– What is “signposting”, and why should I do it?

Signposting is when you tell your reader what you’re going to say next. This makes it easier to understand why a writer is talking about one topic or another and helps a piece of writing flow better. Readers – like the professors grading your papers – are more likely to understand and appreciate your ideas if they can quickly and easily understand what you’re trying to say.

You should signpost your longer papers with an introduction (say what you’re going to say in the paper as a whole), but you should also use words and phrases to signpost each paragraph. There are also lots of useful little words and phrases that you can use for signposting: additionally, furthermore, nevertheless, however, for this reason, because of, due to, consequently, as a result, in other words, and many more. For example, if you’re about to consider the evidence in support of an idea, you might start the paragraph by saying something like this: “There are many sources of evidence to support this claim, and I will now consider a few of them. For example…”

Of course, you don’t always have to literally tell your reader what you’re about to say. There are lots of little words and phrases that allow you to signpost your topic more subtly. A numbered list works very well. Start by saying something like this: “There are three main objections to this theory…” And then follow up with numbered points: “The first objection concerns the lack of scientific evidence in its favor… the second objection is that the theory has counterexamples, for example… the final objection is that the theory contradicts itself, in the following way…” The other great thing about a list is that it’s much easier to keep things in mind when they’ve been broken up into parts. That makes it easy for your instructor to understand any subsequent points you make and will help you get full credit for your writing.

Posted in: Structure & Style