Using strong transitions in a speech can ensure that you don't lose your audience's attention. If you've been trying to think of how to creatively move from one point to the next, you're in luck: when it comes to oral transitions, simple is always best.

Establish a Mental Checklist

It can be difficult to transition if you haven't laid out each of your main points for your audience members. Make sure to clearly state a preview of main points in the introduction of your speech to create a context for your transitions. 

Plug and Chug

Once the main points of your speech are set, it's smooth sailing! All you have to do is tell them what you just told them, then tell them what you're about to tell them. When you're moving from one main point to another, review what you just finished talking about and signal to the audience which part of the mental checklist is up next. This can be simple and straightforward! Let's take a look at an example:

Topic: Speech Lab

Main Point I: Who is the Speech Lab?

Main Point II: What do they do?

Main Point III: How can I work with them?

Transition I (Introduction to Main Point I): To begin, let's discuss who the Speech Lab is.

Transition II: (Main Point I to Main Point II): Now that we've discussed who the Speech Lab is, let's take a look at what the Speech Lab does.

Transition III (Main Point II to Main Point III): Now that we've discussed who the Speech Lab is and what they do, let's finish by talking about how you can work with them.

Some students worry that using this transition model will appear repetitive to an audience, but remember: your audience can't go back and listen to your speech again if they miss something. Using quality transitions will ensure that they are following along and haven't missed a beat!