Overview

Transition language, transition words or transition phrases are used to link other words, phrases and sentences. They do so in a way that makes the sentence sound human, natural and in flow. Transition language works particularly well in written articles, books and blogs, which would otherwise sound rather robotic. So they’re a powerful addition to your marketing content, which needs to persuade, entertain, engage and inform all at the same time.

I’m sure you’ve read something that simply reported facts, moving abruptly robotically from one sentence to the next. It may have sounded almost Siri-like. As if the sentences were on a supermarket conveyor belt, being checked out one by one.

A great piece of writing, whether you’re writing a book or a blog, needs softening and smoothening out so that your reader can engage more empathetically with the information and keep their focus naturally. As a writer, your job is take your reader’s hand and guide them through the text.

Think of it as you’re leading a tour group through a beautiful location. You slow down the pace when there’s a lot of scenery to take in, and pick it up again when it’s time move on. You’d alter the tone and volume of your voice when describing something epic or dangerous, lower it for something mysterious, change it again for something funny, etc etc etc. The variation in your pace and tone keeps your group interested, present and eager to learn more.

Transition language is this in action within the written word. The longer the text, the greater the need for it. Do still try to include it in even the shortest of articles; it’s part of how you can form bonds with your audience using the written word. It is also a technique you can use to persuade and inform, for example, by starting a sentence with the word ‘yes’.

In the sentence, “Yes, the time passed in a flash”, we don’t know the time in question. But the reinforcement of using the word ‘yes’ first serves to tell your brain that the expectation of the time passing quickly was correct. The first word being ‘yes’ makes you less likely to question the sentence that comes next.

You now accept that the time, in whatever situation is being referred to, passes quickly. This technique is used in many other places in business, of course. Sales and speaking being the obvious two. Getting your audience to think in terms of ‘yes’ makes it less likely they’ll answer a follow-up question with a ‘no’.

To get you started with your own transition language to drastically improve your book draft and blog posts, I’ve included a list of 111 transition words and phrases for you to copy and paste, with table versions for easy reference. Take a look, and let me know how you get on!

Agreement/Addition

(Copy & Paste Version)

1. As you read each word of this page

2. Aside from that, one thing’s certain

3. And that doesn’t take into account the fact that

4. And best of all

5. Incredible, isn’t it?

6. Remember

7. Can you imagine how fantastic that feels?

8. Let’s face it

9. Better yet

10. So you’ll be glad to know

11. So that is why

12. More important than that

13. And in addition to that

14. In light of

15. Also

16. In addition to

17. Uniquely

18. Correspondingly

19. Likewise

20. Equally

21. Moreover

22. Similarly

23. As you may have noticed

24. And that’s not all

25. Here’s some good news for you

26. To prove it, here is

Opposition/Contradiction

(Copy & Paste Version)

27. A word of caution

28. Can you really afford not to

29. Although

30. In reality

31. With that said

32. On the other hand

33. Isn’t it therefore fair to say that

34. The problem I’ve found is

35. It’s not uncommon for others in your position to be

36. On the contrary

37. Besides

38. Despite

39. Regardless

40. Nonetheless

41. Irrespective

42. Conversely

43. Otherwise

44. On the other hand

45. Of course X might be true, but

46. Even so

Examples/Persuasion/Purpose

(Copy & Paste Version)

47. Before I jump into the details

48. Referring back to the main point

49. By all means don’t take my word for it

50. Now I must let you in on a secret

51. Before we go any further, I want to set something straight

52. What if you could

53. Make no mistake about it

54. Bear with me, because I’m going to show you how

55. I’m sure in the past you’ve

56. If you think back to a time when

57. But how do you know if this approach is for you? (Tell a story)

58. It doesn’t stop there, either

59. Consider this

60. Can this be true?

61. Do you follow me so far?

62. The point is

63. What I’m trying to say is

64. Something I’ve learned over X years of practice is

65. Here’s the real kicker

66. Here’s the story

67. Here’s something you probably don’t know about

68. How can you beat that?

69. Hopefully you understand me here

70. If you think it’s nothing, think again

71. I can’t stress this enough

72. In the next 5 minutes/pages

73. In truth

74. Honestly,

75. Just imagine

76. Just let this sink in for a minute

77. Let me ask you this question

78. Look at it this way

79. Let me show you exactly how this works

80. Let me explain

81. Let me give you a better idea of

82. Let me be a bit more specific

83. Let me paint you a picture

84. To set the scene,

85. To quickly recap

86. Now, you might be wondering

87. OK. You might be asking

88. That’s just the tip of the iceberg

89. There’s a saying

90. In that case

91. The result?

92. Why?

93. What does all this mean to you?

94. What’s more

95. What makes this so special?

96. You see?

97. And now you can

98. Or, if you prefer

99. When you first

100. Within the next few pages/hours/days

101. You might wonder why

102. As you probably know

103. Consequently

104. As a result

105. Accordingly

106. For that reason

107. And that’s precisely why

108. In essence

109. Given these points

110. In any case

111. To summarise

To Summarise

As you can see there are loads of simple, handy transition words and phrases you can add to your writing! Hopefully this gets you started. When you get into about it, there are many different transition words and phrases you can quickly add to your content that will add another human layer and make it even more relatable.

I’d love to hear which ones you use. Are there any others not on this list that should be?

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Book Marketing Success is available to buy through the WBR website and on Amazon and Kindle. It unpacks business book marketing before, during and after publishing, and also includes the 80 of the most popular book marketing strategies.

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