5 WAYS TO CONCLUDE YOUR PRESENTATION IN A BANG

Have you ever experienced a speaker close is presentation so abruptly without any form of motivation whatsoever? That’s not a good way to conclude even if the presentation have being going on so well. Why? Because your conclusion is of utmost importance in driving home your main point. What the audience hears last is what they often remember first and longest.

Your conclusion must be directly related to the main points you have presented. Your speech must have a signal of finality by using words like ‘in conclusion or finally’. It must move your audience to a specific action and motivate them by stating the reasons why they should act and the benefits of doing so.

There are several ways to end your presentation powerfully and memorably. Here are some:

1.     Challenge close

This method is used to motivate your audience to take a specific action. For example, you might say: “the worst people in the world are not those who cause the problem. They are those who see the problem but do nothing about it. Do something today by…..”(State the specific action required)

2.     Refer-back close

This form of conclusion refers back to an incomplete story you said earlier in the course of your presentation.

Example: “do you remember the boy I told you about, who knew no one to call his family, who was fostered by a kind woman? He is the brain behind this company. He is my boss”

3.     Quote closure

A motivating quote from a renowned individual is used to close the presentation. You might say something like this: I leave you with Abraham Lincoln’s words: I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he his right, and part with him when he goes wrong”

4.     Question close

This involves the use of a well phrased rhetorical question to move the audience to think and act. One speaker concluded his speech by asking the audience “do you want to live forever?" Many said yes.  He added:” the answer to that question is neither a mere yes nor no. Your own answer is how you live your life now”

5.     Audience –involved close

This technique involves closing your presentation with a phrase you have repeated several times in your speech and then inviting the audience to say it. For instance, if you used the phrase ‘if we want change, we must be the change’. In conclusion, say to your audience ‘if we want change’ (pause for audience to complete it)

Like I said earlier, there are several ways to end a presentation well. Practice how to use the 5 explained here and your next presentation will conclude in a bang that will make your speech stick indelibly to your audience memory.