 Imagine this, you're married with kids and you're visiting the zoo. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the orangutans, waving, smiling, laughing and talking at them, but you love giraffes and two and a half hours is enough time admiring these apes. You want to move on and check out the other animals, especially the giraffes. What do you do? Well, if you're a decent parent, you don't just leave them behind as you move on without them, you make sure that you take them with you as you move on to the next exhibit. In a speech, this is the function of transitions. Grab your audience by the metaphorical hand and bring them with you as you explore other areas of your speech. In this video, we'll discuss the basics of developing effective transitions. There are a variety of ways that you can use transitions to move the audience along in your speech. One of the simplest methods is using sign posts. Much like the signs that you see when you're driving on the highway, sign posts in a speech let the audience know that a change is coming. Sign posts use a simple word or words such as first, second, next and in conclusion to signal a new idea for an audience. For example, first we'll discuss the importance of considering the breed before adopting a puppy. Next we'll discuss the importance of considering the space needs of different dogs before adopting a puppy. Finally, we'll discuss the importance of considering the cost of raising a dog before adopting a puppy. The review-preview transition is another simple but effective method for guiding your audience between main points. A review-preview states both the point you just discussed and the point that's coming up next. For example, a speaker might say, now that we've discussed the dangers of texting and driving let's examine the current penalties for drivers who are caught texting while at the wheel. The negative or not transition indicates a change to the audience by letting them know that the previous point is not the only relevant information. For example, a speech on dealing with stress might transition between points by saying that's not the only way to cope with stress. Another way is or imagine you're making a video that discusses transitions and you want to move on to the next type of transition. You might say a negative transition is not the only kind of transition however. You can also use rhetorical questions to move from one point to the next. Speaking of rhetorical questions, do you see what I did there? Rhetorical questions can also provide effective transitions between main points. A speaker could potentially pose one or more questions such as where do we go from here? So what is the answer to this serious problem we're facing? What can we do to fix this problem? Transitions serve a simple but critical function in a speech. Think of them as the tendons and ligaments of your speech. Tendons and ligaments maintain the structure of your body. Without them, you would be a loose heap of bone and muscle laying on the floor like a blob. The same is true of your speech. Without transitions, it will end up an unstructured mushy mess. With transitions though, your audience will be able to follow your progression from one point to the next without any problem. In this video, we discuss the basics of developing effective transitions. Check out some of our other videos for more insight into the public speaking process.