrice, who will talk us through…
Look to the next speaker and motion towards them as they walk to the podium, Twila will tell you more…

Problems with Transitions

These are some of the most common problems with transitions:

Not planning out transitions and just “winging it.”
Using fancy phrases inconsistent with the rest of the speech.
Saying, “I have five points” and then having only four or miscounting the points.
Overusing the same transitional phrase.
Long pauses before transitions as the speaker tries to figure out what to say next.

Tricks on Smoothly Presenting Transitions

Now you have a list of ideas to use when you write your next speech, let’s talk about how to use transitions effectively. Speakers typically struggle as they end one point and seek to move to the next idea. This usually happens because of poor planning, not enough practice, and poor note management. Let’s talk about these one at a time. First, poor planning happens because a speaker does not put enough time and effort into writing the speech. Second, not enough practice happened because even when a speech is practiced, it is practiced with regards to getting through the main points and not about moving smoothly between points. Finally, poor note management. Let me give you some tricks.

Make your notes large-larger than you think you need.
Give ample space between main ideas so you can look down and see the gap and know another point is coming.
On your notecards, make each main idea a different color.
I usually have a “T” in a circle to remind me that this is a transition statement.
Practice your speech twice by just reading the transition statements and the next sentence.
The night before your speech, visualize how you will manage the transitions.

Key Takeaways

Remember This!

Using transitions will help your speech flow smoothly.
Practice using your transitions.
Plan transitions for impact.

Please share your feedback, suggestions, corrections, and ideas.

I want to hear from you.

Do you have an activity to include? Did you notice a typo that I should correct? Are you planning to use this as a resource and do you want me to know about it? Do you want to tell me something that really helped you?

Click here to share your feedback.

Allgood, E., & Ebersole, T. (Eds.). (2017). C OMM 2100 public speaking: A workbook for student success . Fountainhead Press.

Beqiri, G. (2018). Speech transitions: Words and phrases to connect your ideas. https://virtualspeech.com/blog/speech-transitions-words-phrases

Dugan, A. (2013, August 26). Speech transitions: Magical words and phrases. http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/speech-transitions/

Effective speech transitions, how to make your speech flow. https://franticallyspeaking.com/effective-speech-transitions-how-to-make-your-speech-flow/

Jobs, S. (2005). Steve Jobs commencement address to Stanford University. [Video]. YouTube. https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/ Standard YouTube License.

Lawless, Z. (2020). Honors Public Speaking, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Used with permission.

Lucas, S.E. (2009). The art of public speaking. McGraw Hill.

Pace, P. (n.d). Bridge the gap–Speech transitions. https://westsidetoastmasters.com/article_reference/bridge_the_gap-speech_transitions.html#:~:text=%22I%20think%20body%20movement%20is,carries%20the%20audience%20with%20him.

Media Attributions

Sitting on bridge © Alex Azabache is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
karine-avetisyan-ipuiM-36tAg-unsplash © Karine Avetisyan is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
haniel-espinal-Oy9KX9NsDeU-unsplash © Haniel Espinal is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
Panel_discussion_at_Wikipedia_Day_2019 © Eric Luth is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license

Share This Book

LIVE 1-HOUR CLASSES AVAILABLE

Categories:

Storytelling

The Magical Transitional Phrase Every Presentation Needs

Good transitional sentences and phrases are simple, elegant and clear.

They help your audience follow you from one point to the next one.

In today’s article, you will learn the “Summarize and Switch” transition phrase.

You will learn the same phrase I use in most of my presentations, keynotes and training. It’s by far the most efficient transition method I’ve ever used.

Here is how you can create a good transition phrase:

After you finish a section of your presentation, you quickly summarize that part in one or two sentences, then you switch your audience’s attention to the next point.

Here is an example:

“We just explored the impact of mobile technology on the future of education. And as you can tell, you have to embrace this technology to be able to stand out as a leading school.”

“Now, I want to give you a case study of XYZ school, and how they successfully mobilized their Ipad program in three phases before any other school in the district. And how that gave them an educational edge …”

Here is another example

“Now that you have seen the simplicity of the Summarize and Switch method.”

“Don’t let its simplicity fools you. This transitional phrase is simple yet powerful and is one of the most effective ways to transition…”

See how simple this is?

When doing a presentation at work, you want to be clear, educational and memorable. Summarizing your points will make them memorable due to the repetition, and the distinct switch will make them clear and easy to follow.

Summarize and switch, a powerful transition phase for your next presentation

Use the Summarize and Switch Transitional phrase in your next presentation. It will work like a charm every single time.

How To Copy The Public Speaking Masters

transition words for powerpoint presentation

Take a Presentation From Good To Great By Setting Boundaries

Three things that erode your speaking confidence.

How to Run a Project Kickoff Meeting Successfully

The Throughline Blog

Practical Media Training and Public Speaking Tips

7 Ways to Use Transitions During Your Presentation

“You are here!”

Those three words, found on maps everywhere from highway rest stops and shopping malls to tourist sites and hiking trails, capture your attention instantly, as they’re designed to do. They immediately orient you to where you are and help you spot, with ease, where you’re about to go.

There is a tool you can use during your presentation that plays a similar role – transitions. They serve as spoken you are here! signs, connecting distinct ideas, topics, or tones, and guiding your audience from one point to another.

Transitions can be a word, phrase, question, or statement. They can be subtle or overt, smooth or abrupt, gradual or purposefully shocking – whichever best serves your intention.

Without them, audiences can feel as lost as travelers without a map. As an added bonus, they also can help you to round up the stragglers. Used as a way to break the pattern , verbal transitions can reengage audience members whose attention may have wandered.

7 Ways to Use Transitions in Your Talk

1. to elaborate.

“For example …”
“In addition …”
“A recent experience by one of my patients serves as an excellent illustration of this concept …”

2. Highlight a key message

“The important point here is that …”
“More than anything, we’ve learned that …”

3. Link similar ideas

“In the same way …”
“Just as Department A was slow to respond to the problem, a similar critique could be made of department B, because …”

4. Move from one section to another

“That brings us to point number two.”
“Now you know the challenges we are up against. I’m going to take the next 10 minutes to focus on how we are going to overcome them.”

5. Summarize or highlight relevance

“So, what can we learn from all that?”
“I’m telling you all this because …”

6. Introduce conflict

“However …”
“Critics see this issue differently …”

7. Indicate next steps or set up your call to action

“Here’s our challenge …”
“Where does that leave us today?”
“You’ve heard the reasons why you need to reduce stress. Before you head out the door, I’m going to give you three simple, everyday actions that lead a more stress-less life.”

Recapturing Attention

Yes, we are sneaking in an eighth way verbal transitions can make for a better presentation. They have the power to snap your audience back to attention. It’s a strategy familiar to experienced radio hosts and podcasters, who use transitions to regain attention from members of their audience whose focus may have drifted.

Just imagine listening to the radio when the host says, “But even more than that, the most surprising thing I learned was ….” At that moment, are you really going to switch to a different station? Or are you going to stay tuned to hear the most surprising thing?

Lines such as these will recapture your wayward travelers:

“But that’s not our real problem …”
“For years, we’ve been told this is best the way to recover from heart surgery. I am here to tell you that’s wrong …”
“I’m about to let you in on a secret …”
break the pattern
presentation skills training
presentation tips
speech transitions
transitions

Share this article

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Email

STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE THROUGHLINE NEWSLETTER

Join the thousands of professionals who receive our email newsletter. Improve your public speaking and media interviewing skills—and enhance your career— by signing up.

Learn More About Our Training Services

Public speaking and media training custom courses designed to make you a more effective communicator.

More from the throughline blog

In public speaking tips Why Your Speech Should Have Two Closes

In public speaking tips 12 Ways to Boost Your Charisma (Study)

In public speaking tips Study: Your Bad Audio Makes You Sound Dumber

This website or its third party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy . If you want to know more or withdraw your consent to all or some of the cookies, please refer to the privacy policy. By closing this banner or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies.

Presentation Training Institute

A division of bold new directions training, how to use transition words and phrases effectively in presentations.

When delivering a presentation, it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand and follow along. This can be accomplished by using transitions to bridge the gap between ideas. Transitions can be a word or phrase that act as a signpost to the audience, signaling the relationship between points and ideas. Here we will take a look at how to use transitions more effectively in your presentation.

What are Speech Transitions?

Speech transitions are words or phrases that allow you to seamlessly transition from one point to another so that your speech flows smoothly. This makes it easier for the audience to follow along and see how one point relates to the next. Transitions can be one word, a phrase, or even a full sentence.

Examples of Transitions

Introduction.

You can introduce your topic with one of the following transitions:

The purpose of this presentation is to…
Today we will examine the effects of…
Our team will be discussing…
I want to start by…
Let’s begin by…

Moving from the Introduction to the First Point

This is when you will signal to the audience that you have introduced the topic and you are ready to discuss the first main point.

Now that you are familiar with…let’s begin with…
First, let’s begin by discussing…
To get started, let’s look at…
My first point covers…

Moving from One Point to Another

You can use these transitions to shift from one point to another during your presentation:

In the same way…
If I could now turn to…
Now let’s consider…

Shifting to a Disagreeing Point

The flip side of this issue is that…
On the other hand…
Yet, we cannot ignore…
On the contrary…
The opposing argument…

Introducing an Example

Let me illustrate this by…
Take the case of…
This is demonstrated by…
An example of this is…

Emphasizing Importance

More importantly…
This is essential because…

Conclusion of the Presentation

In conclusion…
In summary…
Finally, I want to say that…

Part of rehearsing your presentation involves practicing your transitions. Be sure to plan for these words and phrases, as they are the finishing touches that will pull your entire presentation together. Without them, you can confuse your audience. Effective transitions help to create a clearly organized presentation that feels like a continuous conversation.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Transitions: Bridging Ideas for a Seamless Presentation

Photo by Alex Azabache , used under Unsplash license

Good transitions can make a speech more important to the audience because they feel they are being taken to a positive conclusion without having to travel a bumpy road. – Joe Griffith

Transitions

The audience is dying to know the relationship between ideas. Their brains are hard-wired for that. It’s more important when you are speaking than when you are writing because the listeners can’t go back – they have to get it when it happens. If the brain is bored, or gets tired because it’s overwhelmed, or gets confused – it can’t stay in that place, so it daydreams, creating its own interest. Speech Coach Max Dixon, Westside Toastmasters.

Let’s begin with…
First, I’d like to share with you…
Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
Our first stop is…
I will first cover…
My first point covers…
To get started, let’s look at…

The Order of Things

After that…
Next…
Second thing…
Our next stop is…
Let me tell you about your next step.

Steve Jobs Commencement to Stanford University

Watch Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address (15 mins) on YouTube

“The first story is about connecting the dots.”
“My second story is about love and loss.”
“My third story is about death.”

Source: Stanford. (2008, March 7). Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc

Between Similar Points

In the same way…
In addition…
Likewise…
Similarly…

Between Disagreeing Points

Conversely…
Despite this…
The flip side of the issue…
However…
On the contrary…
On the other hand…
On the other side …
Yet, we cannot ignore …
The opposing argument …
If we examine the opposite side, we see …

Introduce an example

This is best illustrated by an example…
For instance…
Take the case of…
For example…
To understand this…
Let me illustrate this by…

Introduce Research

To make the point…
As illustrated by…
Case in point…
To solidify this point…
As researched by…

Cause and effect

Therefore…
Thus…
Consequently…
As a result…
This is significant because…
Hence…
Resulting in…
For that reason …
The effect is…

Elaboration

Also…
Besides…
What’s more…
In addition/additionally…
Moreover…
Furthermore…

Transition to a Demonstration

Let me show you how this works…
Let me demonstrate this…
Now that we’ve covered the theory, let’s see it in action …
Next, I’d like to let you see this for yourselves…

Introducing Your Visual

As you can see from this chart…
I’d like you to notice that…
The table indicates…

Questions as Transitions

Now that you know the problem, what do you think will solve it?
What do you think will solve this crisis?

Connective: A word or phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship between them.

Transitions: A word or phrase that indicates when a speaker had finished one thought and it moving on to another.

Internal preview: A statement in the body of the speech that tells the audience what the speaker is going to discuss next.

Internal summary: A statement in the body of the speech that summarizes the speaker’s preceding point or points.

Signpost: A very brief statement that indicates where a speaker is in the speech or that focuses attention on key ideas.

From the Art of Public Speaking by Stephen Lucas

Thoughts from a Former Student

Zoe Lawless, Honors Public Speaking, University of Arkansas

Movement as Transition

Many people don’t think about movement as a type of transition, but it can be a very powerful way to help your audience transition between ideas.

Setting out a visual or putting it away signals a change in ideas.
Some speakers will imagine a baseball diamond laid out on the floor and move to each base throughout the speech. Their opening comment is at home plate. Point one is delivered on first, point two on second, and point three on third. They stand back on their home plate to deliver the final closing statements.
One speaker that I met said he always has a special place that is his big idea place. He may move around during his speech but when he wants the audience to know it is an important point, he stands in the big idea place.

Silence as a Transition

John Chappelear, speech consultant, suggests that the use of silence can be powerful. It is powerful, but it is not easy. Being able to stand silently in front of a large audience for 15-45 seconds requires practice. Sometimes you can use silence as a way to let the audience catch up and think deeply about what you just said.

Transitioning Between Slides

As the next slide shows…
As you can see…
Next, I will show you…

Transitioning to Visuals

I’d like to direct your attention to…
This diagram compares…
Now, I’d like to illustrate this with…

Signaling the End is Near

In conclusion…
To sum it up…
Lastly…
In a nutshell…
To recap…
I’d like to leave you with…
Finally, I’d like to say…
The takeaway from all of this is…
To summarise…

Moving to the Next Speaker

I told you about the most credible theories about climate change, now John will share with you some examples of what you can do.
I’m going to turn it over to Malachi, who will take you through the next few points.
Next, Angie will come up and talk about…
To help us understand this topic better, we have Beatrice, who will talk us through…
Look to the next speaker and motion towards them as they walk to the podium, Twila will tell you more…

Problems with Transitions

These are some of the most common problems with transitions:

Not planning out transitions and just “winging it.”
Using fancy phrases inconsistent with the rest of the speech.
Saying, “I have five points” and then having only four or miscounting the points.
Overusing the same transitional phrase.
Long pauses before transitions as the speaker tries to figure out what to say next.

Tricks on Smoothly Presenting Transitions

Make your notes large-larger than you think you need.
Give ample space between main ideas so you can look down and see the gap and know another point is coming.
On your notecards, make each main idea a different color.
I usually have a “T” in a circle to remind me that this is a transition statement.
Practice your speech twice by just reading the transition statements and the next sentence.
The night before your speech, visualize how you will manage the transitions.

Key Takeaways

Remember This!

Using transitions will help your speech flow smoothly.
Practice using your transitions.
Plan transitions for impact.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this chapter is adapted from “ Transitions: Bridging Ideas for a Seamless Presentation ” In Advanced Public Speaking by Lynn Meade, licensed under CC BY 4.0 .

Allgood, E., & Ebersole, T. (Eds.). (2017). C OMM 2100 public speaking: A workbook for student success . Fountainhead Press.

Beqiri, G. (2018). Speech transitions: Words and phrases to connect your ideas. https://virtualspeech.com/blog/speech-transitions-words-phrases

Dugan, A. (2013, August 26). Speech transitions: Magical words and phrases. http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/speech-transitions/

Effective speech transitions, how to make your speech flow. https://franticallyspeaking.com/effective-speech-transitions-how-to-make-your-speech-flow/

Lawless, Z. (2020). Honors Public Speaking, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Used with permission.

Lucas, S.E. (2009). The art of public speaking. McGraw Hill.

Share This Book

Oratory Club

Public Speaking Helpline

Speech Transitions: Words And Phrases to Connect Your Ideas

Speech transitions are important as they connect ideas and maintain a smooth flow. These transitions help guide the audience through the speech effectively.

Effective communication is crucial in delivering a compelling speech. To engage and captivate an audience, it is essential to connect ideas seamlessly. Speech transitions serve as connectors between different thoughts and ensure a logical progression of ideas. By employing suitable words and phrases, a speaker can enhance the flow of their speech and maintain the audience’s attention.

We will explore various words and phrases that can be used to connect ideas in a speech. These transitions play a vital role in conveying the message effectively and leaving a lasting impact on the listeners.

Credit: www.spanish.academy

Table of Contents

Why Are Speech Transitions Important In Public Speaking?

Speech transitions play a crucial role in public speaking by connecting ideas seamlessly. These words and phrases help maintain the flow of the speech and captivate the audience, ensuring a clear and coherent delivery.

Speech transitions play a significant role in public speaking. They serve as vital connectors that link together various ideas and concepts in a seamless manner. By using appropriate words and phrases to transition between different points, speakers can maintain the flow and coherence of their speech.

Here’s why speech transitions are important:

Benefits Of Using Speech Transitions:

Enhance clarity: Transitions help speakers to clearly communicate their ideas and thoughts to the audience. By using transition words and phrases, they can guide the listeners through the different sections of their speech, making it easier to follow.
Improve understanding: Effective transitions ensure that the audience can easily grasp the connections between ideas and concepts. This helps to prevent any confusion or misinterpretation of the speaker’s message.
Increase engagement: Speech transitions prevent a monotonous or disjointed delivery, making the speech more engaging for the audience. By smoothly moving from one idea to another, the speaker captures the listeners’ attention and keeps them actively involved throughout the presentation.
Highlight key points: Transitions can be used strategically to emphasize important information or key points. By signaling the significance of certain ideas, speakers can ensure that these points are understood and remembered by the audience.

Impact On Audience Engagement:

Retention of information: With the help of effective speech transitions, speakers can enhance the audience’s ability to retain and recall the information presented. Logical connections created through transitions make it easier for listeners to process and remember the content.
Focused attention: Well-placed transitions help to maintain the audience’s focus and prevent their minds from wandering. By smoothly transitioning between ideas, speakers keep the listeners engaged and attentive.
Active participation: Speech transitions encourage the audience to actively participate in the speech. Clear connections between ideas enable listeners to anticipate the direction of the speech, allowing them to make connections and draw conclusions alongside the speaker.
Emotionally connect: Transitions can also have an emotional impact on the audience. By using appropriate words and phrases, speakers can evoke specific feelings, making the speech more memorable and impactful.

Creating a smooth and coherent flow:

Logical progression: Transitions facilitate a logical progression of ideas, enabling the speaker to present their thoughts in a structured manner. This ensures that the audience can easily follow the speaker’s intended flow of information.
Seamless connection: Speech transitions act as bridges between different ideas or sections, creating a seamless connection between them. This helps to establish a sense of continuity in the speech, preventing any abrupt shifts in topic or subject matter.
Professional delivery: The use of speech transitions demonstrates a speaker’s professionalism and command over their subject. It showcases their ability to present complex ideas in a clear and organized manner.

By recognizing the importance of speech transitions and incorporating them into public speaking, speakers can enhance the effectiveness of their presentations, captivate their audience, and ensure that their message is delivered with impact.

Types Of Speech Transitions

Discover various types of speech transitions that effectively connect ideas and thoughts in your speech. These words and phrases seamlessly guide the flow of your presentation, keeping your audience engaged and interested. Improve your public speaking skills with these powerful speech transition techniques.

Transition words and phrases play a crucial role in connecting your ideas and making your speech or presentation flow smoothly. By using these linguistic tools, you can create a cohesive and engaging narrative that keeps your listeners hooked. In this section, we will explore the different types of speech transitions, including transition words and phrases, verbal transitions, and nonverbal transitions.

Transition Words And Phrases:

First and foremost, transition words and phrases serve as the glue that holds your speech together. They facilitate the logical progression of your ideas and help your audience follow along effortlessly.
Additionally, transition words and phrases add clarity and coherence to your speech, ensuring that your message is easily understood.
Moreover, they signal shifts in topic, introduce examples, emphasize crucial points, and establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Furthermore, transition words and phrases enable you to create smooth transitions between different sections of your speech, which is essential for maintaining audience engagement.

Verbal Transitions:

Verbal transitions involve the use of spoken words or phrases to guide your audience from one idea to another seamlessly.
For instance, you can use phrases like “now, let’s move on to…”, “in relation to…”, or “on the other hand…” to smoothly transition between topics.
Likewise, starting a sentence with phrases such as “in the same vein…”, “to illustrate my point…”, or “another key aspect is…” can effectively connect your ideas and make your speech more coherent.
Furthermore, verbally signaling your intention to transition, using phrases like “now, let’s shift gears and discuss…”, “next up, we’ll explore…”, or “in light of this information…” can help your audience anticipate and comprehend your transitions better.

Nonverbal Transitions:

Nonverbal transitions involve actions, gestures, or visuals that complement your verbal transitions, reinforcing the connections between your ideas.
Use physical cues, such as changing your stance, moving to a different part of the stage, or making eye contact with a specific audience member, to signify a transition.
Similarly, employing visual aids like slides, charts, or props can also assist in smoothly guiding your audience from one idea to the next.
Additionally, adjusting your tone of voice, pausing strategically, or utilizing facial expressions can effectively emphasize the shift in ideas and engage your listeners.

Incorporating a variety of transition words and phrases, implementing verbal transitions, and utilizing nonverbal cues can greatly enhance the flow and impact of your speech. Integrating these techniques will help you maintain your audience’s attention and ensure that your ideas are communicated effectively.

So, let’s dive in and explore the world of speech transitions further!

Using Transition Words And Phrases

Discover the power of using speech transitions to seamlessly connect your ideas. By employing a variety of transition words and phrases, you can create a cohesive flow in your speech while keeping your audience engaged and interested. Swap repetitive terms for different expressions to ensure your content remains fresh and captivating.

Importance Of Strategic Placement:

Transition words and phrases are essential in speech writing as they help to connect and smoothly organize ideas and thoughts.
Strategic placement of transition words and phrases allows for a coherent flow of information, making it easier for the audience to follow the speaker’s train of thought.
Proper use of transition words and phrases can enhance the overall impact of a speech by creating a logical progression of ideas and reinforcing key points.
By strategically incorporating transition words and phrases, speakers can maintain the audience’s attention and prevent confusion or disengagement.

Commonly Used Transition Words:

“furthermore”: Used to add another supporting point or to provide additional information.
Example: Furthermore, research has shown that regular exercise improves overall mental health.
“however”: Introduces a contrasting idea or viewpoint.
Example: The study found that the new drug is effective; however, more research is needed to determine long-term effects.
“meanwhile”: Shows a simultaneous action or event occurring.
Example: The company was experiencing financial difficulties; meanwhile, their competitors were thriving.
“moreover”: Indicates the addition of more information or evidence.
Example: The data collected from the survey revealed alarming statistics; moreover, it highlighted the need for immediate action.

Connecting Ideas Within A Sentence:

“similarly”: Demonstrates a likeness or similarity between two ideas.
Example: The baby elephant walked with a wobble, similarly to a toddler taking their first steps.
“in addition”: Introduces an additional piece of information or evidence.
Example: The market research indicated a growing demand for organic products; in addition, consumer preferences were shifting towards sustainable packaging.
“likewise”: Expresses similarity or agreement with a previous statement.
Example: The new policy aims to increase employee satisfaction; likewise, it strives to improve overall productivity.
“on the other hand”: Indicates a contrasting viewpoint or perspective.
Example: The group was divided on the issue; on the other hand, some argued for immediate action while others preferred a more cautious approach.

Transition Phrases For Introducing New Points:

“first and foremost”: Emphasizes the primary or most important point to be made.
Example: First and foremost, it is crucial for individuals to prioritize their mental health.
“another key point”: Introduces an additional significant idea or argument.
Example: Another key point to consider is the impact of social media on mental well-being.
“lastly”: Signals the final point or argument in a series or sequence.
Example: Lastly, it is essential to provide accessible and affordable mental health services for all individuals.

Transition Words For Emphasizing Or Contrasting Ideas:

“indeed”: Emphasizes and reinforces a previous point or statement.
Example: The results of the study indeed highlight the need for further investigation.
“contrarily”: Shows a contrasting or opposite perspective.
Example: While some argue for stricter regulations, contrarily, others believe in the importance of personal freedoms.
“in summary”: Provides a concise overview or recap of the main points discussed.
Example: The research demonstrates the significant impact of early childhood education on future academic success.

Remember, incorporating these transition words and phrases into your speech can greatly enhance its overall effectiveness, making it more engaging and easy to follow. Use them strategically to guide your listeners through your ideas and ensure they stay connected and engaged with your message.

Incorporating Verbal Transitions

Discover the power of incorporating verbal transitions in your speech to effortlessly connect your ideas. Enhance your communication skills with carefully chosen phrases and words that keep your audience engaged and interested. Unlock the potential of seamless transitions for impactful speeches.

Establishing A Connection Between Ideas

Incorporating verbal transitions is essential in speech delivery as it helps maintain a smooth flow of ideas. These transitions act as bridges between different thoughts, guiding the audience through your speech. By using the right words and phrases, you can establish clear connections between ideas, leaving a lasting impact on your listeners. Let’s explore some effective techniques for incorporating verbal transitions.

Using Clear Language And Cues

Clear language and cues allow your audience to follow along effortlessly, ensuring that your ideas are effectively communicated. Consider the following strategies to enhance clarity in your speech:
Signposting: The use of signposting phrases, such as “firstly,” “next,” or “” helps guide your audience through the structure of your speech, making it easier for them to follow your thought process.
Repetition: Repeating key phrases or concepts throughout your speech can reinforce your ideas, making them more memorable for your audience.
Pronouns: Utilize pronouns like “they,” “we,” or “you” to create a sense of inclusivity and engagement. This fosters a connection between you and your audience, encouraging active participation.

Examples Of Verbal Transition Techniques

Here are some effective examples of verbal transition techniques to incorporate in your speech:
Cause and effect: Use phrases like “as a result,” “consequently,” or “therefore” to highlight the cause and effect relationship between different ideas.
Comparison and contrast: Employ phrases such as “similarly,” “on the other hand,” or “in contrast” to draw comparisons or highlight differences between ideas, helping your audience understand distinct concepts better.
Time sequence: Signal the passage of time or progression of ideas with phrases like “before,” “afterward,” or “meanwhile.” This helps your audience follow the chronological order of events or thoughts.

Practice And Delivery Tips

To improve your use of verbal transitions, consider these practice and delivery tips:
Rehearse your speech: Practice delivering your speech multiple times, focusing on incorporating verbal transitions smoothly. This will help you become more comfortable and confident in your delivery.
Record and review: Record yourself delivering the speech and take note of areas where verbal transitions can be improved. Analyzing your performance will enable you to refine your delivery and strengthen your speech.
Seek feedback: Request constructive feedback or have a trusted person observe your speech. They can provide valuable insights on how to enhance your verbal transitions and overall impact.

Remember, incorporating verbal transitions in your speech not only enhances its coherence but also ensures that your ideas are effectively communicated and understood by your audience. By practicing and mastering these techniques, you’ll become a more engaging and persuasive speaker.

Keep honing your skills, and watch your speech captivate and inspire your listeners.

Leveraging Nonverbal Transitions

Discover the power of nonverbal transitions in connecting your ideas during speeches. Utilize effective words and phrases that enhance the flow of your presentation and engage your audience. Say goodbye to common speech transition pitfalls and captivate your listeners with seamless transitions.

In the realm of public speaking, effective speech transitions are crucial for connecting ideas and maintaining the attention of your audience. While verbal transitions are commonly employed, nonverbal cues can be just as powerful in conveying a seamless flow of thoughts.

This section will explore the various ways to leverage nonverbal transitions, including visual cues, body language, gestures and facial expressions, the importance of eye contact, and how to convey confidence and professionalism.

Visual Cues And Body Language:

Visual cues play a vital role in indicating transitions and maintaining engagement during a speech.
Use confident and purposeful body language to signify a change in topic or shift in ideas.
Positioning yourself differently on stage or adjusting your stance can visually communicate a transition to your audience.
Maintain an open and relaxed posture, which indicates a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Gestures And Facial Expressions:

Utilize gestures and facial expressions to enhance the impact of your nonverbal transitions.
Gesture with your hands to emphasize key points or signal a transition to a new idea.
Employ facial expressions to convey enthusiasm, surprise, or seriousness, making your transitions more engaging and memorable.

Importance Of Eye Contact:

Eye contact is a powerful nonverbal tool that establishes a connection with your audience and aids in smooth transitions.
Engage with individuals in different parts of the room, ensuring that your eye contact is inclusive and not only focused on a single person or section.
During transitions, maintain eye contact to signal that you are moving on to a new topic or idea.
The use of eye contact can also help you gauge the audience’s reaction and adjust your delivery accordingly.

Conveying Confidence And Professionalism:

Nonverbal transitions are instrumental in conveying confidence and professionalism throughout your speech.
Maintain a calm and composed demeanor, which instills confidence in your audience.
Avoid fidgeting or excessive movements that may distract from your message.
By utilizing nonverbal cues effectively, you can create a sense of professionalism and competence, enhancing your overall speaker presence.

Incorporating nonverbal transitions into your speech can significantly improve its flow, captivate your audience, and reinforce your message. Visual cues, body language, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and conveying confidence and professionalism are all essential elements in creating a seamless and engaging speaking experience.

Practice and master these nonverbal techniques to elevate your speech to new heights.

Transitioning Between Different Sections Of A Speech

Transitioning between different sections of a speech is crucial for maintaining a coherent flow and engaging the audience. By utilizing effective speech transitions, you can seamlessly connect your ideas, avoiding clichés and repetitive terms, to ensure a captivating and impactful delivery.

Transitioning between different sections of a speech is crucial to maintain the flow and coherence of your ideas. To ensure a smooth transition, consider using the following techniques:

Introducing A New Topic Or Main Idea

Pose a question: Start a new section by asking a thought-provoking question that introduces your audience to the upcoming topic. For example, “have you ever wondered how technology has revolutionized the way we communicate?”
Provide a brief anecdote or story: Capture your audience’s attention by sharing a relevant story or anecdote that sets the stage for the new topic. This personal touch will engage your listeners from the start.
Use a powerful quote: Begin your section with an impactful quote that relates to the subject matter. This will immediately draw your audience’s attention and create curiosity about the upcoming discussion.

Summarizing Key Points

Highlight the main ideas: Summarize the key points you have discussed so far in a concise and clear manner. This allows your audience to understand the progress of your speech and reinforces the central ideas you want them to remember.
Use transition words: Employ transition words and phrases such as “” “to summarize,” or “in conclusion” to signal that you are summarizing the main points. This helps the audience mentally prepare for the upcoming summary.

Shifting Focus Or Transitioning To A Conclusion

Preview the provide a glimpse of what your conclusion will entail without delving into the details. This primes your audience for the upcoming ending, creating anticipation and signaling the shift in focus.
Ask for the audience’s attention: Use phrases like “now, let’s turn to the final part of our discussion” to redirect the attention back to the conclusion. This helps maintain engagement and refocuses the audience’s thoughts on the closing remarks.
Reinforce the central theme: Remind your listeners of the central theme or main message of your speech. This will ensure that the concluding remarks connect back to the core ideas you have been discussing.

Remember, effective transitions are like signposts that guide your audience through your speech. By utilizing these techniques, you can navigate between different sections smoothly and keep your audience fully engaged.

Tips For Effective Transitioning

Discover practical tips for effective transitioning in your speech through the use of appropriate words and phrases. Enhance the flow of your ideas by avoiding overused terms and incorporating a variety of expressions at the beginning of paragraphs. Keep your sentences concise and engaging to maintain the reader’s interest.

Preparing And Rehearsing Transitions:

Craft a list of transitional words and phrases: To ensure smooth and seamless transitions between your ideas, compile a list of words and phrases that can serve as connectors. Examples include “however,” “in addition,” and “on the other hand.”
Identify logical connections: Assess the flow of your speech and identify the logical connections between each point. This will help you determine the appropriate transitional words or phrases to use.
Practice aloud: Once you have selected your transition words and phrases, practice incorporating them into your speech. Rehearse it several times to ensure that the transitions feel natural and help maintain the overall coherence of your ideas.

Using A Variety Of Transition Methods:

Implement signposts: Signposts are words or phrases that indicate where you are in your speech and where you are going next. Examples include “firstly,” “next,” and “finally.” By using these signposts, you guide your audience through your speech, making it easier for them to follow along.
Utilize parallel structure: Parallel structure involves using the same grammatical structure for each point in your speech. This creates a rhythm and consistency that facilitates smooth transitions. For example, instead of saying “i like hiking and to swim,” you would say “i like hiking and swimming.”
Incorporate rhetorical questions: Asking a rhetorical question can help transition from one idea to the next seamlessly. It engages your audience and prompts them to reflect on the previous point before moving on to the next one.
Use visual aids: Visual aids such as slides or props can serve as effective transition tools. By visually emphasizing the connection between ideas, you can make the transition more apparent to your audience.
Provide summaries: Summarizing the main points of each section can be a powerful transition technique. It allows you to recap what has been discussed and prepare your audience for the upcoming topic.

Maintaining A Natural And Conversational Tone:

Avoid using jargon: To keep your speech accessible and engaging, avoid using technical jargon or overly complicated language. Opt for words and phrases that your audience can easily understand.
Vary sentence lengths: Using a mix of short and long sentences adds rhythm and variety to your speech. This prevents monotony and keeps your audience engaged.
Practice active voice: Choosing active voice sentences instead of passive voice helps maintain a conversational tone. Active voice is more direct and engaging, making it easier for your audience to follow along.
Engage with the audience: Encourage audience participation throughout your speech by asking for their thoughts or experiences related to your topic. This creates a more conversational and interactive atmosphere.
Adjust your pace: Pay attention to your speaking pace and adjust it accordingly. Speaking too fast can make it difficult for your audience to process the information, while speaking too slowly can lead to disengagement. Aim for a rhythmic and natural pace.

Remember, effective transitioning is crucial for the cohesiveness and clarity of your speech. By preparing and rehearsing your transitions, utilizing a variety of transition methods, and maintaining a natural and conversational tone, you can ensure that your ideas flow smoothly and leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are speech transitions.

Speech transitions are words and phrases used to connect ideas and help the audience follow your presentation more smoothly. They create a logical flow and make it easier for listeners to understand and remember your key points.

Why Are Speech Transitions Important?

Speech transitions are important because they enhance the coherence and clarity of your speech. They help your audience navigate through your ideas and maintain their attention. Transitions also make your speech more engaging and polished, leaving a lasting impact on your listeners.

What Are Some Common Speech Transition Words And Phrases?

There are various speech transition words and phrases you can use, such as “in addition,” “however,” “on the other hand,” “moreover,” “as a result,” “to summarize,” and “finally. ” These transition words and phrases can help you transition between different ideas, compare and contrast points, and summarize information.

How Can Speech Transitions Improve My Public Speaking Skills?

Using speech transitions in your presentations enhances your public speaking skills by making your speech more organized, coherent, and impactful. With effective transitions, you can smoothly guide your audience through your ideas, keeping them engaged and helping them understand and remember your message.

To sum up, utilizing effective speech transitions is essential for seamless and coherent delivery. By incorporating appropriate words and phrases, you can effectively connect your ideas and guide your audience through your speech. Whether you are emphasizing a point, introducing a new topic, or providing examples, utilizing transitional words and phrases enhances the overall flow of your speech.

Moreover, these transitions help to maintain your audience’s engagement and comprehension. From using simple transitional words like “firstly” and “next,” to employing complex connectors such as “in contrast” and “similarly,” the right speech transitions can transform your speaking style. By following these guidelines and practicing your delivery, you can become a confident and compelling speaker.

Remember, speech transitions are powerful tools that can transform your speech from disjointed to cohesive, ensuring that your ideas are conveyed clearly and effectively. So, the next time you give a speech, make sure to incorporate these essential speech transitions and watch your message resonate with your audience.

How To Prepare For A Conference?

Are you attending a conference soon? Wondering how to make the most out of your experience? Look no further! In this guide, we will provide you with valuable tips and tricks on how to effectively prepare for a conference. From setting clear objectives to networking strategies, we’ve got you covered. So, let’s dive in and…

What is an Asynchronous Presentation? All You Need to Consider

An asynchronous presentation refers to a type of communication where participants do not interact in real-time, but instead view and engage with content at their own pace and convenience. It allows for flexibility in accessing and absorbing information, making it ideal for remote collaboration and learning environments. Definition of Asynchronous Presentation An asynchronous presentation is…

How to Communicate to Evoke Genuine Emotions?

Communication is a powerful tool that goes beyond words—it’s about creating an experience. In the world of strategic communication, presence plays a pivotal role. This blog explores the insights shared by communication expert Matt Abrahams and executive coach Muriel Wilkins on Think Fast Talk Smart, The Podcast. From identifying common communication pitfalls to building an…

Workplace Safety

Workplace safety is essential for the well-being of employees and the overall success of a company. By implementing proper safety measures and protocols, businesses can prevent accidents, injuries, and potential legal issues. Providing a safe work environment promotes employee satisfaction, productivity, and reduces absenteeism and turnover rates. Additionally, it enhances a company’s reputation and fosters…

How to Use Availability Bias in Communication?

To use availability bias in communication, emphasize familiar or recent examples to influence perception and decision-making. By understanding this cognitive bias, you can tailor your message to resonate with the audience’s biased perceptions. Leveraging availability bias in communication can significantly impact how your message is received. This psychological phenomenon, rooted in people’s tendencies to rely…

The Power of Transitions and Closings in Presentations

Suppose you want to make a lasting impression on your audience during a presentation. In that case, mastering transitional phrases and strong conclusions is essential. Not only do they keep your audience engaged, but they also help you get your message across effectively.

In this post, we’ll explore the art of using transitional phrases and strong conclusions to succeed at giving presentations. Whether you’re a seasoned public speaker or just starting out, this post will provide you with tips and tricks to keep your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.

Introduction

Have you ever sat through a presentation that left you feeling bored or disinterested? Or have you ever given a presentation that failed to get your message across effectively? If so, you’re not alone. Many people struggle with public speaking, and it’s easy to see why. It’s not just about what you say but how you say it.

One of the most important aspects of a successful presentation is using transitional phrases and strong conclusions. These two elements can make or break your presentation, so it’s crucial to master them.

Explanation of Transitional Phrases

Transitional phrases are words or phrases that connect one idea to the next. They help to create a smooth flow between different parts of your presentation, making it easier for your audience to follow along.

Transitional phrases can be used in many different ways, depending on the type of presentation you’re giving. For example, use them to introduce a new topic, summarize a point you just made, or transition to the next section of your presentation.

Transitional phrases for your presentations

As an experienced presenter, there are a variety of transitional phrases that you can use to keep your audience engaged and focused on your message. Some examples include:

“Moving on to the next point,…”
“Building on that idea,…”
“Perhaps most importantly, let me add this…”
“If there is one thing to learn, remember this…”
“This is why it’s important to…”

These phrases are not only effective in guiding your audience through your presentation but also help to keep your audience focused. Not only that, they help to create a natural flow between ideas.

Ultimately, the best transitional phrases will depend on the specific content and structure of your presentation, but incorporating a variety of these phrases can help to elevate your presentation and make it more memorable for your audience.

More Examples of Transitional Phrases

Here are some examples of transitional phrases you can use in your presentations:

“ Moving on to our next topic…”
“ Now, let’s take a look at …”
“ Next up …”
“ Let’s switch gears and talk about…”
“ In addition to reducing your risk of chronic diseases, a healthy diet can also improve your mood and energy levels.”
“ Moreover , studies have shown that people who eat a balanced diet are more productive and have better cognitive function.”
“ On the other hand , a diet high in processed foods and sugar can increase your risk of obesity, heart disease, and other health problems.”

Remember Why It Is Important

Using transitional phrases is essential because they keep your audience engaged and help them understand the structure of your presentation. Without them, your presentation can feel disjointed and hard to follow.

In addition, using transitional phrases shows you’re well-prepared and confident in your presentation. It helps to establish credibility and can make you appear more professional.

Tips and Tricks

To use transitional phrases effectively, it’s crucial to practice and become comfortable with them. Here are some tips to help you master the art of transitional phrases:

Keep it simple . Use short and clear phrases that are easy to understand.
Practice your transitions . Make sure you know exactly when and how to use your transitional phrases.
Use them consistently . Don’t use transitional phrases in some parts of your presentation and then neglect them in others.
Use them sparingly. Use transitional phrases sparingly, or they can become distracting and take away from your message.
Plan ahead : Before you start your presentation, make sure you have a clear outline of the main points you want to cover. This will help you choose the right transitional phrases to connect your ideas.
Use signposts : Signposts are words or phrases that signal to your audience that you are moving on to a new point. Some examples of signposts include “firstly,” “secondly,” “in summary,” and “finally.”
Vary your phrases : Using the same transitional phrases repeatedly can become monotonous. Try to mix up your phrases to keep your audience engaged.
Practice, practice, practice : The more you practice using transitional phrases, the more natural and effortless they will become.

How to create a strong finish

Incorporating strong conclusions in a presentation is as important as transitional phrases. A great ending can help you achieve your goal by providing a lasting impression on your audience. To create a strong finish, you can use the following tips and tricks:

Summarize Your Presentation – Recapitulate the main points and the message you were trying to convey during your presentation. It reinforces your message and emphasizes the importance of your talk.
End with a Question – Ending your presentation with a thought-provoking question keeps the audience engaged and shows that you value their opinion.
Make a Call to Action – A call to action at the end of your presentation motivates your audience to take a specific action. Be clear and concise about what you want them to do next.
Use a Quote – Using a quote that reinforces your message can help create a memorable ending to your presentation. Choose a quote that is relevant to your topic and your audience.
Use Humor – Humor can be a great way to end your presentation on a high note. It lightens the mood and helps the audience remember your message.

Why It Works

Using transitional phrases and a strong conclusion works because it helps to keep your audience engaged and attentive throughout your presentation. By connecting your ideas with transitional phrases, you can create a clear and cohesive presentation that is easy for your audience to follow. And by ending with a strong conclusion, you can leave a lasting impression on your audience, making it more likely that they will remember and act on the information you have shared.

It also leaves your audience with a clear call to action, making it more likely that they’ll take the action you want them to.

Q: Can I use the same transitional phrases for every presentation?

A: While some transitional phrases are commonly used, it’s important to vary your phrases to keep your audience engaged. Try to use a mix of common phrases and more unique phrases to create interest

Q: How do I know when to use a transitional phrase?

A: Transitional phrases can be used in many different ways, but a good rule of thumb is to use them whenever you move from one idea to the next.

Q: What are some common transitional phrases to use in presentations? A: You can use many transitional phrases, depending on the context and purpose of your presentation. Here are some examples:

First of all
In addition to that
Case in point
On the other hand
In conclusion
Let’s now turn to
Now that we’ve discussed
To summarize

Q: How can I make my transitions sound more natural?

A: Practice is key to making your transitions sound natural. Read your presentation out loud to yourself, and try to avoid using the same transitional phrases repeatedly. You can also use more conversational language and avoid sounding too rehearsed or robotic. Finally, be confident in your delivery and trust that your transitions will sound natural with practice.

Q: What if I forget my conclusion?

A: It’s essential to practice your presentation before you deliver it. If you forget your conclusion, take a moment to collect your thoughts and give a concise summary of your message.

Q: How long should my conclusion be?

A: Your conclusion should be brief, about one to two minutes long. It should summarize your message and provide a call to action.

Q: Can I use the same conclusion for every presentation?

A: Your conclusion should be tailored to each presentation you give. It should be relevant to your topic and your audience.

Transitional phrases are a versatile tool that can elevate the quality of your presentation, regardless of the topic or audience. They serve several purposes, such as introducing a new idea or summarizing a previous point to reinforce its importance. Moreover, transitional phrases can create a seamless flow throughout your presentation and guide your listeners’ attention toward your intended message. Whether you’re giving a lecture, a business proposal, or a TED Talk, incorporating transitional phrases can make your delivery more engaging and impactful.

By using the tips and tricks provided, you can create a memorable presentation that motivates your audience to take action. Remember to practice your presentation and tailor your conclusion to your audience and topic. Take a private class to further develop your public speaking skills and perfect your presentation techniques.

CERF Level: B2

This means that the text is written at an upper-intermediate level. The text is well-organized and uses a variety of vocabulary and grammar structures. So if you’re looking for a piece of writing that will dazzle your mind and leave you feeling intellectually satisfied, look no further. You’ve found it right here, my friend.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is a standard system used in Europe to describe the proficiency level of language learners. It is used to assess language skills across various contexts, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The CEFR divides language learners into six levels: A1 (Beginner) A2 (Elementary) B1 (Intermediate) B2 (Upper-Intermediate) C1 (Advanced) C2 (Proficient)

Ready to Practice

If you’re ready to improve your pronunciation skills and perfect your business English, try this practice lesson . It’s related to this article and features voice recognition technology. Give it a try.

Project Manager: Risk Management in Project Planning

Cultural Connections Through Ordering Fast Food

Tips To Help You Keep Your Job In Tough Times

Essential Business Concepts

Factors for Success in Corporate America

Phrases for Delivering Presentations

Resume Words Part 2

Resume Actions Words

Essential Business English Words

English Level
Speaking Quiz
Listening Practice

Quick Links

How It Works
Private Lessons

get in touch

Ask Us Anything
2023 © Copyright New York English

71 Speech Transitions: The Ultimate Guide (+341 Examples & 11 Secrets)

Peter Andrei

If you don’t use speech transitions, your speeches will fail.

They will confuse your audiences, make little sense, and even confuse you .

But don’t worry: this guide will teach you everything about speech transitions.

You’ll learn exactly how to use speech transitions to make sure that your audience loves listening to you, your speeches sound eloquent, and your words are clear and powerful. Are you ready? Let’s get started.

Sections in this Guide

Understanding the Basics of Speech Transitions, 48 Basic Types of Speech Transitions (288 Examples), 23 Advanced Transitions That Grab Attention, How to Avoid the 9 Speech Transition Mistakes, 9 Advanced Secrets of Speech Transitions

“Transitions are critically important. I want the reader to turn the page without thinking she’s turning the page. It must flow seamlessly.” ― Janet Evanovich

Understanding the Basics of Speech Transitions

If you don’t understand the basics of speech transitions, you won’t be able to master them. And if you can’t master speech transitions, public speaking will be much harder. Fortunately: in this chapter, I answer the most common questions about speech transitions. Are you ready? Let’s start.

1 — What are some examples of transition words?

Transition words are transition phrases that are single words. Transition words are snappier, shorter, and quicker than transition phrases. They heighten the pace and intensity of a sentence in a speech. Some examples are: “Instead,” “Additionally,” “Also,” “Next,” “Now,” “And,” “Lastly,” “First,” “Because,” “Since,” etc. They work because they are, essentially, a mini open-loop. When you connect one sentence to another by starting the second with the word “but,” that implies an exception, for example. And people are captivated by that mini open-loop because they want to complete it. “But what? ” Technically, all transitions are mini open-loops until the sentence is finished, but these are particularly effective because they are just one word. More on this later.

2 — Why are transitions important in a speech?

Transitions are important in a speech because they smooth the flow of information. Transitions also show the audience what is coming next. They connect what you are about to say with what you just said. Transitions guarantee eloquence. They help your audience understand each of your sentences as they relate to each other.

3 — What are the three types of transitions?

Funny… I made this section “what are the three types of transitions” because thousands of people have been typing this in Google, according to a tool of mine. Here’s the funny part: in public speaking, there aren’t three types of transitions. There are over 60. Which type of transition you choose depends on the relationship between your previous sentence and your next one. Choose the type of transition that acts as a gateway into your next sentence. That’s the best type of transition.

4 — How do you write a good transition?

You write a good transition by choosing a transition that’s not already been used, that’s clear, and that’s relevant to your speech. You write a good transition by shortening transition phrases to get rid of unnecessary words. You write a good transition by connecting your previous sentence to your next one. That’s the key idea here.

5 — What are some good transition phrases?

What is a good transition word? That depends on what you want to say. Good transition phrases connect your previous sentence to your next sentence. If your next sentence will describe something different then your last one, “On the contrary…” is a good transition. “Similarly…” is not a good one. Get it?

6 — What is the difference between transitions and signposts?

Signposts are transition phrases that are just single words. They are so natural that they often happen unintentionally. They can happen at any point in a sentence. Signposts include conjunctions, like “and,” but also verbal lists: “first, second, third, etc.” Signposts also improve speech flow. And they act as refresher phrases. Transition words, signposts, and delayed transitions are all refresher phrases that create fast mini open-loops. We’ll get into this shortly.

7 — How do you introduce a main point in a speech?

You introduce a main point in a speech by using a transition of importance. A transition of importance indicates that what you are about to say is your main point. It shows the audience that it is your main message. Here are some examples: “the whole point is,” “and here’s what this all means,” etc.

48 Basic Types of Speech Transitions (288 Examples)

This section will teach you exactly how to use speech transitions. You’ll learn 48 proven speech transitions that will make your speeches flow like a river. Here’s the best part: each kind of transition comes with six examples. Just take the examples and use them. By using these 48 transitions, you will guarantee that your audiences are listening to you, guarantee that your audiences understand your speech, and guarantee that your speech is eloquent and clear. Let’s start.

1 — Difference

These indicate that what you are about to say is different from what you just said. Use these to indicate contrasts, and to prime your audience to identify differences. “On the contrary…” “Unlike…” “As opposed to…” “Conversely…” “On the other hand…” “If we flip that around…”

2 — Similarity

These indicate that what you are about to say is similar to what you just said. These will prime your audience to identify similar characteristics. Use these for metaphors, similes, and analogies. “Similarly…” “Just like…” “This is a lot like…” “Something similar is…” “This mirrors the…” “Much like…”

3 — Specification

These elaborate upon a previous point. Use these when you’re diving deeper into an idea. Use these when you want to present additional information about an idea. “Additionally…” “Furthermore…” “To elaborate…” “Also…” “There’s more…” “It goes deeper…”

4 — List Items

These present the items in a list of items. A sequence of these transitions is efficient and memorable. Your audience will remember content that’s structured in a list. One tip: don’t say “lastly…” say “last.” Don’t say “firstly…” say “first.” There’s no need for the “ly.” “First…” “Second…” “Third…” “Fourth…” “Fifth…” “Last…”

5 — Chronology

These present a list of events in chronological sequence. Chronologies are naturally engaging. People love stories. Use these to build a rapid, fast-paced chronology. “Next…” “Then…” “After this…” “What happened next…” “Now…” “The next thing…”

6 — Closing

These indicate that you are closing your speech. Often, your audience will lose attention in the middle of your speech. People love listening to the beginning and ending of a speech, but lose attention in the middle. Use these transitions to bring back some of those people. “To conclude…” “Before I close…” “Bringing this to an end…” “I want to tell you one last thing…” “So, if you remember one thing from this speech before I close…” “Here are my parting words…”

7 — Referral

These are used to refer back to a previous point. You’ll often find that certain parts of your speech are especially relevant. You’ll often find that you need to constantly return to those points. Use these transitions to do so. “As I said…” “If you recall…” “Like I mentioned previously…” “Earlier, I said that…” “Remember when I said…” “Just as I said before…”

8 — Openings

These are used to open your speech, or part of your speech. They signal to your audience that it’s time to pay close attention. “Today, we’ll be talking about…” “Here’s what you’ll learn today…” “The first point I want to make is…” “To start…” “Let’s begin…” “Here’s what I want to tell you first…”

9 — Cause and Effect

These present the impact of a cause. It’s always important to elaborate on a cause. So, if you say something like “20% of kids are disengaged in schools,” elaborate on the impact of that with these transitions. “The consequence is that…” “Because of this…” “This results in…” “This leads to…” “Due to this…” “This causes…”

10 — Examples

These present an example. The more examples you give, the more convincing you’ll be. Use these to make sure your audience understands you’re giving an example. “For example…” “An example of this is…” “Such as…” “This is shown by…” “A clear sign of this…” “A perfect example is…”

11 — Quotations

These present a quotation by another speaker. If you can borrow famous quotes, you gain instant eloquence. You also support your stance. That’s why quotes are rhetorically powerful. “It was once said by [person]…” “To quote [person]…” “[person] once said…” “According to [person]…” “A great quote about this subject is when [person] said…” “[person] famously said that…”

12 — Section Summaries

These summarize previous points. It’s important to repeat your points. This will help your audience remember them. Use these transitions to indicate summaries: “To summarize…” “So far, the big idea is…” “What this all means is…” “To put it simply…” “To quickly restate it…” “The main point is…”

13 — Speech Summaries

These summarize entire speeches. It’s always a good idea to remind your audience what they just learned. It helps cement the content in their long-term memory. Use these transitions to make the summary clear: “After listening, I hope you learned…” “Today, we discussed…” “In this speech, we explored…” “Here’s exactly what you learned today…” “To restate what we talked about…” “Here’s what you should remember from this speech…”

14 — Demonstrations

These transition to demonstrations. Speakers who include demonstrations often confuse their audiences. These transitions will make it clear that a demonstration is actually going on. “And if you turn your attention to…” “I’ll demonstrate this…” “This will demonstrate what we were talking about…” “Look at this demonstration…” “This demonstration will show you…” “Here’s a quick demonstration…”

15 — Another Speaker

These transition to another speaker. They make it clear that you’re handing it off to someone else. “It’s my pleasure to introduce…” “I’m honored to introduce…” “Someone has more to say…” “Now [person’s name] is going to say a few words to you…” “It’s time to hear from…” “Thanks for listening. Up next, is…”

16 — Core Issue

These transition to a core problem or central idea. Use these to indicate that what you’re about to say is of special importance. “The core issue is…” “What this all means is…” “The central problem is…” “When we boil it down…” “In a sentence, the fundamental problem is…” “So, if we talk about what’s really going on…”

17 — Opposing Points

These transition to an opposite stance. Imagine not using these transitions. Your audience would think you just contradicted yourself. “Those who disagree say…” “The opposite stance is…” “The main counter-argument is…” “My opponents say…” “The common disagreement is…” “Unfortunately, many critics say…”

18 — Importance

These transitions move to an important idea. Audience attention ebbs and flows. It increases and decreases. To get it back, use an importance transition. “The most important idea is…” “The significant part is…” “This is the most important part…” “Let’s get to the crucial part…” “The single biggest idea is…” “Here’s the important part…”

19 — Anecdotes

These transition to a personal anecdote. Personal anecdotes are effective because they build audience relatability. They strengthen the speaker to audience connection. But you have to open them up with the proper transition. “And I have a personal story that…” “The other day…” “There’s a story that…” “There’s a funny story…” “One time, I was…” “I have a perfect story for this…”

20 — Visual Aids

These transition to a visual aid. Visual aids are useful because they back up verbal information with visual information. But you need to make sure that your audience actually looks at the visual. How? With these transitions. “If you turn your attention to…” “As you can see on the whiteboard…” “This chart indicates…” “I’ve put together this visual…” “This PowerPoint slide…” “Look here to see…”

21 — Action

These transition to your call to action. Your speech needs a call to action to create real-world impact. And if you transition to it, your audience will pay attention, and then actually take action. “Here’s how you can help me…” “Want to take action?” “You can change this by…” “Here’s what you can do…” “It’s time to take action and…” “Your opportunity to act is…”

22 — Concurrence

These transitions indicate that two things are happening at the same time. If you ever want to show concurrence, you have to use these transitions. Otherwise, your audience won’t understand it. “At the same time…” “While…” “During this…” “Concurrently…” “As this was happening…” “At the same exact moment…”

23 — Continuation

These transitions indicate that something is continuing. If you want to present something, and then take it a step further, use these transitions. “And it continues to…” “It goes on to…” “It doesn’t end there, but…” “It keeps going…” “Did you think it was over?” “It doesn’t stop just yet, but…”

24 — Exception

These transitions indicate an exception to a rule. Always enumerate exceptions as a public speaker. Why? It’s the honest thing to do. Seldom do rules exist without exception. “Except for…” “In all cases but…” “But not if…” “Unless…” “Usually, but not if…” “It doesn’t happen if…”

25 — Qualification

These transitions indicate the specific circumstances in which something happens. They qualify your statements to specific circumstances. “Only if…” “Unless…” “Only in these exact circumstances…” “Specifically when…” “Only when…” “But only in the following conditions…”

26 — Despite

These transitions indicate that something happens despite something else. They show the audience that the two things usually contradict, and can’t happen together. “Even though…” “Despite this…” “This happens even while…” “And yet…” “Although…” “Nevertheless…”

27 — Evidence

These transitions indicate that evidence is about to be presented. Presenting evidence is persuasive and convincing. Presenting evidence with an evidence transition is even better. Why? It commands the audience’s attention towards the evidence. “This is proven by…” “The proof is that…” “I’ll show you the evidence…” “For example…” “As evidence…” “The evidence is that…”

28 — Central Message

These transitions indicate the presentation of the central message. Almost all speeches are centered around one big idea. It’s always a good idea to explicitly state this idea. When you do, make sure to use a central message transition. “And the fundamental idea is that…” “This all comes down to…” “The most important idea is that…” “Ultimately…” “The whole point is that…” “As you can see, one core truth emerges…”

29 — Problem

These transitions indicate a problem. You’re often speaking to solve a problem. Specifically state the problem, and when you do, use these transitions. “The problem is that…” “The reason it doesn’t work is…” “The issue is that…” “Unfortunately, something goes wrong, specifically…” “It doesn’t work because…” “But there’s a problem…”

30 — Solution

These transitions indicate a solution. Stating a problem is great, but you have to also present a solution. To make sure everyone hears your solution, introduce it with one of these transitions. “Here’s how we can solve it…” “To fix it, we have to…” “It’s easy to fix if we…” “Luckily, there’s an easy solution…” “The solution is to…” “All we have to do to solve it is…”

31 — Positive Equation

This equation indicates that something is equal to something else. Use these when you’re presenting metaphors, similes, or analogies. Use these when you’re presenting logical syllogisms (A = B = C, so A = C). “It is…” “This means…” “It’s the same thing as…” “It’s equivalent to…” “It’s the exact same thing as…” “It is a form of…”

32 — Negative Equation

This indicates that something isn’t equal to something else. Use these especially when people assume two different things are the same. Break that false assumption with these transitions. “It’s not…” “It doesn’t mean…” “It’s not the same thing as…” “It’s not equivalent to…” “It’s the exact opposite of…” “It’s not a form of…”

33 — Options

This indicates that what you’re going to say next is one of multiple options. Use this when you’re trying to navigate a set of possible actions. “One choice is…” “Or, we could…” “An option is to…” “One thing we could do…” “One possible solution is…” “One course of action is…”

34 — Sequence

This indicates a sequential narrative. Sequential narratives are engaging. Audiences love them. If you want to make your sequential narrative clear, use these transitions. “This leads to…” “After this, what happens is…” “This causes…” “The next step is always…” “What happens next is that…” “The next thing that happens is…”

35 — Outline

These transitions present an outline. Outlines are effective because they mentally prime your audience members to receive the information that’s coming next. It helps them see how it all fits together. You can do outlines of what you’ve already discussed, or outlines of what’s coming next. Regardless, use these transitions when you do. “The big ideas are…” “You’ll learn…” “So far, you’ve learned…” “The three main concepts we talked about are…” “This is what we’ve discussed so far…” “I’ll teach you these three key concepts…”

36 — Intensification

These intensify statements. If you are building up intensity, and you want to continue that, use these. They increase the magnitude of the quality of your subject. Your subject becomes more of whatever you said it was (good, bad, funny, etc.) “But it gets worse…” “It’s even more extreme…” “It’s worse than it seems…” “It gets better…” “I’ll tell you why it’s even better…” “Just wait, it gets crazier…”

37 — Minimization

These minimize statements. If you want to decrease the intensity, use these. “But that’s pretty much it…” “Luckily, it ends when…” “It doesn’t move past…” “That’s all it is…” “That’s about it…” “There’s not much else…”

38 — Direction

These indicate statements about the direction of things. People care more about where things are going then where they are. “We’re going to…” “It’s moving towards…” “It’s going the way of…” “We’re moving in a direction of…” “The way we’re going will…” “We’re taking the route towards…”

39 — Destination

These indicate what the end result of something is. If you are making forecasts into the future, use these transitions. “We’ll end up…” “It’s going to become…” “The end result will be…” “It’s all going to lead us to…” “At the end of it, we’ll end up…” “It’s going to result in…”

These indicate a shift in scale. When you use these transitions, you’re identifying whether the following subject is huge, or insignificant but worth mentioning. “It’s huge…” “It’s no big deal, but…” “A massive breakthrough is…” “It’s small but…” “This immense innovation is…” “It’s insignificant, but…”

41 — Reason

These indicate that you are going to describe a reason. Often, you need to diagnose the reasons why something is happening. Use these transitions to grab attention right before you present your findings. “The reason why is that…” “Because…” “This happens since…” “Due to the fact that…” “And because of…” “Since…”

42 — Quality

These indicate the quality of the following sentence. They tell your audience how to feel about your upcoming words. This gives you control over audience perception. “It’s unbelievable that…” “It’s amazing that…” “Unfortunately…” “Luckily for us…” “Thankfully…” “It’s sad, but…”

These indicate that you are moving into the body of your speech. They prime your audience to get ready for the real information. Use them after your opening and introduction as a gateway into your speech. “Let’s start…” “To begin…” “Let’s get right into it…” “The first point I want to make is that…” “Let’s get into our main points…” “First, let’s talk about…”

44 — Explanation

These indicate that you are moving into an explanation. They grab your audience’s attention. They prime your audience to closely analyze the explanation. If your audience is confused, this keeps them from tuning out in frustration by telling them you’ll simplify it. “But it makes sense when…” “Let me explain…” “But there’s an explanation…” “Here’s an explanation…” “If you’re wondering why, here’s the explanation…” “The explanation is…”

45 — Repetition

These indicate that you are repeating a previous idea. Moderate repetition is good. It helps audiences remember concepts. It also allows you to reference previous concepts if needed. And it places strategic, rhetorical emphasis on what you’re repeating. “To restate…” “Once again…” “I repeat…” “Let me reiterate…” “I’ll say it again…” “It’s worth mentioning again that…”

46 — Opinion

These indicate that you are transitioning to a personal opinion. It’s important to let your audience know what is verified fact and personal opinion. This is especially true when you move from verified fact to opinion. That’s when you need to use one of these transitions. “Personally, I believe that…” “It’s my opinion that…” “I think that…” “In my belief…” “It is my view that…” “If you ask me…”

47 — Question

These indicate a question or area of intellectual exploration. It’s intriguing and builds audience rapport. You can pose a question, and then answer it. Regardless, when transitioning to questions, use one of these. “So, my question is…” “The question we still haven’t answered is…” “We still don’t know why…” “The big question with no answer is…” “The last unanswered question is…” “The question we need to answer is…”

48 — Prediction

This indicates that what you are about to say is a prediction. And if you are an expert, predictions are good. Just make sure that you use these transitions. “I predict that…” “Here’s what’s going to happen next, in my view…” “Based on my experience, the next step will be…” “What usually happens next at this point is…” “Next…” “This is what I think will happen next…” Those are 48 basic transitions, and 288 examples. Great, right? Not as great as what I’m about to show you in the next section.

23 Advanced Transitions That Grab Attention

This chapter will teach you advanced speech transitions that even the pros don’t know. These transitions will captivate audiences, guarantee attention, and help your speech succeed. I promise that if you use these transitions, your speech will be much more engaging and persuasive. For example, the “benefit transition” will always grab audience attention. But we’ll talk about that later. Are you ready? Let’s dive right in.

1 — Review and Preview

This is an awesome transition. Here’s why: it reviews what you said. It previews what you’re about to say. Want to know why this is so powerful? Because it is the perfect transition between structural units of speeches. For example, consider a simple speech structure: the problem-solution structure. Right when you finish up the problem section and move into the solution, you can use the review-preview transition like this: “So far, we’ve talked about the problem. We’ve discussed how it [insert consequence of problem one, two, and three]. Now, it’s time to discuss the solution. We’ll talk about how this solution [insert benefits one, two, and three].” Simple, but elegant. It acts as a turning point in your speech. Let’s move on to the next advanced speech transition.

2 — Themed Transitions

Let’s say that you want your speech to be unified around a theme. You can use themed transitions. Here’s how: identify your theme. Summarize that theme in a word. Inject that word into your transitions. Here’s an example: let’s say your theme is the “human journey through difficult times and obstacles.” Summarize the theme in one word: “journey.” Inject that word into your transitions, like so:

1. Transition of sequence: “This leads to…” becomes “This leads our journey to…”

2. Transition of central message: “This all comes down to…” becomes “The journey all comes down to…”

3. Transition of continuation: “This continues until…” becomes “Our journey continues until…” etc.

You’re essentially taking your theme and attaching it to your transitions. Why do this? Here’s why: it reinforces your theme. It helps your audience remember your main message. It reminds your audience, during your speech, what your big idea is. All from adding a word or two to your existing transitions. Let’s move on.

3 — Direct Requests

Direct requests are persuasive. We talked about that before. They are commanding. They give you control. And they work as transitions. Here are some examples: “Listen to this…” “Let me tell you…” “Guess what?” “Pay attention to this…” All of these direct request speech transitions are crisp, clear, and commanding. They get you respect as a public speaker. They get you attention and focus. Cool, right? Let’s move on to another seriously captivating transition.

4 — I Know What You’re Thinking

This transition is so captivating that you’ll wish you could constantly use it. Here are some examples: “Now I know what you’re thinking…” “At this point you’re probably wondering…” “I know you probably think…” Why are these so powerful? Not only are they smooth, engaging, and captivating speech transitions, but they connect you to your audience. If you can get even close to actually guessing what your audience is thinking at a given moment, you immediately get their attention. And if you don’t? That’s fine too. The transition is still an attention-grabber. And they’ll instantly think what you mistakenly guessed they were already thinking, now that you popped the thought into their heads. However: the next transition on the list might just be an even more powerful attention-grabber.

5 — FOMO Transition

I love this transition. It’s so insanely powerful that I constantly use it when I speak. FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.” And when you use this transition, you make your audience fear missing what you’re about to say. Here are some examples: “You can’t miss this…” “You’ll regret it if you miss this next…” “You don’t want to miss this big reveal…” Yes. It’s insanely powerful. And it gets even more powerful with this simple, step-by-step process:

1. Find a point in your speech where audience attention might be low.

2. Insert an interesting, shocking piece of information.

3. Insert a FOMO transition right at that point, before saying the interesting piece of information.

This uses a FOMO transition right when you need it most. That said, this next transition is also captivating.

6 — Huge Discovery

These transitions tell you audience that you have a huge discovery coming next. And they love hearing huge discoveries. Want to instantly regain audience attention? Want to transition into a big discovery? Why not use this transition? It does both. Here are some examples: “And then I discovered the most incredible secret…” “What I found out next was earth-shattering…” “I discovered something that blew my mind…” These become even more attention-grabbing with a method I call “transition stacking.” But we’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s get into the next advanced transition.

7 — Unfortunate Catch

Use this transition after describing something good, with no flaws presented. Use it to present the first flaw. “Unfortunately, there’s a catch…” “It would work perfectly, except for…” “But there’s one problem that breaks it…” It’s a good way to regain the audience’s attention. They’ll all be thinking: “What’s the flaw? Why doesn’t it work?” With that, let’s move on to another transition that uses immense curiosity to grab attention.

8 — Hidden Answer

This one is so insanely captivating. It’s so effective at instantly grabbing audience attention. You’re going to love using it. Here’s why it works: it teases a huge secret answer to a big question… which immediately builds curiosity. And curiosity = attention. Make sure you actually say the question. Some examples: “And here’s the answer to the question of…” “And the answer that nobody seems to know is…” “The correct answer is not what you’d think, it’s…” Questions = open loops. Open loops = curiosity. Curiosity = burning desire to satisfy the curiosity. Hidden-answer transitions = hints at loop-closers that satisfy curiosity. Get it?

9 — Exemplary Example

People love examples. And these transitions show them that a perfect example is coming up. Here are some examples of the example transition: “And a perfect example of this is…” “A perfect example of this exact thing is…” “And this was expressed perfectly by…” Using words like “perfect” and “exact,” show your audience that this example, in particular, is one they shouldn’t miss. Moving on.

10 — How To

Here’s what this transition will do: transition to an explanation of how to do something, grab audience attention, and project your value. Here are some examples: “Now, I’ll teach you exactly how to…” “If you’re wondering how to do it, here’s how…” “Here’s how you can do the exact same thing…” Honestly, if your audience could choose only one part of your speech to listen to, it would be the one where you explain how to do something. Why? Because that provides them unique value. And when you use this transition, you indicate to them that you’re giving them exactly what they want. Using words like “exactly” build the impression that this is a bullet-proof, trustworthy, guaranteed process you’re going to teach them; that it is a precise solution to their specific problem. Fun stuff. Let’s move on to this next transition.

11 — Big Secret

These transitions give you your audience’s attention. It’s yours. You control it now. All from using these transitions. Here are some examples: “The hidden, little-known secret nobody else knows is that…” “The big secret is…” “The secret you’ll be the first to know is that…” Why are these transitions so powerful? Let me remind you: they create open loops, open loops create curiosity, and curiosity creates instant attention. Cool, right? Speaking of curiosity, you’ll love our next transition.

12 — Curious Question

Curious questions create curiosity. It’s that simple. Here are some examples: “What does this all mean?” “So, what’s really going on here? “What’s the real reason this is happening?” When you use questions like these, you create curiosity. You’re probably wondering: “Why do all of these transitions do the same thing?” Because a curious audience is an attentive one, and an attentive audience is the only kind of audience you can persuade. Using words like “really,” and “real reason” imply that you’re going straight to the truth. And your audience will love that. This next transition doesn’t use curiosity. I’m sure you were getting bored of those. Instead, this next transition piles on tantalizing benefits. Those on their own grab attention. Let’s check it out.

13 — Benefit Transitions

Your audience is always thinking “WIIFM.” “Why should I listen? How will I benefit from this? How is this speaker helping me?” And with these transitions, you tell your audience what’s in it for them. You answer those selfish questions. Here are some examples: “Now, you’ll learn how to [insert benefit one], [insert benefit two], and [insert benefit three].” “What I’m going to tell you will help you [insert benefit].” “If you want to [insert benefit], here’s how…” The moment you tell your audience what’s in it for them is the moment you get their attention. And if it’s been a long time since you’ve hit upon the WIIFM question, it’s time to hit upon it again with this transition to renew attention. Think to yourself: “What do they truly want? What are they trying to achieve? What motivates them?” And then: “How does this relate to my speech?” Put those two things together, add this transition to the mix, and your audience’s attention is yours.

14 — Guess What Happened

Yes. More curiosity. Here’s how you use this transition: “And guess what happened next?” “Try figuring out what happened next for a moment.” “Will you even believe what happened next?” Simple. Elegant. Powerful. Next up is a personal favorite of mine, especially when lecturing.

15 — Stay with Me

Another kind of direct command. Remember direct commands? They are persuasive and attention grabbing. These transitions sound like this: “Stay with me…” “Pay attention to this…” “Stick with me…” Use these to reinforce audience attention during difficult segments. What do I mean by difficult segments? Parts of your speech that are complex, are technical in nature, or have a high cognitive load. It’s during these moments when your audience decides to stop paying attention. But, if you include one of these transitions, you’ll tug them along. Moving on.

16 — Information Scent Transitions

These are fun. First, some background review: people forage for information like animals forage for food. Yup. It’s an actual theory. And they use something called “information scent” to determine if they should pay attention. Remember, attention is a resource. So, information scent transitions do exactly what they sound like they do. They increase the information scent. Here’s a step-by-step process:

1. Figure out exactly what your audience wants to know above all. Their “knowledge mission.”

2. Precede that in your speech with an “information scent” transition.

Simple, right? Here’s what these transitions look like: “I promise that you’ll learn exactly how to [insert audience knowledge mission].” “You’ll learn a simple step-by-step process to [insert audience knowledge mission].” “If you want to know how to [insert audience knowledge mission], I’m about to tell you.” These increase information scent. They indicate incoming information. They grab attention. Very cool. A similar transition is this next one.

17 — Open-Loop Transitions

Open loops are a secret weapon of maintaining attention. Honestly, when I found out this technique, public speaking became a lot more fun. And these transitions have open-loops engineered directly into them. Here’s a step-by-step process:

1. Find an attention-grabbing, juicy secret to tease.

2. Engineer that into existing transitions.

For example: “In a few minutes, I’ll teach you [insert tease], but first…” “You’ll learn [insert tease], but before that…” “I’m going to show you [insert tease], right after we talk about…” Usually, the secrets are benefit-driven. For example: “How to save 20% more money.” “How to buy a new car for 50% less.” “How to determine if a candidate is right for you.” And now, for a bedrock transition of eloquence and rhetoric, you’ll now learn rhetorical questions.

18 — Rhetorical Questions

You know what they are. You don’t know how you can turn any transition into one. So, here are some examples:

1. Transition of sequence: “This leads to…” becomes “What does this all lead to?”

2. Transition of central message: “This all comes down to…” becomes “What does this all come down to?”

3. Transition of continuation: “This continues until…” becomes “How far does this continue?”

If you want to become more eloquent, use transitions. Want to become even more eloquent after that? Then turn your transitions into rhetorical questions. It’s that simple.

19 — Uncertainty

Secrecy sells. And uncertainty is accidental secrecy. So, engineer it into your transitions. Here are some examples: “And what we’re all uncertain about is…” “What nobody understands yet is…” “The big, frustrating, unanswered question is…” Before the internet and the information age, people craved finding things that were certain. Now that we are inundated with information, people love uncertain things. So, if you use these transitions to tease uncertainty: you’ll get more attention, you’ll create intrigue, and you’ll be more memorable. Seems easy, right? It is easy. But not as easy as our next transition.

20 — Behind the Scenes

People love being insiders. People love knowing things that other people don’t. People love feeling like they have exclusive information. And can you guess how behind the scenes transitions make people feel? Like insiders. Like they know information others don’t. Like they have exclusive information. That’s why these are so powerful. Here are some examples: “What happens behind the scenes is…” “As an insider, I’ll tell you what nobody else knows…” “If you want the exclusive, behind-the-scenes look, here it is…” Easy. But effective. Moving on.

21 — Refresher Phrases

I’ll be honest: a lot of these previous transitions are refresher phrases. In fact, refresher phrases aren’t a distinct set of transitions. So why are we talking about them? Because they are an important concept, and I want you to know them. Refresher phrases are transitions specifically designed to refresh an audience’s attention span. Here’s how they work:

they tease information that is interesting, important, secretive, or valuable. They come before sentences containing that information. They subconsciously indicate to your audience that something important is coming. They front-load and shorten the transition, usually placing the transition on the left side of a colon and the sentence on the right. But, more importantly, here’s why they work: when you say “Here’s the secret:” (a refresher phrase), your audience is thinking: “What’s the secret? I love secrets. I better pay attention.” When you say “Here’s the solution:” your audience is thinking: “I need the solution. This seems important. I’ll listen up.” Get it? Moving on to our final advanced transition.

22 — Delayed Transitions

These heighten pace. They heighten intensity. They shorten sentences. Delayed transitions are one-word transitions: “And…” “Now…” “But…” “Since…” It’s as simple as that. They create the sensation of receiving more information in less time, which is actually true since they are shorter. And they maintain simplicity. But we’re almost done with these advanced transitions, and after this next and final one, we are going to move on to the nine most common mistakes (and how to avoid them).

23 — The Truth

This one is captivating. It’ll instantly grab audience attention. Why? Because people love truth, especially when it is handed to them on a silver platter. Want to grab attention before making a statement? Want to inject confidence into that statement? Want your audience to see you as an honest, trustworthy speaker, and to take what you say as though an expert just told them the information? Then use this type of transition. These go like this: “Now, the truth is…” “But the brutal truth is…” “Here’s the truth…”

How to Avoid the 9 Speech Transition Mistakes

If you make one of these nine mistakes, everything you’ve learned about speech transitions becomes useless. It’s unfortunate, but that won’t stop me from telling you the truth. Luckily for you: I will teach you the nine most common speech transition mistakes. And I will teach you exactly how to avoid them. Ready? Let’s start.

1 — Wrong Transition

This is the most common mistake you might make. In fact, I’m 100% positive that you’ve made this mistake at some point in the past. Here’s what happened next: your audience got confused, you lost your train of thought, and your speech became unclear, blurry, and confusing. Want to know what this big mistake is? Here it is: applying the wrong transition. Applying a transition that doesn’t match the relationship between the previous sentence and the next sentence. Let me explain: as you know, transitions are supposed to connect sentences. They tell your audience information about what you’re going to say next. They’re words spoken about the words you’re going to speak next. The best transition to use (in fact, the only one to use), is the one that accurately connects sentence A and sentence B. For example: if sentence A and sentence B are describing two different things, the best transition to use is a difference transition, like “on the contrary.” The wrong transition to use is anything other than a difference transition. Any transition that does not accurately represent the relationship between sentence A and B is the wrong transition. To help you prevent this mistake, I gave you more examples of transitions than you’ll find anywhere else, broken down into more categories than you’ll find anywhere else. Here’s the next mistake, which can be just as bad: tangents.

2 — Tangents

Tangents blur the clarity of your speaking. They confuse your audience. They muddy your message. Usually, you can tell when you’re about to go on a tangent when you say a tangent transition: “This reminds me of a time…” “Ironically…” “A friend of mine once…” Now, here’s the truth: tangents aren’t all that bad. For informal, conversational speeches, one layer of tangents is okay. Why? Because it builds the speaker to audience connection. However: two or more layers are not. In other words: if you’re giving a relaxed, funny, personal speech, then one tangent is okay. But if you then launch into another tangent off of the previous tangent, that’s bad. You have to first return to your linear speech. That’s what “two layers of tangents” means. So be careful for this pattern:

1. Tangent transition.

2. Tangent.

3. Another tangent transition.

That pattern indicates two layers of tangents. This pattern is acceptable:

3. “Back to what I was saying…”

4. Main speech.

Another common mistake (which I’m sure you’ve done once or twice) is transitions which are totally missing.

3 — Missing Transitions

There’s only one time when you shouldn’t use transitions. But we’ll talk about that later. Except for that one time, you should always use transitions. Without transitions, your audience is wondering: “What does this sentence have to do with the last one?” “What is this person going to say next?” “How does this speech fit together?” And also, probably thinking: “This speech is jumbled.” “This speaker is disorganized.” “I’m confused.” Needless to say, you don’t want your audience thinking those things. So never avoid transitions. But definitely avoid repetitive transitions too, which are our next mistake.

4 — Repetitive Transitions

Never repeat your transitions. Sure, you can use transitions of difference over and over. That’s fine. But here’s the problem: when you use the same exact transition of difference over and over. Let’s say you need to use three consecutive transitions of difference. Don’t do it this way: “On the contrary… [sentence one].” “On the contrary… [sentence two].” “On the contrary… [sentence three].” Instead, do it this way: “On the contrary… [sentence one].” “As opposed to… [sentence two].” “Unlike… [sentence three].” Get it? Moving on.

5 — Miscount

Let’s say you’re listing out something in your speech. Maybe you’re listing the steps of a process, a sequence of events, or your points. Here’s what a miscount looks like: “First, you do…” “Second, you do…” “Next, you do…” “Third, you do…” There are four items in that list, but your list transition words don’t show that. Why? Because instead of signposting the list items correctly, you accidentally replaced “third” with “next,” and then made “fourth” into “third.”

6 — Redundant Transitions

What do these three examples of transitions have in common? “On the contrary, different than…” “Similarly, just like…” “Furthermore, additionally…” They are redundant. If you say “on the contrary,” you don’t need any other difference indicators. If you say “similarly,” “just like” is redundant. If you say “furthermore,” “additionally” is redundant. This is not the meaning of transition stacking, which we’ll talk about later. You get the point. Moving on.

7 — Too Long

Transitions are important. Critical. But they shouldn’t be running the show. Transitions are supposed to support your sentence, not the other way around. Any given sentence has a limited number of words before it starts to make no sense. Before it starts to be a run-on. Before it becomes confusing. Don’t strain your sentences by using transitions that are way too long. For example: don’t say “completely contrary and different to what we just talked about is…” Just say “on the contrary.” That’s much more easy, elegant, end efficient. Moving on to (an opposite) mistake.

8 — Too Short

Transitions are too important. They have to be clear. You have to take the time to clearly put what you’re about to say in context. Otherwise it makes no sense. So, while short transitions do have their place, an entire speech with short, unclear transitions is no good. As a general rule: transitions within the structural units of your speeches (sentence A to sentence B) can be short. Transitions between the structural unit (part one to part two) need to be more defined and longer.

9 — Unclear

Clever transitions help nobody. Choose clear over clever every chance you get. The best way to word your transitions (in fact, to word anything) is to say:

1. Exactly what you mean.

2. With the fewest number of words.

3. With the simplest words.

4. (With regards to transitions) In a way that accurately connects your previous sentence to your next one.

Now… enough about the mistakes. Time for nine speech transition secrets that will change the way you look at public speaking and persuasive communication.

9 Advanced Secrets of Speech Transitions

Did you know that you could stack transitions to instantly captivate an audience? Well, you can. And I’ll show you how. These nine speech transition secrets are what set the pros apart from the amateurs. For example, the transitional body language technique. Even expert public speakers don’t know that one. But you will. Let’s dive right into it.

1 — Transitional Body Language

It’s simple: if you combine your transitions with transitional body language, they become twice as effective. Here some ways to do this: for list transitions, list out the items on your fingers. For transitions of difference, hold your hands up in two fists, and move them away from each other. For transitions of similarity, bring your hands together. For transitions of continuation, take your hand and move it forward. For transitions of scale, hold your hands out wide. The big idea is that your body should send the same message as your words. Here’s another cool way to use transitional body language: if you’re giving a speech around three main points, deliver your first one from the left corner of the stage. Then, as you transition to your second point, move to the middle. Last, when you transition to your third, move to the right corner of the stage. In this way you mirror the structural transitions of your speech. Here’s another example, to spur your imagination: for the problem-solution structure, you can sit for the problem portion and stand for the solution. Sitting, you seem like a cool professional diagnosing a problem with their expert, scalpel-like perception. Standing? An excited, passionate, visionary of a leader advocating for the best possible path forward. (Only sit if you’re in a small meeting or if the context makes sitting okay). Cool, right? Moving on to another secret of speech transitions.

2 — Lack of Transitions

Every public speaking rule has exceptions. “Seriously?” you might be asking, slightly — or very — frustrated. Yes. And this is an exception to the rule “always use transitions.” Here are some examples of the extreme cases where you might not use transitions:

1. When you want to build an extremely fast pace.

2. When you want to build an extremely intense sequence.

3. When you want to build an extremely snappy section.

That said, 99% of the time, you absolutely should use transitions. But if there’s a segment in your speech where your most important priority is intensity, then test the segment without transitions. Maybe it’ll make it more intense. Give it a shot.

3 — Transition Stacking

What’s better than an insanely captivating transition? Here’s what: three insanely captivating transitions stacked together. Let’s take a “big secret” transition. Not stacked: “The hidden, little-known secret nobody else knows is that…” Stacked: “You’re about to learn the hidden, little-known secret nobody else knows. You’ll be the first to know this massive secret I’m about to tell you. The big secret is…” When you stack transitions, you’re amplifying their individual impacts. In this case, you amplify attention-grabbing impacts: curiosity, suspense, and intrigue. Let’s move on to another powerful transition secret.

4 — Transition Words

You’re going to learn about transition words, phrases, and sentences. Specifically, you’re going to learn when to use each. Use transition words to connect sentences when you want to heighten pace. We already talked about that. But when do you use transition phrases? That’s what I’ll tell you now.

5 — Transition Phrases

Transition phrases are transitions that use multiple words. What advantages do they have over transition words? They are clearer. They more strongly indicate a transition. They make sure nobody misses the transition. But what disadvantages do they have? Well, one main disadvantage: they don’t heighten pace as much as transition words. (By the way… fast pace = engaging, in case you forgot). Anyway… before we put all this information together into a step-by-step process, let’s talk about transition sentences.

6 — Transition Sentences

Transition sentences are transitions that take up full sentences, and if stacked, up to three sentences. Why are they good? Well, they’re so incredibly clear that nobody misses them. In other words: they guarantee a smooth transition. Time to put all this information together.

7 — The Transition Map

Here’s how to use transition words, phrases, and sentences:

1. Use transition words between sentences.

2. Use transition phrases between rhetorical segments.

3. Use transition sentences between structural shifts and paradigm shifts.

In other words, here’s how transition words, phrases, and sentences match up to a speech structure: 1st main structural unit: transition with a sentence. 1st rhetorical sub-unit: transition with a phrase. Sentences within this: transition with single words. 2nd rhetorical sub-unit: transition with a phrase. Sentences within this: transition with single words. 2nd main structural unit: transition with a sentence. Repeat the pattern. This makes sure that the strength of your transition matches the size of your shift. Big structural shifts in a speech need big, obvious transitions (transition sentences). Smaller shifts between rhetorical sub-units need smaller transitions (transition phrases). The smallest shifts between individual sentences need the smallest transitions (transition words). Simple, but important. Let’s elaborate on structural transitions.

8 — Speech Structure Transitions

Every structural shift should be accompanied by a big, obvious transition. This is exactly where transition stacking is most appropriate. For example, let’s say you are using the problem-solution structure. When you’re starting the problem unit of the structure, use a structural transition: “I’m going to tell you about a problem you have. This problem has dangerous consequences. You’ll learn all about this problem. The problem is that…” And also when you’re moving into the solution unit: “That’s the problem, but now I’m going to tell you about the solution. This solution is quick and easy, and you’re going to learn how to use it. The solution is…”

9 — Tricolon Transitions

Want to be eloquent? Want your audiences to hang on your every word? Want your words to form a smooth flow? Then use tricolon transitions. Tricolons are phrases that incorporate lists of three. Here is an example of a regular “big-secret” transition: “The big secret is…” And now an example of a tricolon big-secret: “The big, hidden, little-known secret is…” It’s a small change, but effective public speaking is accomplished by a series of small, subtle changes. Moving on.

Written by Peter Andrei

Text to speech

Speech Writing
Delivery Techniques
PowerPoint & Visuals
Speaker Habits
Speaker Resources

Speech Critiques

Book Reviews
Browse Articles
ALL Articles
Learn About Us
About Six Minutes
Meet Our Authors
Write for Us
Advertise With Us

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.

Please share this...

This is one of many public speaking articles featured on Six Minutes . Subscribe to Six Minutes for free to receive future articles.

Add a Comment Cancel reply

E-Mail (hidden)

Subscribe - It's Free!



Follow Us

Find More Articles Tagged:

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

Recent Tweets

Use these speech transition tips and make your speech look & sound like magic! https://t.co/itGsPn95rC @Toastmasters — Norbert Lee (@njl35) Jan 27th, 2016

Speech transitions: https://t.co/sFmXtQnrPh — @UncoverSpecial Mar 20th, 2016

#sermonhelps A3 – Here is a link of transitions for public speakers https://t.co/O4m0TtKTny — @peterwalters64 Mar 21st, 2016

If you are looking for help with your transitions, take a look at this post. https://t.co/S2cMLcYfk8 — @nancydeig4divD Mar 21st, 2016

Speech Transitions: Magical Words and Phrases https://t.co/2eH3iSatUj @6minutes #publicspeaking #toastmasters — My Speaking Journey (@MySpeakingJ) Oct 26th, 2016

https://t.co/qG6udAtDth — @BrickCityBorne Jan 26th, 2017

https://t.co/YCnpYjfET5 — @mariavoximpact Jul 20th, 2017

Speech Transitions: Magical Words and Phrases https://t.co/cAjLXNJmsG by @6minutes — @SiouxF Jul 20th, 2017

“Speech transitions are magical words and phrases that help your argument flow smoothly.” Well, consider this your… https://t.co/lWN97QR2fX — Speak Up Cambridge (@speakupcamb) Oct 2nd, 2018

#SaturdaySwag In this article, we define speech transitions and learn why they are so critical. In addition, we pro… https://t.co/dJFgPbAU2E — Free You Up VA (@freeyouupva) Dec 8th, 2018

Books We Recommend

[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
[ ]	[ ]	[ ]
[ ]	[ ]	[ ]



Follow Six Minutes

Read our permissions policy , privacy policy , or disclosure policy .

Comments? Questions? Contact us .

Maryna Shkvorets

Public Speaking | Stage Fright | Assertiveness Coaching

Transition words – How to NOT lose your audience during speech transitions

Guess what – speech transitions and transition words are a BIG DEAL when it comes to holding on to attention in the world of public speaking.

You know that donkey who doesn’t signal when changing lanes on the highway, leaving you screaming “Gah! What just happened?!” Don’t be that donkey when it comes to your speech!

The trouble is, when you give a really awesome presentation – people get really into it. But when you switch to the next point, their minds will lag behind. In other words, they’re still dwelling on what you were talking about.

Your audience is still thinking about the huge knowledge bombs you just dropped on them, but to keep the speech momentum going, you need to keep them on-board for the entire ride.

And how do we solve this? Transition Words and special speech transition techniques.

Good speech transitions between the “bite-sized-chunks” will keep your audience’s mind moving with you from one captivating point to the next, instead of lingering behind. And the right transition words will tie your points together gracefully.

Here’s a quick guide for how to make speech transitions effortless.

Learn from my speech that broke my own heart

I know firsthand how rough transitions can ruin a presentation. A long time ago, I overlooked them because I thought it’s “pretty obvious” that I’m moving on.

It was a disaster.

I put so much effort into a strong introduction, and then when I moved on to the main topic people got lost. They didn’t tune in fast enough. I was practically expecting people to be fainting in their chairs entranced by what they just learned, and instead I just got blank stares.

I was heartbroken.

Luckily, I record everything. I watched it but still couldn’t figure out where I lost everyone. So I asked my husband.

He watched it and asked me to pause right after I switched points. There it was. That same blank stare as he was mentally catching up (husbands, right?) But I had a eureka moment. More than half of my audience were “husbands” trailing off thinking about fish ponds and intergalactic laser battles just like him.

Okay, maybe I’m just being mean. Everybody needs their time to catch up. So I recreated that same speech with smoother transitions and clearer transition words and lovingly gave it over again.

Blazing success! OK, OK. No one fainted. But I did see some emphatic nods. Nods are basically the fireworks in public speaking.

I’ve given that speech a few times now and each time it’s more successful, and each time the only thing I change is the transition.

Now, lucky for you, I have this boiled down to a science and I’m sharing the secret ingredients that make it go BANG!

Speech Transitions are a 3 step process

We will go through good structure because it’s always important
Some special speech transition techniques I worked out
Specific transition words that will help you guide the audience (and when to use them.)

speech-transition-words-infographic-by-maryna-shkvorets

Step 1 – The structure for smooth speech transitions

There are many creative ways to structure your presentation, but for basics I always recommend my trusted engagement formula :

Hook,
Intro,
Three main chunks,
Call to action.

The hook and the intro are the parts where I draw my audience in, engage them, and give them the roadmap for what’s coming next.

Read more: How to start a speech without boring people

The conclusion and the call to action is where I draw everything back to a main idea and tell the audience what to do next.

And the three main chunks? That’s the meat and potatoes of the speech or presentation.

Know what that means? There are 6 BIG transitions!

Those are 6 danger zones where people are going to get lost. If you don’t have your transitions under control they won’t have a clue!

It’s not overly dramatic

People can’t really get lost in transition can they?

Yes. It takes as little as 2 seconds in a presentation to get completely lost. BUT only 0.5s when you are introducing something new.

If people miss one important term, or one concept that you are moving into. They will have no idea what’s going on for the rest of your speech.

I’m writing this from Spain. My spanish is decent but if I miss the piece of a sentence, that say, was the topic . I have no idea what we are even talking about.

The Spaniard on the other side thinks I’m dumb for not understanding that the elevator is broken, but he keeps pointing at the stairs and saying “roto roto” (*Broken broken).

“The stairs are broken?” I think. How do I get to my place? I missed about 0.1 s of that conversation but if I didn’t get a chance to clarify, I would still be standing in the lobby to this day.

speech-transition-words-fun-stairs-picture

So yes, we need people to be engaged and mentally with us ESPECIALLY when we transition to a new topic.

If it’s so dangerous to transition, why three chunks?

Great question internet! This is a 3 step process! (See threes are great!)

There’s something elegant about threes in general but there is something much more concrete and magical about three points in a presentation.

Maybe it’s because three chunks are easy to keep track of , or maybe it’s because it gives the audience a sense of when they’re “over the hump” in your presentation. Whatever the reason is, three seems to be a magic number for holding on to attention.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule and I often have to break it myself, but there’s no denying that three parts create a sort of natural arc to your speech.

In fact, if you have many unrelated points, I often suggest trying to group them into three categories to help the audience pay attention.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

For a product: 1 – How we solve your problems; 2 – What sets us apart; 3 – How we go above and beyond
For a technical demo: 1 – Why we need this; 2 – How to use this; 3 – What to do when you’re stuck
For inspiration: 1 – Where we came from; 2 – Where we are now; 3 – Where we’re going next

OK 3 chunks, you get it. How is that speech transition friendly?

That’s the beauty of this speech setup.

In the beginning, we can give people a roadmap of what’s coming up so that they are mentally prepared.

Then even if they do space out a tiny bit. They have an idea of where you are.

If you are supposed to get off the interstate, you don’t want to stay on just because it’s interesting.

Know what’s horrible?

When your navigator suddenly screams at you to take this exit when you are all the way in the left lane and getting into the U2 that just came on the radio.

We show the roadmap at the beginning, but no one is going to remember it if it has too many steps. Even better, we can keep referring to the map during our transitions – recapping where we are now and what’s yet to come.

With just three main chunks, a quick recap is, well, quick. (If you had 10 points to recap over and over again, that would be torturous.)

Step 2 – Use my special secret speech transition techniques

I want you to think of speech transitions as a “collective exhale” for your audience’s brain.

Have you ever looked at a giant block of text and become instantly overwhelmed? Well, the same thing happens when you speak.

The same way that you need your text chunked with paragraphs, headings, and even images when you read, people need mental breaks and help in seeing how each part relates to the big picture.

Give them a chance to mentally catch up. To make their own connections. To snap back into it. Focusing on good transitions will not only make sure that you don’t lose your audience, it will actually bring them back in.

Here are a few best practices to hold on to your audience’s attention while you move through your speech:

1 – Pause between chunks . There is nothing better to let the weight of what you’re saying sink in than a good pause. That moment of silence echoes the last point in people’s heads. Besides, if they were really into it – they’ll need a second to switch gears before you move on.

A pause is also a great way to slow down and recollect yourself. Not to mention, making the audience wait a moment shows an air of confidence.

It helps to actually work this pause in while you rehearse – even if it means repeating pause-pause-pause in your head (or have a quick drink of water.)

Step 3 – Transition words are important

“Let me show you how this might look.” That’s what I should have said during that one pitch meeting. Except that those words completely escaped my mind, and I momentarily froze, cursing my fleeting vocabulary.

speech-transition-words-thinking-too-hard

When preparing for a big speech, we tend to put all our effort into the main chunks and skim over the transitions. So now when I coach people, I make sure that they prepare and rehearse how to move from one point to the next. Otherwise you might get stuck on the most mundane part of your talk.

Here’s a quick guide of simple transition words that will help you get started and will let the audience know you’re moving on:

To tie different topics together:

On that note,
On the other hand let’s look at…
Speaking of,
Why did I bring this up?
How does this tie in?

To emphasize something important:

To clarify,
And most importantly
Above all
Let me repeat…
Why is this important?

To connect with an example or story:

By the way,
With this in mind,
Let’s look at…
For example, for instance…
Speaking of…

To move on between points:

Firstly, secondly, lastly,
Which leads me to my next point
Moving on to
We just discussed … and now I want to touch on …
The last thing I’m going to tell you

To conclude or summarize:

So what’s next?
Let’s recap…
To summarize,
As a result

Bookmark these transition words and work them into your next speech. Trust me. They’re easy to overlook.

To recap – transition words and speech transitions

(See what we did there)

Remember to signal before changing lanes on the highway, and remember to smoothly transition between your points in a speech.

Do it right by using my engagement formula ; following my special transition techniques (like pausing, summarizing, and using pattern interrupters); and inserting simple transition words , and you’ll be sure that your audience stays with you for the entire ride.

Don’t let them check out before the best part. PS – If you’re getting ready for that high-stakes talk and need help making it engaging, persuasive, and impactful, let’s connect . I’d love to help you make that happen

PPS – you didn’t think I’d let you leave without a gorgeous infographic to download, did you?!

How to get a pay raise when you feel super awkward about a salary negotiation (full guide with scripts)

How do I prepare for high stakes presentations? | My public speaking merit badge

Want to pitch and sell with webinars? Start with this FREE training

Inspirational Quotes About Speaking That Will Up Your Confidence

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

Knowledge Base
Academic writing
Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Published on May 29, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2023.

Transition words and phrases (also called linking words, connecting words, or transitional words) are used to link together different ideas in your text. They help the reader to follow your arguments by expressing the relationships between different sentences or parts of a sentence.

The proposed solution to the problem did not work. Therefore , we attempted a second solution. However , this solution was also unsuccessful.

For clear writing, it’s essential to understand the meaning of transition words and use them correctly.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

When and how to use transition words, types and examples of transition words, common mistakes with transition words, other interesting articles.

Transition words commonly appear at the start of a new sentence or clause (followed by a comma ), serving to express how this clause relates to the previous one.

Transition words can also appear in the middle of a clause. It’s important to place them correctly to convey the meaning you intend.

Example text with and without transition words

The text below describes all the events it needs to, but it does not use any transition words to connect them. Because of this, it’s not clear exactly how these different events are related or what point the author is making by telling us about them.

If we add some transition words at appropriate moments, the text reads more smoothly and the relationship among the events described becomes clearer.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Consequently , France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The Soviet Union initially worked with Germany in order to partition Poland. However , Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

Don’t overuse transition words

While transition words are essential to clear writing, it’s possible to use too many of them. Consider the following example, in which the overuse of linking words slows down the text and makes it feel repetitive.

In this case the best way to fix the problem is to simplify the text so that fewer linking words are needed.

The key to using transition words effectively is striking the right balance. It is difficult to follow the logic of a text with no transition words, but a text where every sentence begins with a transition word can feel over-explained.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

There are four main types of transition word: additive, adversative, causal, and sequential. Within each category, words are divided into several more specific functions.

Remember that transition words with similar meanings are not necessarily interchangeable. It’s important to understand the meaning of all the transition words you use. If unsure, consult a dictionary to find the precise definition.

Additive transition words

Additive transition words introduce new information or examples. They can be used to expand upon, compare with, or clarify the preceding text.

Function	Example sentence	Transition words and phrases
Addition	We found that the mixture was effective. , it appeared to have additional effects we had not predicted.	indeed, furthermore, moreover, additionally, and, also, both and , not only but also , , in fact
Introduction	Several researchers have previously explored this topic. , Smith (2014) examined the effects of …	such as, like, particularly, including, as an illustration, for example, for instance, in particular, to illustrate, especially, notably
Reference	The solution showed a high degree of absorption. , it is reasonable to conclude that …	considering , regarding , in regard to , as for , concerning , the fact that , on the subject of
Similarity	It was not possible to establish a correlation between these variables. , the connection between and remains unclear …	similarly, in the same way, by the same token, in like manner, equally, likewise
Clarification	The patient suffered several side effects, increased appetite, decreased libido, and disordered sleep.	that is (to say), namely, specifically, more precisely, in other words

Adversative transition words

Adversative transition words always signal a contrast of some kind. They can be used to introduce information that disagrees or contrasts with the preceding text.

Function	Example sentence	Transition words and phrases
Conflict	The novel does deal with the theme of family. , its central theme is more broadly political …	but, however, although, though, equally, by way of contrast, while, on the other hand, (and) yet, whereas, in contrast, (when) in fact, conversely, whereas
Concession	Jones (2011) argues that the novel reflects Russian politics of the time. this is correct, other aspects of the text must also be considered.	even so, nonetheless, nevertheless, even though, on the other hand, admittedly, despite , notwithstanding , (and) still, although, , regardless (of ), (and) yet, though, granted
Dismissal	It remains unclear which of these hypotheses is correct. , it can be inferred that …	regardless, either way, whatever the case, in any/either event, in any/either case, at any rate, all the same
Emphasis	The chemical is generally thought to have corrosive properties. , several studies have supported this hypothesis.	above all, indeed, more/most importantly
Replacement	The character of Godfrey is often viewed as selfish, self-absorbed.	(or) at least, (or) rather, instead, or (perhaps) even, if not

Causal transition words

Causal transition words are used to describe cause and effect. They can be used to express purpose, consequence, and condition.

Function	Example sentence	Transition words and phrases
Consequence	Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany.	therefore, because (of ), as a result (of ), for this reason, in view of , as, owing to x, due to (the fact that), since, consequently, in consequence, as a consequence, hence, thus, so (that), accordingly, so much (so) that, under the/such circumstances, if so
Condition	We qualified survey responses as positive the participant selected “agree” or “strongly agree.” , results were recorded as negative.	(even/only) if/when, on (the) condition that, in the case that, granted (that), provided/providing that, in case, in the event that, as/so long as, unless, given that, being that, inasmuch/insofar as, in that case, in (all) other cases, if so/not, otherwise
Purpose	We used accurate recording equipment our results would be as precise as possible.	to, in order to/that, for the purpose of, in the hope that, so that, to the end that, lest, with this in mind, so as to, so that, to ensure (that)

Sequential transition words

Sequential transition words indicate a sequence, whether it’s the order in which events occurred chronologically or the order you’re presenting them in your text. They can be used for signposting in academic texts.

Function	Example sentence	Transition words and phrases
Enumeration	This has historically had several consequences: , the conflict is not given the weight of other conflicts in historical narratives. , its causes are inadequately understood. , …	first, second, third…
Initiation	, I want to consider the role played by women in this period.	in the first place, initially, first of all, to begin with, at first
Continuation	, I discuss the way in which the country’s various ethnic minorities were affected by the conflict.	subsequently, previously, eventually, next, before , afterwards, after , then
Conclusion	, I consider these two themes in combination.	to conclude (with), as a final point, eventually, at last, last but not least, finally, lastly
Resumption	my main argument, it is clear that …	to return/returning to , to resume, at any rate
Summation	Patel (2015) comes to a similar conclusion. , the four studies considered here suggest a consensus that the solution is effective.	as previously stated/mentioned, in summary, as I have argued, overall, as has been mentioned, to summarize, briefly, given these points, in view of , as has been noted, in conclusion, in sum, altogether, in short

Transition words are often used incorrectly. Make sure you understand the proper usage of transition words and phrases, and remember that words with similar meanings don’t necessarily work the same way grammatically.

Misused transition words can make your writing unclear or illogical. Your audience will be easily lost if you misrepresent the connections between your sentences and ideas.

Confused use of therefore

“Therefore” and similar cause-and-effect words are used to state that something is the result of, or follows logically from, the previous. Make sure not to use these words in a way that implies illogical connections.

We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. Therefore , the average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

The use of “therefore” in this example is illogical: it suggests that the result of 7.5 follows logically from the question being asked, when in fact many other results were possible. To fix this, we simply remove the word “therefore.”

We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. The average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

Starting a sentence with also , and , or so

While the words “also,” “and,” and “so” are used in academic writing, they are considered too informal when used at the start of a sentence.

Also , a second round of testing was carried out.

To fix this issue, we can either move the transition word to a different point in the sentence or use a more formal alternative.

A second round of testing was also carried out.
Additionally , a second round of testing was carried out.

Transition words creating sentence fragments

Words like “although” and “because” are called subordinating conjunctions . This means that they introduce clauses which cannot stand on their own. A clause introduced by one of these words should always follow or be followed by another clause in the same sentence.

The second sentence in this example is a fragment, because it consists only of the “although” clause.

Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. Although other researchers disagree.

We can fix this in two different ways. One option is to combine the two sentences into one using a comma. The other option is to use a different transition word that does not create this problem, like “however.”

Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed, although other researchers disagree.
Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. However , other researchers disagree.

And vs. as well as

Students often use the phrase “ as well as ” in place of “and,” but its usage is slightly different. Using “and” suggests that the things you’re listing are of equal importance, while “as well as” introduces additional information that is less important.

Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf, as well as presenting my analysis of To the Lighthouse .

In this example, the analysis is more important than the background information. To fix this mistake, we can use “and,” or we can change the order of the sentence so that the most important information comes first. Note that we add a comma before “as well as” but not before “and.”

Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf and presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse .
Chapter 1 presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse , as well as discussing some background information on Woolf.

Note that in fixed phrases like “both x and y ,” you must use “and,” not “as well as.”

Both my results as well as my interpretations are presented below.
Both my results and my interpretations are presented below.

Use of and/or

The combination of transition words “and/or” should generally be avoided in academic writing. It makes your text look messy and is usually unnecessary to your meaning.

First consider whether you really do mean “and/or” and not just “and” or “or.” If you are certain that you need both, it’s best to separate them to make your meaning as clear as possible.

Participants were asked whether they used the bus and/or the train.
Participants were asked whether they used the bus, the train, or both.

Archaic transition words

Words like “hereby,” “therewith,” and most others formed by the combination of “here,” “there,” or “where” with a preposition are typically avoided in modern academic writing. Using them makes your writing feel old-fashioned and strained and can sometimes obscure your meaning.

Poverty is best understood as a disease. Hereby , we not only see that it is hereditary, but acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

These words should usually be replaced with a more explicit phrasing expressing how the current statement relates to the preceding one.

Poverty is best understood as a disease. Understanding it as such , we not only see that it is hereditary, but also acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

Using a paraphrasing tool for clear writing

With the use of certain tools, you can make your writing clear. One of these tools is a paraphrasing tool . One thing the tool does is help your sentences make more sense. It has different modes where it checks how your text can be improved. For example, automatically adding transition words where needed.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or writing rules make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Academic Writing

Avoiding repetition
Effective headings
Passive voice
Taboo words
Deep learning
Generative AI
Machine learning
Reinforcement learning
Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

(AI) Tools

Grammar Checker
Paraphrasing Tool
Text Summarizer
AI Detector
Plagiarism Checker
Citation Generator

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, August 23). Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/transition-words/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, using conjunctions | definition, rules & examples, transition sentences | tips & examples for clear writing, how to write topic sentences | 4 steps, examples & purpose, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Using Transition Phrases to Keep Your Audience Engrossed in Your Presentation

By THE NEWMAN GROUP INC.

Many won’t be able to resist the temptation to take a peek at their smart phones. So how do you keep your audience involved and following the discussion?

Transition Phrases

Savvy speakers use Transition/Linking Phrases as the glue that holds their thoughts together so they can move seamlessly from one point to another.

It’s important to organize your presentation so that everything supports one main idea. Develop two to three key headlines to support that idea and then further elaborate with facts, anecdotes, case studies, visuals and other evidence.

Also including transitions to connect sentences and key messages will help the audience move from idea to idea. Transitions can make or break your presentation. Linking phrases can turn your presentation into a unified whole.

Transitions can also be tricky. You need to use words other than “but,” “however,” and “in addition.” The words you use will serve as punctuation marks and entice the audience to listen to your next points. Keep giving them the road map to follow throughout your presentation.

After you’ve introduced your main theme, consider the following transition phrases to get started:

I’d like to support____from three main aspects…
I’d like to discuss____from these three fundamental points of view…
Let’s cover____with three essential elements in mind…

Getting From Here to There

Launch your first key message with a phrase that says it’s your first point:

First, lets start with…
My first point covers…
I will talk first about…

Stick to that “chunk” of content and don’t jump to your other key messages until you conclude with a phrase like:

Moving on to our next area of interest…
Now, I’d like to discuss…
Our next important element is…

Or, it could just be that it’s getting close to lunch and people are restless. Whatever the reason, you’ve got to regain their attention. So pause, and give them a chance to get back in sync with you.

When finished with presenting your key messages, repeat them, beginning with a phrase such as, “I’ve just covered the three most important points about…”

The Closer

Now the audience is ready for your closing remarks. Please don’t use, “In conclusion…” because that’s the signal you’ve come to the end of your presentation and it’s OK to mentally tune out.

Instead, keep them listening with a more compelling phrase such as:

What I want you to take away from…
The thought I’d like to leave you with…
I strongly recommend that…

Call to Action

Don’t just say, “Thanks for listening” when you’re finished. Preface that with what you want the audience to do after the presentation. Include a call to action:

What I’d like to ask you to do now…
Can I ask for your support in…
My intention today is to convince you to take the next step and…

Transition phrases are the audience’s lifeline to your presentation. Choose them carefully so that your audience knows exactly where you are at any point in time. They will also help to keep you on track, so that you don’t begin wandering off topic and lose your own sense of direction.

Are there transition phrases that you use in your presentations that you find particularly effective? Please leave us a comment. We’d love to know what they are.

Transitive Verbs (englishpost.org)
How to Adapt to Your Audience and Develop and Effective Presentation (ronakb1.wordpress.com)
How to Introduce the Speaker Without it Sounding Like an Obituary (presenting-yourself.com)
Using Jargon and Acronyms Can Leave Your Audience in the Dark (presenting-yourself.com)

Share this post:

business presentation skills , Linking phrases , presentation skills training , presentations , public speaking , speakers bureau training , Transition phrases

Subscribe for Free Tips

Enter your contact information below to subscribe to our blog and receive your free copy of our 46-page guide Presenting Yourself and More….

Connect with Newman Group

The newman group is . . ..

The Newman Group is a recognized leader in guiding business professionals, celebrities and authors to improve their communications skills in presentations and media interviews.

Our highly skilled and experienced professionals have the expertise in media and presentation training to meet any business situation — from helping an executive to prepare for the challenge of talking to a reporter during a business crisis to presenting a group of investors during an IPO or keeping a celebrity spokesperson on point.

accents (2)
body language (2)
bully in the audience (1)
business etiquette (3)
charism (2)
crisis communications (1)
executive presence (1)
famous quotes (1)
foreign language (1)
grammar (2)
job interviews (3)
listening skills (2)
media interviews (12)
media/message coaching (8)
memorable speeches (3)
mentoring (1)
networking (1)
overcoming fear (3)
overcoming objections (2)
personal brand (2)
personal charisma (5)
powerful presentation (3)
PowerPoint (1)
presentation disaster (2)
presentation skills (134)
professional image (4)
professional relationships (2)
Q&A (1)
self confidence (2)
small talk (1)
social media (1)
table manners and etiquette (2)
Uncategorized (72)
virtual presentations (10)
voice mail (1)
where to sit (1)
white lie (1)

Slide Transitions in PowerPoint [A Beginner’s Guide!]

By: Author Shrot Katewa

PowerPoint presentations can sometimes be boring looking especially if you simply have a lot of text on your slides. You may need to add some pizzazz to it! And, the best way to jazz it up without being obtrusive is to use slide transitions in PowerPoint!

Slide transition in PowerPoint is the visual effect applied to an individual slide. The effect is visible when one slide changes or transitions into another. PowerPoint allows you to customize and control speed, sound, and other effects for certain transitions using the “Transitions” ribbon.

In this article, we will understand more about transitions and their types. Then, we shall also learn more about how to apply transitions in PowerPoint.

Plus, I’ll also show you some advanced techniques such as applying delay or changing the duration of slide transition. That, and much more! So, let’s get started!

1. What are Slide Transitions in PowerPoint?

Let’s start with the basics – what are slide transitions in PowerPoint?

As described before, transitions are basically animation-type visual effects that are applied to slides (instead of the elements on the slides) in PowerPoint. Using slide transition can make a subtle but huge impact in making your presentation feel engaging.

There are different types of slide transitions (we shall learn more about them in the next section). Additionally, you can further control certain aspects of the slide transition.

You can also add sound during the transition of slides although I highly advise against doing so. But, I’m sharing this just to show the level of customization of transitions offered by PowerPoint!

In the subsequent sections, we will learn more about the types of transitions and how to apply and customize them in PowerPoint!

2. Different Types of Transitions in PowerPoint?

In PowerPoint, slide transitions are divided into 3 categories. These categories are divided according to the type of transitions that are contained in each section.

The effects in each category are divided in a way that they are similar to each other in terms of visual intensity. The difference between the three categories is how much the transitions affect the overall tone of the presentation on a visual level while changing the slides.

The three categories of the slide transitions are –

1. Subtle: The effects in this category are, as the name suggests, very subtle. The transitions are minimal in effect and require very little time to transition from one slide to the next. These transitions are best used for simple effects. There are a total of 12 effects in this category.

2. Exciting: This category contains effects that are a bit more flashy than the effects in the “ Subtle ” category. The effects in this category are more visually prominent and are fairly noticeable. This category has the highest number of effects with a total of 29 different options.

3. Dynamic Content: This category contains strong transitions. These effects are even more vibrant than the effects in the “ Exciting ” category. This category has the least number of effects with a total of 7 different options.

2b. List of Transition Effects in PowerPoint

A list of the 48 different effects that are divided into 3 categories, provided in PowerPoint, is given below.

Random Bars
Checkerboard
Honeycomb
Ferris Wheel
Fly Through

3. How to Apply Slide Transitions in PowerPoint?

Here’s how to add a slide transition in PowerPoint –

Select the slide from the slide thumbnail view on the left.
Click on the “Transitions” tab.
Choose a transition as per your preference.
Use the “Transition Effects” option to customize (if necessary)
Preview the transition.

I’ve described the complete process in a step-by-step manner with visual aids below –

Step-1: Select the slide and go to the “Transitions” tab

The first step of the process is to select the slide that you want to add the transition to. You can do so by clicking on the slide in the slide thumbnail view on the left part of the screen.

Then, go to the “ Transitions ” tab in the ribbon of your PowerPoint presentation. It is the 5 th tab in the ribbon section.

Step-2: Click on the “More” button

After you click on the “ Transitions ” tab, click on the tiny arrow button pointing downwards. It is the “ More ” button of the “ Transition to this slide ” section (as shown in the image in step 1).

This will open a drawer with multiple transition effect options.

Step-3: Select your preferred transition effect

After you have clicked on the “ More ” button, a drop-down menu will appear on the screen where different slide transitions effects are displayed.

Simply click on your preferred transition effect and the slide transition will be applied to that slide immediately.

4. How to Preview a Slide Transition?

To preview a slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation, you have to click on the “ Preview ” button.

In the “ Transitions ” tab, after you select a slide transition effect, simply click on the “ Preview ” button at the left-most part of the options present on the “ Transitions ” ribbon.

The transition effect will be played on the slide to give you a preview when you click on the button.

Another alternative is to enter into the “ slide show mode ” using the current slide. Don’t forget to use the “ Esc ” key to exit the slide show mode in PowerPoint.

5. How to Modify Slide Transitions?

In Microsoft PowerPoint, there are different options that you can use to modify and edit a slide transition effect to better fit the style of your presentation.

You can modify the slide transition using the “ Effect Options ” button, or edit the duration, or add sounds to the slide transition.

In the following section, I will discuss the three mentioned options available for you to modify your slide transitions, and how to use them.

5a. Modify Transitions using Effect Options in PowerPoint

The “ Effect Options ” in Microsoft PowerPoint allows you to modify the direction and intensity of the transition effects.

Follow the steps given below to modify the slide transitions in your PowerPoint presentation using the “ Effect Options ”

Step-1: Click on the “Effect Option” button

The first step of the process is to select the “ Effect Options ” button which is located at the right-most part of the “ Transitions in this Slide ” section. This will open a drop-down menu.

Step-2: Select your preferred modifications

After you have clicked on the “ Effect Options ” button, a drop-down menu will appear on your screen (as shown in the image in step 1).

The drop-down menu will provide you with all the possible modifications that you can make to the slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation.

All you have to do now is to select your preferred modification from the drop-down menu and it will be added to the slide in your PowerPoint presentation immediately.

It is important to note that these effect options vary from one type of transition to the other. Furthermore, some transitions may not even have an effect option available.

5b. How to Add Sound to Slide Transition in PowerPoint?

If you want to add a sound to the slide transition in your PowerPoint presentation, at first you have to select the slide.

Then click on your preferred sound effect from the “ Sound ” option in the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab. The sound effect will be added immediately after you select the sound.

5c. How to Control the Duration of the Slide Transition in PowerPoint?

In PowerPoint, you can also control how long you want the transition to be visible. You can speed up or slow down the transition effect itself!

Here’s how to control the duration of the slide transition –

Step-1: Go to the “Transitions” tab

The first step is to select the slide that has a transition added and head over to the “transitions” tab.

Step-2: Change the “Duration” of the slide transition

After you have entered the “ Transition ” tab, simply type in the time duration you want the transition to take in the “ Duration ” box.

The “ Duration ” box is located under the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab (as shown in the image in step 1). Once the duration has been added, the transition effect will either be slow or faster based on the time added.

6. How to Apply Transitions to All Slides in PowerPoint?

If you have several slides in a presentation and you want to apply a particular type of transition on all slides, it would be quite a cumbersome process to select each slide and repeat the process over and over again.

Fortunately, PowerPoint allows you to apply the same transition to all slides with a click of a button! Here’s how to do it –

Step-1: Apply a Slide Transition for a Slide

The first step is to apply a slide transition to any one of the slides in your presentation. Follow the detailed process described earlier in the presentation to apply the slide transition.

Step-2: Click on the “Apply To All” option

The next step is to simply click on the “ Apply to All ” option under the transitions tab.

This will apply the transition present on the selected slide to all the slides in your presentation! Just make sure that you haven’t used a different transition for a particular slide as using this button will override any pre-existing slide transitions applied to other slides!

7. How to Remove Transition from a Slide in PowerPoint?

To understand the process of removing a slide transition effect from your PowerPoint presentation, follow the 2 easy steps described below.

Step-1: Select the Slide with an Existing Transition

The first step of the process is to select the slide with a transition that you want to remove. After that, head over to the “ Transitions ” tab.

Step-2: Select the “None” option from the “Transitions” tab

Simply click on the “ None ” option from the “Transitions to this slide” section. If this option is not visible, click on the “ More ” button of the “ Transition in the Slide ” section as described earlier, to open a drop-down menu

After you open the drop-down menu by clicking on the “ More ” button, select the “ None ” option located in the top left corner of the drop-down menu. It is the first option in the “Subtle” category of slide transitions.

After you click on the “ None ” option, all the slide transition effects on that slide will be removed from your PowerPoint presentation.

8. How to Set Automatic Slide Transition in PowerPoint?

To set your slide transitions to automatically change to the next slide, you have to set a timer on the slide transition using the “ Advance slide ” option in the “ Timing ” section of the “ Transitions ” tab.

Here’s how to automatically advance slides in PowerPoint –

Step-1: Select the slide to add the effect

The first step is to select the slide that you want to modify or add the effect to.

Step-2: Locate the “Advance slide” option

Next, click on the “ Transitions ” tab and locate the “ Advance Slide ” options. You should be able to spot it on the top-right part of the ribbon under the “Timing ” section.

Step-3: Remove Checkmark from the “On Mouse Click” option

Next, make sure that you uncheck the “ On Mouse Click ” option.

This option is usually used to enable the mouse click as a trigger for the slide to transition. However, since in this case, we want the slide to transition automatically, we shall disable this option.

Step-4: Select the “After” check box

Now, enable the “After” option by making a checkmark before the option. This will allow you to set a timer for the slide to change.

Step-5: Adjust the interval

After you add the checkmark for the “ After ” option, set the interval after which you want the slide to change automatically (as shown in the image in step 4)

Simply type in the duration in the box to the right of the “ After ” option and the slide will change automatically after that interval while in presentation mode.

Step-6: Choose the “Apply to All” option

The last step is to choose the “Apply to All” option as described in the article before. This will create a seamless transition effect on all slides and make them transition automatically.

9. Can You Add Multiple Transitions to the Same Slide?

You can’t add multiple transitions to the same slide in your PowerPoint presentation.

However, you can use the Animations feature of PowerPoint and add effects to the objects, texts, shapes, and images in your slide.

You can add multiple animations on the same slide while also adding a transition to it. We have an entire article dedicated to this, which explains the use of animations in more detail. Click here to read the article.

10. How to Fix “Slide Won’t Transition” Error?

Usually, when users face the issue of a slide not transitioning, there are two main issues that you need to check.

You either have a “ Custom Slide Show ” selected or the “ On mouse click ” option is not turned on for your presentation.

Both of these issues and their easy fixes are explained below.

Issue-1: Check your custom slide show feature

Sometimes, users set up their custom slide show feature but only add the first slide and close the process before selecting the rest of the slides.

This may cause your presentation to only display the selected slide and not the rest of the presentation while in presentation mode. Follow the steps described below to get around this issue.

Step-1: Select the Custom Shows option

After you have entered the “ Slide Show ” tab from the ribbon of your PowerPoint presentation, click on the “ Custom Shows ” option.

The “ Custom Shows ” option is located in the drop-down menu of the “ Start Slide Show ” button in the “ Slide Show ” tab of your PowerPoint presentation.

Step-2: Make sure the right slides are in the pop-up window

After you click on the “ Custom Show ” button a pop-up window will appear on your screen. If you don’t want to use the “ Custom Slide Show ” feature, then make sure to remove all the slides in the pop-up window.

However, to use this feature, you have to add all the slides that you want to include in the presentation and not just one slide. After that, your slides will transition accordingly.

Issue-2: The “On Mouse Click” feature is turned off

Sometimes, the reason why users are unable to transition from one slide to another is that the feature which allows users to change slides using the mouse is turned off.

The whole process of fixing this issue is given below.

To get started on fixing the issue, at first you have to select any slide from your PowerPoint presentation and go to the “ Transitions ” tab from the ribbon section as described earlier in this article.

Step-2: Checkmark the “On Mouse Click” option

The first step of fixing this issue is to go to the “ Transitions ” tab from the ribbon and then clicking on the check box located right before the “ On Mouse Click ” option in the “ Advance Slide ” feature of the “ Timing ” section.

Step-3: Click on the “Apply to all” button

After you have turned on the “ On Mouse Click ” option, simply click on the “ Apply to all ” button, which is located at the bottom left corner of the “ Timing ” section in the “ Transitions ” tab.

This will turn on the “ On Mouse Click ” feature for all the slides in your PowerPoint presentation. After that, you will be able to transition from one slide to another normally.

credit to cookie_studio (on Freepik) for the featured image of this article (further edited)

RMIT Australia
RMIT Europe
RMIT Vietnam
RMIT Global
RMIT Online
Alumni & Giving

What will I do?
What will I need?
Who will help me?
About the institution
New to university?
Studying efficiently
Time management
Mind mapping
Note-taking
Reading skills
Argument analysis
Preparing for assessment
Critical thinking and argument analysis
Online learning skills
Starting my first assignment
Researching your assignment
What is referencing?
Understanding citations
When referencing isn't needed
Paraphrasing
Summarising
Synthesising
Integrating ideas with reporting words
Referencing with Easy Cite
Getting help with referencing
Acting with academic integrity
Artificial intelligence tools
Understanding your audience
Writing for coursework
Literature review
Academic style
Writing for the workplace
Spelling tips
Writing paragraphs
Writing sentences
Academic word lists
Annotated bibliographies
Artist statement
Case studies
Creating effective poster presentations
Essays, Reports, Reflective Writing
Law assessments
Oral presentations
Reflective writing
Art and design
Critical thinking
Maths and statistics
Sustainability
Educators' guide
Learning Lab content in context
Latest updates
Students Alumni & Giving Staff Library

Learning Lab

Getting started at uni, study skills, referencing.

When referencing isn't needed
Integrating ideas

Writing and assessments

Critical reading
Poster presentations
Postgraduate report writing

Subject areas

For educators.

Educators' guide
Signal and transition words
Oral presentations: Part 1-4
Oral presentations basics
Academic poster presentations

Still can't find what you need?

The RMIT University Library provides study support , one-on-one consultations and peer mentoring to RMIT students.

Facebook (opens in a new window)
Twitter (opens in a new window)
Instagram (opens in a new window)
Linkedin (opens in a new window)
YouTube (opens in a new window)
Weibo (opens in a new window)
Accessibility |
Learning Lab feedback |
Complaints |
ABN 49 781 030 034 |
CRICOS provider number: 00122A |
RTO Code: 3046 |
Open Universities Australia

Complete List of Transition Words

100 Words and Phrases to Use Between Paragraphs

Viorika Prikhodko / E+ / Getty Images

Writing Essays
Writing Research Papers
English Grammar
M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Transition words and phrases can help your paper move along, smoothly gliding from one topic to the next. As a result, they come in very handy as you're writing.

Transitions, which connect one idea to the next, may seem challenging at first, but they get easier once you consider the many possible methods for linking paragraphs together—even if they seem to be unrelated.

If you have trouble thinking of a way to connect your paragraphs, consider a few of these 100 top transitions as inspiration. The type of transition words or phrases you use depends on the category of transition you need, as explained below.

Additive Transitions

Probably the most common type, additive transitions are those you use when you want to show that the current point is an addition to the previous one, according to Edusson, a website that provides students with essay-writing tips and advice . Put another way, additive transitions signal to the reader that you are adding to an idea or that your ideas are similar. Follow each transition word or phrase with a comma:

In the first place
Furthermore
Alternatively
As well (as this)
What is more
In addition (to this)
On the other hand
Either (neither)
As a matter of fact
Besides (this)
To say nothing of
Additionally
Not to mention (this)
Not only (this) but also (that) as well
In all honesty
To tell the truth

Example Additive Transition

An example of additive transitions used in a sentence would be:

" In the first place , no 'burning' in the sense of combustion, as in the burning of wood, occurs in a volcano; moreover , volcanoes are not necessarily mountains; furthermore , the activity takes place not always at the summit but more commonly on the sides or flanks..." – Fred Bullard, "Volcanoes in History, in Theory, in Eruption"

In this example and others in this piece, the transition words or phrases are printed in italics to make them easier to find as you peruse the passages.

Adversative Transitions

Adversative transitions are used to signal conflict, contradiction, concession, and dismissal, according to Michigan State University. Examples include:

In contrast
But even so
Nevertheless
Nonetheless
(And) still
In either case
(Or) at least
Whichever happens
Whatever happens
In either event

Example Adversative Transition

An example of an adversative transition phrase used in a sentence would be:

" On the other hand, professor Smith completely disagreed with the author's argument."

Causal Transitions

Causal transitions—also called cause-and-effect transitions—show how certain circumstances or events were caused by other factors. Using them helps readers follow the logic of arguments and clauses in your paper. Examples include:

Accordingly
As a result
Consequently
For this reason
Granting (that)
On the condition (that)
In the event that
As a result (of this)
Because (of this)
As a consequence
In consequence
So much (so) that
For the purpose of
With this intention
With this in mind
Under those circumstances
That being the case

Example Causal Transition

An example of a causal transition used in a sentence would be:

"The study of human chromosomes is in its infancy, and so it has only recently become possible to study the effect of environmental factors upon them." –Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring"

Sequential Transitions

Sequential transitions express a numerical sequence, continuation, conclusion , digression , resumption, or summation. Here are some examples:

In the (first, second, third, etc.) place
To begin with
To start with
Subsequently
To conclude with
As a final point
Last but not least
To change the topic
Incidentally
To get back to the point
As was previously stated

Example Sequential Transition

An example of a sequential transition would be:

"We should teach that words are not the things to which they refer. We should teach that words are best understood as convenient tools for handling reality... Finally , we should teach widely that new words can and should be invented if the need arises." –Karol Janicki, "Language Misconceived"

How to Practice Using Transition Words

In sum , use transition words and phrases judiciously to keep your paper moving, hold your readers' attention, and retain your audience until the final word. In practice, it's a good idea to rewrite some of the introductory sentences at the beginning and the transition statements at the end of every paragraph once you have completed the first draft of your paper. Practice with some of the words on this list and decide which flows best.

Edusson. " Common Transitions to Use in Cause and Effect Essay ."

Academic Help. " Common Transitions Words and Phrases ."

100 Persuasive Essay Topics
Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
50 Argumentative Essay Topics
Personal Essay Topics
Writing a Descriptive Essay
The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay
Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing
Write a Compare and Contrast Essay
67 Causal Essay Topics to Consider
Overused and Tired Words
What Is Expository Writing?
Structure of a Descriptive Essay
Practice in Making a Simple Outline for a Cause & Effect Paragraph
List of Topics for How-to Essays
APA In-Text Citations
Writing an Opinion Essay

PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
EDIT Edit this Article
EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
Browse Articles
Learn Something New
Quizzes Hot
Happiness Hub
This Or That Game
Train Your Brain
Explore More
Support wikiHow
About wikiHow
Log in / Sign up
Computers and Electronics
Presentation Software
PowerPoint Insertions

How to Add Text Transitions and Animations in PowerPoint

Last Updated: October 8, 2020

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 240,856 times. Learn more...

Adding eye-catching transitions to the individual slides of your PowerPoint presentation can enhance your message, increasing the chance that your viewers will remain interested. Some of the most visually appealing transitions are those that add text to a slide while it's being viewed. To take advantage of this creative feature, insert text animations into your Powerpoint with just a few easy steps. See Step 1 below to begin.

Step 1 Launch Microsoft's PowerPoint application.

In PowerPoint 2003, find the animations under the Slide Show menu.
In PowerPoint 2007 and 2010, click the Animations tab to add effects.

Step 5 Click inside the text box of the slide you are working with and then click the

The choices listed are fade, wipe and fly in.
You can, instead, choose a custom animation effect. Click the Custom item in the dropdown menu and a Custom Animation window will launch.
Choose to modify the Entrance, Emphasis, Exit and Motion Paths of the 1st level paragraph items. Select the effect you want to apply from the list of Basic, Subtle, Moderate or Exciting animations.
You can click on each effect as you add them to see and change more options, such as the timing or their ability to change to other levels of paragraphs.

Step 7 Review your selections by clicking

Expert Q&A

Save your PowerPoint presentation file often, especially if you are working with advanced features such as text transitions. It may be easier to close a file and reopen a fresh copy than to remove effects that do not work as you intended. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1

Do not add effects in such volume that the slide and text transitions become the focus of your presentation. Your creative effects should lend interest to your work, not overpower it. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0

Things You'll Need

Microsoft PowerPoint

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/animate-text-or-objects-HA010021497.aspx

About This Article

Send fan mail to authors

Is this article up to date?

Featured Articles

Watch Articles

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell or Share My Info
Not Selling Info

Keep up with the latest tech with wikiHow's free Tech Help Newsletter

Slidesgo School
PowerPoint Tutorials

How to Add Animations and Transitions in PowerPoint

In this tutorial, you’ll learn the basics of adding animations and transitions to your presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint. These visual effects will help you make your slides more dynamic and will keep your audience engage.

Adding an Animation to a Text, an Image, a Shape or Other Elements of a Presentation

Adding transitions to a slide.

Select the object that you want to animate.
Click the Animations tab.
Select the animation that you want from the list.
If you want to see which animations are applied to an object, click Animation Pane. You can also rearrange the animations as you see fit.
Use the timing options to set the timing of the animation. You can choose when you want the animation to start: on click, with previous or after previous. You can also set the duration and even set a delay before the animation begins.

Select the slide you want to apply a transition to.
Click the Transitions tab.
After you select any transition from the list, you’ll see a preview of the resulting effect.
If you want to adjust the direction of the effect, among other settings, click the Effect Options drop-down arrow.

To remove a transition, on the Transitions tab, click None.

You can change the animations or transitions at any time. To do so, select the animated object or the slide with a transition applied to it and choose a different option from the list.

Do you find this article useful?

How to Insert Embed GIFs in a PowerPoint Presentation

Do you want to boost your presentation? One of the best ways of doing so is using GIFs! They are fun, easy to add and provide an amusing way of supporting your own information. Would you like to learn more about how to add a GIF in to your slides in PowerPoint? Keep reading!

How to Insert GIFs in a Google Slides Presentation

There are many and varied ways of captivating your audience with your presentation. One of them is using visually appealing materials so people cannot take their eyes off the slides. In fact, a clever use of GIFs and other images will help you when defining concepts in a cool and modern way. In this post we’ll teach you how to add GIFs to Google Slides themes easily.

Storyset by Freepik: Awesome illustrations for creative presentations

With inspiration and the adequate resources, a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation can be the most creative slide deck your audience has ever been, regardless of topic. In this Slidesgo School article, we’re going to introduce Storyset, a new Freepik project where you’ll find illustrated concepts to visually reinforce the message you want to convey, turning your work into a memorable experience.

How to Add Animations and Transitions in Google Slides

In this new Slidesgo School tutorial, you’ll learn how to apply animations to the elements of a slide and how to add transitions between slides. This way, your presentation will be more dynamic and you’ll be able to impress your audience.

How can you add a Transition effect between Slides in PowerPoint?

Enhance your PowerPoint presentations by adding smooth transition effects between slides for a professional finish.

How to Add a Transition Effect Between Slides in PowerPoint

Step 1: open your powerpoint presentation.

Launch PowerPoint: Open the PowerPoint application on your computer and either create a new presentation or open an existing one where you want to add transitions.

Navigate to the Slides: Select the slide or slides where you wish to apply a transition effect. You can apply the same transition to multiple slides at once by selecting them together.

Step 2: Access the Transitions Tab

Go to the Transitions Tab: In the PowerPoint ribbon at the top of the screen, click on the "Transitions" tab. This will open a menu of transition effects that you can apply to your slides.

Preview Available Transitions: Hover over any of the transition effects in the gallery to see a preview of how the effect will look when applied to your slide.

Step 3: Apply a Transition Effect

Select a Transition Effect: Click on the transition effect you want to apply to your selected slide. PowerPoint will immediately apply the transition, and you'll see a preview on your screen.

Customize Transition Settings: After selecting a transition, you can customize its duration, add a sound, or adjust the effect options. For example, you can change the direction of a slide transition or adjust the speed by increasing or decreasing the duration in the "Timing" group.

Step 4: Apply Transitions to Multiple Slides

Select Multiple Slides: Hold down the "Ctrl" key (or "Cmd" on a Mac) and click on the slides in the slide sorter view that you want to apply the transition to.

Apply the Transition: With the slides selected, choose the desired transition from the "Transitions" tab. The selected transition will be applied to all the chosen slides.
Use "Apply to All": If you want to apply the same transition effect to every slide in your presentation, you can simply click the "Apply to All" button in the "Transitions" tab.

Step 5: Preview and Fine-Tune Your Transitions

FAQs can come handy!

What are slide transitions in powerpoint, can i apply the same transition to all slides in my presentation, how can i adjust the speed of a transition effect, create ppt using ai.

Just Enter Topic, Youtube URL, PDF, or Text to get a beautiful PPT in seconds. Use the bulb for AI suggestions.

character count: 0 / 6000 (we can fetch data from google)

upload pdf, docx, .png

less than 2 min

Sanskar Tiwari

Founder at MagicSlides

How to Involve Your Audience in a Presentation

26 August 2024

How to Compress a PowerPoint Presentation: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Introduce a Group Presentation: Engaging Your Audience from the Start

AI Glossary: 150+ AI Terms You Should Know

How Many Words Per Minute Should You Speak in a Presentation?

Which is an Example of a Presentation Skill?

What Makes a Presentation Effective?

How would you create Diagram in PowerPoint

27 August 2024

What is the default name of a blank PowerPoint Presentation

Stunning presentations in seconds with AI

Install MagicSlides app now and start creating beautiful presentations. It's free!

Get AI-Generated Presentations Ready in Seconds

Free AI PPT Tools

Add, change, or remove transitions between slides Article
Animate text or objects Article
Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint Article
Insert a video from YouTube or another site Article
Add or delete audio in your PowerPoint presentation Article
Record your screen in PowerPoint Article

Add, change, or remove transitions between slides

A slide transition is the visual effect that occurs when you move from one slide to the next during a presentation. You can control the speed, add sound, and customize the look of transition effects.

Your browser does not support video. Install Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash Player, or Internet Explorer 9.

Add slide transitions to bring your presentation to life

Select the slide you want to add a transition to.

Select the Transitions tab and choose a transition. Select a transition to see a preview.

Select Effect Options to choose the direction and nature of the transition.

Select Preview to see what the transition looks like.

Select Apply To All to add the transition to the entire presentation.

Remove a transition

A transition determines how a slide enters, and how the previous slide exits. So if (for example) you didn't want a transition effect between slides 2 and 3, you would remove the transition from slide 3 .

Select the slide that has the transition you want to remove.

On the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, select None .

If you want to remove all transitions from the presentation, after you select None , select Apply to All .

Change a transition

Only one transition effect can be applied to a slide at a time. So if a slide already has a transition effect applied to it, you can change to a different effect by going to the Transitions tab and simply selecting the effect you prefer.

If you want to change an existing effect by modifying the timing or direction of it, you can that by using the options on the Transitions tab of the ribbon, at the far end:

Select the slide that has the transition you want to modify.

On the Transitions tab, select Effect Options , then choose an option from the menu that appears.

In the Timing group on the Transitions tab, you can change the duration of the effect. You can also specify whether the effect takes place after a mouse click or after a certain amount of time passes. There are also options for adding a sound to the transition effect or applying the transition to all slides in the slide show.

Set the timing and speed of a transition

Video: Add a sound effect to a transition

Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint (only in Microsoft 365 or PowerPoint 2019/2021)

The difference between animations and transitions

Add a transition to a slide

In the Thumbnail Pane, click the slide that you want to apply a transition to. The transition setting determines how a slide enters, and how the one before it exits. In the example below, applying a Fade transition to slide 3 means that slide 2 fades out, and slide 3 fades in.

Select the slide you want to add a transition to in the Thumbnail pane

On the Transitions tab, find the effect that you want in the Transition gallery. Click the down arrow to see the entire gallery. Click the effect that you want for that slide and to see a preview.

Click Transitions > Effect Options to change how the transition occurs – for example, what direction the slide enters from.

Enter a time at Duration to set how fast the transition goes. Set the number higher to make the transition go slower.

Click Preview to see what the transition looks like with all the settings.

Click the slide with the transition you want to remove. Then on the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, click None .

Remember that a transition determines how a slide enters, and how the previous slide exits. So if (for example) you don't want slide 2 to have an exit effect, you must remove the transition from slide 3.

A shooting star icon shows that a slide has a transition effect applied

Use the Morph transition in PowerPoint

Record your slide show

Add or change a slide transition

In the Thumbnail Pane, select the slide where you want to apply or change a transition. The transition will begin on the preceding slide and conclude on the slide you select.

Shows Slide Pane with third slide selected in PowerPoint

On the Transitions tab, find the effect that you want in the Transition gallery.

Click Effect Options to specify how the transition occurs.

To set how fast the transition goes, enter a time in the Duration box on the ribbon. Set the number higher to make the transition go slower. For more about transition timing, see Set the speed and timing of transitions .

If you want all slides in the presentation to transition the same way, click Apply To All .

(This button starts the slide show at the currently selected slide, rather than beginning the slide show from the start of the presentation.)

Remember that a transition applies to a slide’s entrance, not how it exits. So if you want to remove the exit effects for slide 2, for example, remove the transition from slide 3.

Click the slide that you want to have no transition. Then, on the Transitions tab, in the Transitions gallery, click None .

The Transitions tab on the Ribbon in PowerPoint.

In our example, if slide 3 has no transition, it appears instantly as slide 2 disappears.

If you want to remove the transitions from all slides, click Apply to All on the ribbon after clicking None .

On the Transitions tab, select Options , then choose an option from the menu that appears.

You can also change the duration of the effect. The timing is measured in seconds.

Add an animation effect on a slide

If you're looking for information about how to add animation to text elements or objects within one slide, see Animate text or objects .

Add a transition

Open your presentation.

On your Android tablet, tap the Transitions tab.

Tap the down arrow to expand the Transition Effects . You will see a gallery of transition effects grouped into Subtle , Exciting , and Dynamic categories.

Choose a transition; for example, tap Morph to have one slide gradually turn into the next slide.

Tap Effect Options to choose the direction of the transition.

(Optional) Tap Apply to All to apply the same transition to all slides in the presentation.

Expand Transition Effects .

On your iPad, tap the Transitions tab.

Tap Transition Effect . You will see a gallery of transition effects grouped into Subtle and Exciting categories.

Tap Effect Options to choose an effect. (These options will vary depending on the transition you choose.)

Tap Transition Effect .

Tap the Transitions tab.

Tap Preview to see the effect applied to your slide.

Need more help?

Want more options.

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.

Microsoft 365 subscription benefits

Microsoft 365 training

Microsoft security

Accessibility center

Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.

Ask the Microsoft Community

Microsoft Tech Community

Windows Insiders

Microsoft 365 Insiders

Was this information helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

IMAGES

Transition Words and Phrases Powerpoint by Mrs Gennaro
List of Transition Words and Phrases in English
PPT
Transition Words and Phrases Powerpoint by Mrs Gennaro
PPT
What are Transition words? List of ALL Transition words.

COMMENTS

Speech transitions: words and phrases to connect your ideas
Over-using the same transition because this is boring for the audience to hear repeatedly. Ensure that there is variety with your transitions, consider including visual transitions. Miscounting your transitions - for example, don't say "first point", "second point", "next point" - refer to your points consistently.
13 Transitions: Bridging Ideas for a Seamless Presentation
A word or phrase that connects the ideas of a speech and indicates the relationship between them. Transitions: A word or phrase that indicates when a speaker had finished one thought and it moving on to another. Internal preview: A statement in the body of the speech that tells the audience what the speaker is going to discuss next.
The Best Of Transitional Phrases For Your Presentation Ever
And how that gave them an educational edge …". Here is another example. Summarize: "Now that you have seen the simplicity of the Summarize and Switch method.". Switch: "Don't let its simplicity fools you. This transitional phrase is simple yet powerful and is one of the most effective ways to transition…".
7 Ways to Use Transitions During Your Presentation
2. Highlight a key message. "The important point here is that …". "More than anything, we've learned that …". 3. Link similar ideas. "In the same way …". "Just as Department A was slow to respond to the problem, a similar critique could be made of department B, because …". 4.
How to Use Transition Words and Phrases Effectively in Presentations
Transitions can be a word or phrase that act as a signpost to the audience, signaling the relationship between points and ideas. Here we will take a look at how to use transitions more effectively in your presentation. ... -Learn the Top Ten Strategies to Overcome Nerves & Master Presentations. Get a copy of our FREE Downloadable Report that ...
PDF Creating Effective Transition Statements
2. Incompatible Transition This faulty transition occurs when a speaker uses a transition word or phrase that does not match the relationship. (e.g., they start with the word "however", but they follow it with an example) 3. Tangential Transition Transitional phrases like "That reminds me…", or "As an aside…" are dangerous
Transitions: Bridging Ideas for a Seamless Presentation
Transitions. The difference between a novice speaker and an advanced speaker is in how they bridge the gap between ideas. Learning to use transitions effectively will help take your speaking to the advanced level. Transitions can be one word, a phrase, or a full sentence. The audience is dying to know the relationship between ideas.
Speech Transitions: Words And Phrases to Connect Your Ideas
Craft a list of transitional words and phrases: To ensure smooth and seamless transitions between your ideas, compile a list of words and phrases that can serve as connectors. Examples include "however," "in addition," and "on the other hand.". Identify logical connections: Assess the flow of your speech and identify the logical ...
Mastering Slide Transitions in PowerPoint Presentations
Here's a comprehensive step-by-step guide to help you navigate the transition settings with ease: Access the transitions menu: Start by navigating to the "Transitions" tab in PowerPoint ...
Mastering Presentation Transitions & Closings: The Ultimate Guide
Here are some examples of transitional phrases you can use in your presentations: "Moving on to our next topic…". "Now, let's take a look at…". "Next up…". "Let's switch gears and talk about…". "In addition to reducing your risk of chronic diseases, a healthy diet can also improve your mood and energy levels.".
71 Speech Transitions: The Ultimate Guide (+341 Examples & 11 ...
In other words, here's how transition words, phrases, and sentences match up to a speech structure: 1st main structural unit: transition with a sentence. 1st rhetorical sub-unit: transition with ...
Speech Transitions: Definition and Example Words and Phrases
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.
Transition words
Here are a few best practices to hold on to your audience's attention while you move through your speech: 1 - Pause between chunks. There is nothing better to let the weight of what you're saying sink in than a good pause. That moment of silence echoes the last point in people's heads.
Transition Words & Phrases
Example sentence. Transition words and phrases. Addition. We found that the mixture was effective. Moreover, it appeared to have additional effects we had not predicted. indeed, furthermore, moreover, additionally, and, also, both x and y, not only x but also y, besides x, in fact. Introduction.
Using Transition Phrases to Keep Your Audience Engrossed in Your
Transitions can make or break your presentation. Linking phrases can turn your presentation into a unified whole. Transitions can also be tricky. You need to use words other than "but," "however," and "in addition." The words you use will serve as punctuation marks and entice the audience to listen to your next points.
Slide Transitions in PowerPoint [A Beginner's Guide!]
Here's how to do it -. Step-1: Apply a Slide Transition for a Slide. The first step is to apply a slide transition to any one of the slides in your presentation. Follow the detailed process described earlier in the presentation to apply the slide transition. Step-2: Click on the "Apply To All" option.
Signal and transition words
Signal and transition words. The use of signaling and transition words (also referred to as Signposting), helps you show your audience how the presentation is structured and how ideas relate to each other. Examples of useful signals and transition statements for oral presentations are listed below. Use these examples as a resource next time you ...
Animate or make words appear one line at a time
Select Effect Options, and then select By Paragraph to make the paragraphs of text appear one at a time. (The other option, All at Once, makes all the lines of text appear at the same time.) PowerPoint immediately previews the animation for you. By default, when you present in Slide Show, each paragraph appears in response to a click.
Complete List of Transition Words
How to Practice Using Transition Words . In sum, use transition words and phrases judiciously to keep your paper moving, hold your readers' attention, and retain your audience until the final word.In practice, it's a good idea to rewrite some of the introductory sentences at the beginning and the transition statements at the end of every paragraph once you have completed the first draft of ...
How to Add Text Animations in Microsoft PowerPoint
Steps. Download Article. 1. Launch Microsoft's PowerPoint application. 2. Open the PowerPoint presentation you will be working with. If you will be creating a new presentation, save it with a descriptive name. 3. Select the slide to which you want to add a text transition by clicking on it in the left pane.
How to Add Animations and Transitions in PowerPoint
Adding Transitions to a Slide. Adding an Animation to a Text, an Image, a Shape or Other Elements of a Presentation. Select the object that you want to animate. Click the Animations tab. Animations tab in PowerPoint. Select the animation that you want from the list. If you want to see which animations are applied to an object, click Animation Pane.
How can you add a Transition effect between Slides in PowerPoint?
Select Multiple Slides: Hold down the "Ctrl" key (or "Cmd" on a Mac) and click on the slides in the slide sorter view that you want to apply the transition to. Apply the Transition: With the slides selected, choose the desired transition from the "Transitions" tab. The selected transition will be applied to all the chosen slides. Use "Apply to All": If you want to apply the same transition ...
Add, change, or remove transitions between slides
Select the slide you want to add a transition to. Select the Transitions tab and choose a transition. Select a transition to see a preview. Select Effect Options to choose the direction and nature of the transition. Select Preview to see what the transition looks like. Select Apply To All to add the transition to the entire presentation.