In fact, we're going to really nerd out on this today and get specific.

Transition statements will represent less than 1% of your entire message, but they make a huge impact overall.

If you have strong transition statements, everybody will be able to follow your message.

If you don't, your main points may all blur together and your presentations have an introduction, body, and conclusion.

In the body of the presentation, you'll often see two, three, or four main points.

Your transition statements fit right between each of those main points.

The first tip is a mindset tip.

I recommend you think of your transition statements as a way to clearly separate your main points.

Now, I know this will go against a lot of the ways people normally talk about transitions.

Yes, your transition statements in writing and speaking will play a role in connecting your ideas.

But when you're reading a book or an article, we have the benefit of headings, line spaces, new paragraphs, indentations, and lots of visual cues to show the reader that there are separate chunks of ideas.

But when we're speaking, we usually don't have any of that.

We sometimes don't even have PowerPoint slides to show the different ideas.

And what happens when our mindset is to connect our main points with transitions, we end up using words that blur or shade the points together too much.

Here's some examples of blurry and ineffective lead-in transition phrases.

And that leads us to another issue is, or I also believe that.

Lead-in phrases like these can make it sound to your listeners like you're adding to the first main point.

It can sound like you've not left that behind yet, and you're expanding on it.

So when you're doing public speaking, I have found when working with students, it's much better to adopt the mindset that your transition statements should help to create a clear separation between your main points so that everybody listening can tell that you've finished with one idea and you're moving on to the next point.

When you see the examples I'll show you in a moment, the points will still all feel connected because each point is still part of the same message, the same story.

Let's make this concrete with some examples that personally use most is to simply repeat a version of the signposted topic sentence you used to introduce whatever main point you're talking about.

We'll call this a summary transition with a signpost.

For example, I've recommended in tons of videos that when you get to each of your main points in the body, you should signal and signpost by saying first, second, or third in the topic sentence when you get to those points.

So let's say we're doing a hypothetical presentation about the benefits of three types of exercise.

In this message, my first main point is going to be about lifting weights.

You would usually start the main point there with a clear topic sentence the same way you would if you're writing a paper and this were a new paragraph.

For this video, we'll call that first sentence the topic sentence.

And I always recommend starting with a signposted topic sentence like this.

First, lifting weights has lots of benefits.

That's how I signal I've started my first main point.

And then for a few minutes or so, I would share statistics and stories and examples and plenty of other good information all about the benefits of lifting weights.

Now, this topic sentence sets us up for a great transition statement later.

When I get to the end of that main point, my transition statement will just rephrase that signposted topic sentence I used earlier.

For example, at the end of that point, I would say, so first, I recommend lifting weights because of the many benefits I've explained.

My transition statement says almost exactly the same thing as my topic sentence.

This makes it crystal clear for listeners because you have just framed your main point with these parallel statements.

It's almost impossible for listeners to miss that.

And since we're in the body of a presentation, the very next thing out of your mouth should be your second main point.

In this case, it would be about the benefits of cardiovascular exercise.

We would get to the end of that second point about cardiovascular exercise, and we've already talked about that for a few minutes and we're moving toward our transition statement, and that would sound like this.

And that's why the second type of exercise I recommend is cardiovascular.

Again, this type of transition statement is a summary transition statement plus you've repeated the signpost.

So to be clear, you say first in the topic sentence and first in the topic sentence and second in the transition statement for the second main point and so forth.

Another version of that is to rephrase your topic sentence for the main point but leave off the signpost.

In this case, you would get to the end of your point about lifting weights and give what's called a regular summary transition.

And you might say, as you can see, lifting weights has lots of benefits.

Now, I personally recommend keeping the signpost in the transition statement at the end of those main points.

I wouldn't say it's required but I think it's a little more clear.

But I've heard many speakers leave off those signposts in their summary transitions and it still works really well.

The next type of transition we'll look at has two parts.

First, you look back and then you look forward.

In part A, you say fairly directly that you have finished talking about one point, and then in part B, you show that you're moving on to the next point.

Using the same example, my transition at the end of my first point about lifting weights would sound like this.

Now that I've told you all the benefits that come with lifting weights, let's talk about another type of exercise.

And then the next thing out of my mouth would be my signposted topic sentence that talks about cardiovascular exercise.

At the end of my entire point about cardiovascular exercise, this looking back, looking forward type of transition would sound like this.

Those are the many benefits of cardiovascular exercise.

Let's turn to the final type of exercise I recommend.

And then the next words out of your mouth would be the signposted topic sentence that sounds like this.

Third, stretching is one of the best ways to prevent injuries while getting in shape.

You can use your own words, of course.

You want to make it sound like you.

Just make sure your transition looks back and looks forward, and then it'll be really clear that you're moving to your next point.

Let me quickly recap these three ways to transition, and then I'll give you some pro tips.

You have your signposted transition with a summary.

Next, you have your summary transition where you recap the point you just talked about, what you leave off the signpost.

And third, you have this looking back and looking forward style of transition.

There are other types and variations of these, but these are the three that I see used most often and that I recommend.

Let me give you four quick pro tips about some common questions I get.

One question is, do you really need both a topic sentence for the next point?

So it's not required, but that's what I recommend.

For example, the transition statement and the signposted topic sentence are not the same thing.

People often confuse these, but they play two different roles.

I recommend you experiment with your wording until you have one concise statement that pulls your initial point together.

That's your transition statement.

And then give a one second pause before signposting and introducing your next point.

These two sentences are related, of course, they work together, but treat your transition statement and topic sentence as two different elements.

Another question I hear is, what about the end of your third main point?

Do you need a transition statement there?

Yes, but it's the least important transition statement because your conclusion is the very next part.

But I still believe you should use a concise transition statement that simply recaps the main point.

It's not as important to signpost on the third transition because it's your last point.

You also can't do a looking back, looking forward transition there for the same reason.

That's why I recommend that you just recap with one concise statement on your third point.

As an example, you might say, stretching is one of the best ways to prevent injuries.

A summary transition statement like that shows that you're bringing the point to a close.

And of course, when you move to your conclusion of the presentation, the next words out of your mouth should be something along the lines of, in conclusion, or in closing, or another phrase that signals you're wrapping it all up.

The third question I hear is about the relative smoothness of these transitions and the extent to which the main body points will seem too disconnected or separated by transition statements like this.

I have to say I've never seen that happen in an weightlifting, cardiovascular, and stretching.

Those are all part of one connected story about the benefits of exercise.

If you selected the right main points like this, then there'll be a logical flow to everything you say.

They'll all feed back to your thesis statement.

So the transition statements that I'm recommending won't sound choppy at all.

They'll sound clear.

And the fourth pro tip is to use these principles about clarity, but I encourage you to use your own It's much better if you use my suggested wording as a jumping-off place.

So you don't sound like me, you sound like you.

You want to dress up your transition statements a bit and make them sound more artful, more colorful, more unique.

That's great.

Just keep in mind all of this, the transitions, the signposts, that's for your listeners' benefit.

If you're using strong transition statements like these, your listeners will be able to follow you easily and never lose track of where you are in your message.

Be sure to take a look at my website.

There's an entire page of free resources for you.

There's a class, for example, on the top five essential communication skills that all professionals should have.

There are free downloads and other things.

I'll put a link to that in the description below this video.

Until next time, thanks, God bless, and I'll see you soon.