その結果【そのけっか】

その結果 means "as a result": the second sentence is what came out of the action or process in the first. It opens the second sentence, and the outcome it introduces can be good or bad.

The first sentence is usually something someone did – practising, discussing, investigating – and その結果 reports how it turned out. What follows is a fact, not a plan or a request.

• × よく考えた。その結果、留学しよう → よく考えた。その結果、留学することにした

その結果 or そのため

そのため points back at a cause: "because of that". その結果 points forward to an outcome, the end of a process. そのため can also mean "for that purpose", which その結果 never does.

その結果 sounds formal and suits reports, the news and presentations. In conversation, それで or だから usually does the job.