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In journalism, especially when your social-media-conditioned audience has a short attention span, repetition makes readers click away from the article early on. Leading transitions contribute the repetition by parroting a quote: the reader would rather hear from the interviewee OR you rather than both.
This lesson plan helps you teach your writers how they can spot and avoid leading transitions.
More on Leading Transitions
Leading Transitions: Transitions that simply paraphrase the quote without adding anything new
Should be replaced, can sometimes be removed without harming the flow
When to look out for them:
Quote
Summary of the quote (transition)
Next point (transition 2)
Quote
It’s OK to add more flesh to the quote in the transition by paraphrasing another quote/ citing a source that makes the evidence more applicable to different situations
Example:
They purportedly work tirelessly to support their families while women waste time and resources on frivolous pursuits such as luxury goods, beauty treatments, and plastic surgery.
Claim/ explanation of the phenomenon
Freshman Yeonhoo Park said, “Well, if you go inside Olive Young or Innisfree, you can see the majority, a 9 to 1 ratio, of women and men. Also, if you go to Seoul or Dongseong-ro, where there are a lot of famous people and influencers, almost everyone is good-looking and has had plastic surgery.”
Evidence: Quote
The implication is that men are unfairly burdened while women enjoy the benefits of a luxurious lifestyle, focusing on high-end goods, beauty treatments, and plastic surgery rather than on building families.
Transition: Differently worded version of claim and quote → unnecessary
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