What are some effective transitions between presentation sections?

1 Plan your main points

Before you start creating your slides, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to say and why. Think about the purpose, audience, and context of your presentation, and define your main points and supporting arguments. A common framework to use is the PREP method, which stands for Point, Reason, Example, and Point. This helps you to state your point, explain why it matters, give an example or evidence, and restate your point in a concise way.

2 Use signposts and summaries

Signposts are words or phrases that indicate the structure and direction of your presentation. They help your audience to follow your logic and anticipate what is coming next. For example, you can use signposts like "firstly", "secondly", "finally", "in contrast", "in addition", or "to summarize" to introduce different sections or points. Summaries are brief statements that recap what you have said so far and prepare your audience for the next section. For example, you can use summaries like "to conclude this section", "so far we have seen", or "now that we have discussed" to wrap up a section and transition to the next one.

3 Use visual aids and cues

Visual aids and cues are elements that help your audience to see the structure and flow of your presentation. They include slide titles, headings, bullet points, diagrams, charts, images, icons, colors, fonts, and animations. You can use visual aids and cues to highlight your main points, show the relationships between ideas, and create contrast or emphasis. For example, you can use slide titles to indicate the topic of each section, headings to break down your points, bullet points to list your arguments, diagrams to illustrate your concepts, charts to show your data, images to add interest, icons to represent your points, colors to create harmony or contrast, fonts to show hierarchy or tone, and animations to reveal or hide information.