Coherence and Transition

• Coherence: refers to the logical flow of your communication and depends on how well you have organized, structured, and sequenced your ideas. Coherence involves linking words together in ways that logically connect your ideas
• How can flow be strengthened: by placing clear thoughts in the collect, logical order but also by using effective transitional phrases
• PEEL acronym:

  1. Point: Write a clear topic sentence in each paragraph
  2. Evidence: Includes support for this main point in the form data, examples, or experience
  3. Explanation: Explain to the reader how the evidence supports the main point
  4. Link: Include a sentences that help your reader understand how the parts of your message related to each other. links are often transitional words or phrases their job is to create tight cohesion
• How long should a paragraph in a business message be: 100-125 word or three to six sentences
• Known new contract:

  1. typical structure: (Known Information), (New information). (Known information), (New information).
  2. Strategies for introducing known information includes
  3. Restating what had been new information from the previous clause as known information
  4. Using a noun phrase or pronoun o reference what was previously considered new information
  5. Using transitional phrases
• What can transition words do:

  1. Introduce, agree, and add on
  2. Oppose and limit
  3. Indicating cause and conditions
  4. Indicating effect and result
  5. describing examples and support
  6. Indicating a conclusion and/or summary
  7. Describing time
  8. indicating location
• Transitional words that introduce, agree, and add on: They introduce new ideas and add onto topics that have been explored in the message. Includes "Further", "First", or "Coupled with"
• Transitional words that oppose and limit: they communicate opposition or limits to ideas and phrases. includes words like "Unlike" "Conversely" or "Despite"
• Transition words indicating cause and condition: They show how one action led to an effect or how one circumstance is conditional on another or illustrate the relationship between an intention and an action. Includes "Since" "Unless" "while"
• Transition words indicating effect and result: They demonstrate the result of a specific action, they focus on the effect itself. Includes words like "As a result" "hence" "therefore"
• Transition words describing examples and support: They make it clear that one concept supports another either by providing or emphasizing evidence or simply being an example. Includes "Significantly" "particularly" "for this reason"
• Transition words indicating location: Draw attention to where something is located or the physical or spatial relationship between two things. can be used literally or figuratively. can also be used as prepositions. Includes "Over" "Behind" "Opposite"
• The use of commas for transitional words:

  1. Use commas to set off transitional expressions (however, therefore) or independent comments (obviously, of course) when they interrupt the flow of the sentence
  2. Don't use commas for transitioned use to emphasize meaning