A presentation must have a logical flow. Having finished one point of discussion, it is necessary to provide for the audience some form of transition to the next logical point. This provides justification in the mind of the audience for the next point. To begin speaking on a new topic without transition will leave the audience attempting to guess how the new topic relates to the previous topic.

A transition also allows the new material to build on the old: it is much easier to remember a logical continuation of the previous point rather than to start a brand new point altogether. For the speaker, the jump from one point to the next by simply beginning to discuss the next point will result in a discontinuity for the audience. The speaker clearly understands why then shift is occurring, but the audience does not, and this will become very frustrating very quickly. Conversely, by adding a transition sentence, this gives the speaker the opportunity to reinforce other information:

For example, suppose the speaker has laid out his or her talk as follows:

• Main Point A
• Secondary Point A.1
• Secondary Point A.2
• Secondary Point A.3
• Main Point B
• Secondary Point B.1
• Secondary Point B.2
• Secondary Point B.3
• Main Point C
• Secondary Point C.1
• Secondary Point C.2
• Secondary Point C.3

When finish the discussion on Secondary Point A.2, rather than immediately beginning to jump to Secondary Point A.3, it would be wiser to include a sentence such as: "Having covered my Secondary Point A.1 and A.2 which supports my Main Point A, I will now focus on a slight variation as follows...

Similarly, having finished Secondary Point A.3, this is a useful opportunity to:

• reiterate the three secondary points supporting arguments for Main Point A,
• indicate that this concludes the support of Main Point A, and
• Indicate why the presentation will logically shift to the next Main Point B.

Example

Consider, for example, the flow of main points of this set of guidelines. The order of points—enthusiasm and expertise, organization, visual aids, presentation skills, and questions and answers—follows the temporal order of these items: Enthusiasm and expertise forms the foundation for any good technical presentation. With these, the presentation must organized in the mind of the speaker. Once the presentation is organized, the speaker may prepare visual aids, and having prepared these, he or she may then continue to practice giving and then give the presentation. Finally, the speaker summarizes the presentation and the audience has their opportunity to ask questions.

Consider, for example, a presentation ...