Tip 652: Conclude—End—Your Presentation
From the Public Speaking Workshops: End—Conclude—Your Presentation
We’ve been talking about speaking in public.
This is it. The end of the series And, fittingly, we’ll talk about best ways to end—conclude—a presentation.
Our model is based on a walk into the woods. When we walk out of the woods, we usually follow the same path, only in reverse.
The parts of the conclusion reflect the parts of the introduction (from last week’s Tip), only in reverse.
Your conclusion should do three things:
Summarize your points. “We’ve talked about three things: Engaging with our employees, building a caring culture, and establishing collaborated long-term goals.”
Restate your purpose. Words fade into the ether. Repetition provides emphasis. You stated your purpose at the beginning of your presentation, you repeated it during your presentation, and you wrap it up with one last restatement: “These three things will help us keep good employees.”
Punch the ending. Refer to the hook by which you drew your audience into your presentation: “With these steps, keeping good employees ceases to become a challenge and becomes a natural process. Thank you.”
Your conclusion may do two things:
Ask for questions. Even if you’ve fielded questions throughout your presentation, offer a last time to answer any remaining questions. (And “What are your questions?” invites more participation than “Are there any questions?”)
Announce what’s next. This provides a transition for the meeting: “The next speaker is Ajay Patel. You’ll enjoy it.”
We love this stuff.
This is fun.
Next week, we’ll change the subject. Hint: “What’s a gerund?”