Today I want to talk about the value of using transitions. This paragraph is illustrating my point. Writing without transitional words or phrases is a little lackluster. It comes off choppy. There are no cues that help the reader interpret my line of thinking. Nothing is moving one sentence to the next. There is no linkage. Transitional words and phrases would have made this paragraph much better.
Was there anything wrong with that first paragraph? No. But, read it again now:
Today I want to talk about the value of using transitions. In fact, this paragraph is illustrating my point. Writing without transitional words or phrases is a little lackluster. For one, it comes off choppy. Secondly, there are no cues that help the reader interpret my line of thinking. Nothing is moving one sentence to the next. In other words, there is no linkage. To sum up, transitional words and phrases would have made this paragraph much better.
See how just a few changes elevated the writing? There was a rhythm to the paragraph, with the sentences working together instead of separately. Thus, the reading was more enjoyable because you felt led through the idea instead of blindly following, hoping for the best.
Oftentimes, especially in proposal writing, we’re jotting all our ideas down and things start to look more like a grocery list than a persuasive document. Bullets come in handy, after all, when we’re pressed for time or know attention is sparse.
However, a bit of the writing magic is lost when you remove these essential elements. Look at this example:
- Our curated coffee service is first-class.
- We have socially and environmentally conscious roasters
- We have a wide assortment of local, regional and national roasters
- We care about the health of people and the planet
- You’ll get first-class service with our curated coffee service. Unlike the competition, we offer a wide assortment of local, regional and national roasters. Moreover, our portfolio of socially and environmentally conscious roasters deliver delicious cups of joe while also giving back. As such, you get to do something good for people and the planet.
The first option might be more pleasing to the eye, but it fails to capture the linking theme of the entire passage. It also comes off incredibly self-absorbed (we, we, we); if there’s anything to avoid in proposal writing – and specifically an executive summary – it’s talking about ourselves too much.
In Conclusion
Writing without transitional words or phrases isn’t wrong, but it also isn’t great. Transitions bind your entire thought together, making it more concise and providing a bigger impact to the reader.
So, take the time to go back through and weave the magic of transitional words and phrases – it’s not that scary, and you’ll end up with a “ghoulishly” wonderful masterpiece (that was my salute to Halloween, seeing as it’s October and all).
Here’s a small list to get you started, but there’s plenty more to find on the world wide web, too.
Don’t be sad. We’ll be back on the first Monday next month with a new blog post. If you can’t wait that long – whether because you have a topic you’d love us to cover, a question or you simply want to throw your two cents into the pot – we love talkin’ shop, so drop us a line.
