Terrific ways to close your next presentation
Lots of experts explain how to get your speech off to a fast start out of the gate and keep it galloping along. If you hobble to the wire, though, you lose. Here’s how to finish strong.
They click to their last slide, deliver the information on the screen, and limp to the finish line by mumbling something like:
A speech’s close is one of its most important parts, but it’s also the most neglected. The close is your final opportunity to accomplish your goal, whether it’s to inspire the audience, drive an action, inform a community, break the status quo or change an opinion.
(Note that you may want to include a call to action in your close, which I’ve written about here.)
Here are five great ways to close a speech, each with an example:
1. Deliver a summary.
You may have heard the adage advising speakers to use a three-step approach: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you’ve told them.”
You don’t have to follow that rigid rule in every presentation, but you’ll probably use something similar most of the time, particularly in the “summary” close.
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