Noun

A discourse marker is used to manage the flow of a conversation, signal transitions, organize the topics of a conversation, soften true delivery of information, or add emotional resonance. You’ll often here people used discourse markers like “Alright, so” or “Okay, so” when starting a YouTube video, likely because they’re signalling a transition to themselves (e.g., moving from pre-recording to recording).

The term comes from Deborah Schiffrin’s 1987 book, “Discourse Markers.”