ould always be made so that the hearer's attention
will be recalled to the assertion which the new idea is intended to
support. Suppose we have made this assertion: "Contests within schools
are more desirable than contests between schools." We are planning to
support this by proving: first, that the contests between schools are
very much abused; second, that the proposed plan will be more
democratic; and third, that the proposed plan will work well in
practice. In supporting these issues, we should, of course, present a
great deal of material. When we are ready to change from the first
supporting idea to the second, we must make that change in such a way
that our hearers will know that we are planning to prove the second
main point of our contention. But this is not enough. We must make
that change so that they will be definitely reminded of what we have
already proved. The same thing will hold true when we change to the
third contention.

The following illustrates a faulty method of transition: Contests
between schools are so abused that they should be abolished [followed
by all the supporting material]. The proposed plan will be more
democratic than the present [followed by its support]. The proposed
plan would work well in practice [followed by its support]. No matter
how thoroughly we might prove each of these, they would impress the
audience as standing alone; they would show no coherence, no
connection with one another. The following would be a better method:
Contests within schools should be substituted for those between
schools because contests between schools are open to abuses so great
as to warrant their abolition [followed by its support]. We should
then begin to prove the second issue in this way: But not only are
contests between schools so open to abuse that they should be
abolished, but they are less desirable than contests within schools
for they are less democratic. [This will then be followed with the
support of the second issue.] The transition to the third issue should
be made in this way: Now, honorable judges, we have shown you that
contests between schools are not worthy of continuance; we have shown
you that the plan which we propose will be better in its democracy
than the system at present in vogue; we now propose to complete our
argument by showing you that our plan will work well in practice.
[This would then be followed with the proper supporting material.]

Great speakers have shown that