How to Present Better With Signposts?

You must have seen signposts while driving. What functions do they serve? They tell you where you are, where you are going and where you will end up if you continue.

Conversational signposts serve a similar function. They are verbal or non-verbal markers used to tell listeners about the journey they are going on, where they are and where you are taking them. They are mainly used during public speaking, presentations and formal conversations but you can use some of them in informal conversations too.

Let's say you want to present an idea to someone. You already understand the idea and know how your assumptions, observations, beliefs and conclusions are connected. But, your listener has no idea about all this. Most people forget this when they speak and fail to present their ideas effectively.

If you want to be understood, you need to organise your narrative with one point leading to another. You can achieve this by using signposts in conversations. It helps listeners arrive at conclusions themselves rather than you telling them some disconnected bits of information.

When the listeners have no idea about what they are listening to and how all the dots are connected, they stop paying attention. It is like going on a long journey with no information about their location or destination. So, signposts not only help you present better, but they also help you tell captivating stories. Now, let's learn about some conversational signposts. (By the way, I just used a signpost here)

Transitioning to a new point.

• "Moving on to my second point..."

• "Another separate but related issue is..."

• "Let's now talk about..."

• "Now that we have talked about..., I want to switch and talk about..."

Elaborating on one point.

• "If we look closer at this..."

• "Let's dive into this point..."

• "Taking a closer look at this point here..."

Linking similar points together.

• "What that implies is..."

• "I want to share a related point to this..."

• "Similarly..."

Introducing the contrary view.

• "While on the other hand..."

• "On the other hand..."

• "Nevertheless..."

Changing the topic.

• "Now let's consider something completely different..."

• "Moving to my next topic..."

• "I would like to take a pause and consider something else now..."

Changing the topic, but just for a moment.

• "As a quick side note..."

• "Let me deviate for a minute and explain..."

Returning to earlier points or examples.

• "Let us recall our original idea due to its importance..."

• "To recap..."

• "I would like to return to what I said earlier..."

• "I am assuming you remember David, who appeared when the story started..."

Summarizing.

• "Let me give you a quick summary..."

• "In summary..."

• "So to wrap up..."

• "To close this off...."

You can already see how signposts make speeches, presentations and conversations easy to understand, effective and impactful. While all of this seems easy on paper, it takes practice to use the smoothly in real life. Once you practice enough, you will use them smoothly without a thought. That's it for this time. See you in the next article.

The Social Code.