Making the “Transition” to Effective Business Writing for Non-writers

The crazy thing about effective business writing is that you probably don’t realize you’re reading it. Until you read sloppy or ineffective writing, that is. Maybe you have a co-worker whose emails are choppy and hard to read, or it made you dizzy by the way it jumped from place to place—sometimes even within the same paragraph.

Or worse, has your boss ever replied to something you wrote saying he or she couldn’t follow what you were saying and didn’t see how your ideas were related to a problem? Chances are you had problems with your transition words and phrases.

Transitions make your writing stronger and clearer

Effective transitions and proper word choice compel your readers forward, whereas missing or improper use of transition words or phrases are the speed bumps of written communication. Not only do transitions make your words and ideas flow together, but they also act like a glue that makes your writing strong.

As far as business writing goes, transitions are essential because they create logical connections between sentences, paragraphs and entire sections of your correspondence. The following table contains transitions that will keep your sentences and paragraphs concise, focused and flowing.

 

Purpose	Transitions
To add an idea	Also, and, besides, furthermore, moreover, next, too, as well as, in addition, additionally, again
To summarize	In brief, on the whole, in short, to sum up, in sum
To number	First, second, third, last
To clarify	Actually, in other words, clearly
To illustrate	For instance, for example (e.g.), that is (i.e.)
To compare	Also, similarly, likewise, as well as
To contrast	Although, even though, but, however, on the contrary, on the other hand, yet, in contrast
To emphasize	Certainly, most of all, in fact, of course, in any event
To make conditional	If, unless, until, when, even though
To show cause and effect	As a result, therefore, consequently, accordingly
To show results	As a result, therefore, so, hence
To reverse a thought	But, yet, on the contrary, regardless, nevertheless
To indicate time or sequence	Formerly, previously, meanwhile, before, after, until now, at the same time, later, during.

 

How transitions work

The organization of your written work includes two elements: (1) the order you want to present your ideas, arguments or discussion points, and (2) the relationship between the different parts. The best transition words and phrases in the world won’t make a disorganized piece good, but they make your organization clearer and easier to follow.

Take a look at the following example:

Your production department has reorganized their processes and has told the company that this new system should speed things up, send better work to the vendors to create products, and should keep things from “falling through the cracks.” For this example, assume that you want to argue that the new process isn’t as efficient or effective as they claim.

One way to effectively organize your argument would be to present the conventional view and then to provide the reader with your critical response to this view. Most of all, you want to do it in a way that doesn’t step on anyone’s toes, and you don’t make Production defensive and upset.

So, in Paragraph A you would mention your excitement over the new system and name the parts that you think are great. Applaud the hard work that they obviously did to improve the process.

Transition: “Despite all the positives, there are reasons to believe the new process could pose problems down the line for other divisions, including my department, Sales.”

In Paragraph B, you list potential problems from your department’s end and give a SPECIFIC example of what you mean so Production can respond to your concerns or ask for more information.

In this case, the transition words “Despite all the positives,” suggest that the reader should not 100 percent believe paragraph A and should consider the writer’s (your) reasons for possibly tweaking or revising Production’s new process.

Transitions are the roadmap your reader needs

Whenever you write something, you’re trying to persuade the reader to your point of view by giving them a smooth paved road to travel over. When you use transitions the right way, that road becomes a lot easier to travel.