196 9.3 Organizing and Outlining YOur Speech
• In other words, as women’s roles have changed, they have also contributed to
this effect.
• In summary, Fanny Brice was the best-known star of Ziegfeld’s Follies.
• Therefore, I recommend that you sign the grievance petition.
Simple enumeration (first, second, third) can also point out relationships be-
tween ideas and provide transitions.
One type of signpost that can occasionally backfire and do more harm than
good is one that signals the end of a speech. Finally and in conclusion give the au-
dience implicit permission to stop listening, and they often do. If the speech has
been too long or has otherwise not gone well, the audience may even express
their relief audibly. Better strategies for moving into a conclusion include repeat-
ing a key word or phrase, using a synonym or pronoun that refers to a previous
idea, offering a final summary, or referring to the introduction of the speech. We
will discuss the final summary in more detail later in this chapter.
Internal previews and summaries, which we will discuss shortly, are yet
another way to provide verbal transitions from one point to the next in your
speech. They have the additional advantage of repeating your main ideas,
thereby enabling audience members to understand and remember them.
As summarized in Table 9.1, repetition of key words or ideas, the use of
transitional words or phrases, enumeration, and internal previews and summa-
ries all provide verbal transitions from one idea to the next. You might need to
experiment with several alternatives before you find the smooth transition you
seek in a given instance. If none of these alternatives seems to work well, con-
sider a nonverbal transition.
nonverBaL transitions A nonverbal transition can occur in several
ways, sometimes alone and sometimes in combination with a verbal transition.
A change in facial expression, a pause, an altered vocal pitch or speaking rate, or
a movement all may indicate a transition.
For example, a speaker talking about the value of cardiopulmonary resusci-
tation began his speech with a powerful anecdote about a man who suffered a
heart attack at a party. No one knew how to help, and the man died. The speaker
then looked up from his notes and paused while maintaining eye contact withTable 9.1 Verbal transitionsCopyrighted by Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJStrategy Example
Repeating a key word or using a synonym
pronoun that refers to an earlier key word“These problems cannot be allowed to continue.”Using a transitional word or phrase “In addition to the facts that I’ve mentioned, we need to
consider one other problem.”
Enumerating “Second, there has been a rapid increase in the number
of accidents reported.”