Show notes
Have you ever heard a great speaker end an amazing talk with a lousy “Thank you,” or worse, “That’s all folks, any questions?” Such endings are anti-climactic. You went through all that effort to deliver a good presentation and that’s how you end it? That is a real shame when it happens. To your audience, it’s like a great fairy-tale with a sad ending. A dud, a runner who had cramps a couple of steps before the finish line. So near, yet so far. Below are a few tips that will help you end your presentation with a bang so that you will finish your race as you run it.
Eliminate these Things from Your Presentation ConclusionQuestion & Answer Periods.
Avoid these Presentation Show Stoppers One of the things that drives me up the wall is ending a fantastic presentation with a Q&A session that is, quite often, lackluster. I remember my Jr. High School football coach talking about passing the ball. He'd say, “Only three things can happen when you pass the ball, and two of them are bad.” I kind of feel the same way about Question & Answer periods. If your audience asks you great questions, you can end your presentation on a high note. However, if your audience asks you odd or uninteresting questions, you can end on a low note. Worse, you may not get any questions, and the ending will just seem odd. When I present, I encourage people to ask questions DURING my presentation. That way, I can use one of the above ideas to end my presentation with a bang.
Thanking the Audience for Their Time.
When you stand up to speak, you should have the attitude that your audience is there to hear from you because you have important information that they need. When you thank your audience for their time, you are conceding that their time is more important than your time.
An Abrupt Ending with No Conclusion.
When I was in college, I had an internship with Atlantic Richfield. At the end of the internship, I had to give a presentation in Dallas to a room of executives. I bombed the speech. The thing that really put an exclamation point on my failure was that once I ran out of content, I just abruptly stopped and sat down. There was dead silence in the room. The woman who had introduced me just minutes prior slowly stood up and said, “Well, I guess this is a good time for a break.” Everything that happened after my abrupt ending just made the whole thing more awkward. So, spend time preparing your conclusion. Practice it a few times, and you will end on a high note.
The Danger of Not Announcing an Imminent Close
Our brains are wired to look for structure in things. That’s why people get frustrated with cliffhangers in movies. Only in movies, there’s a sequel. In speeches and presentations, the end is the end.
Give a few hints a couple of slides or paragraphs before the ending. Make it clear that you’re about to wrap things up by saying, “So let me review what we’ve discussed”, “As I wrap up this presentation” or “In conclusion” or “As I conclude this speech, allow me to…”Signaling the close politely prepares your audience for the ending. Plus, those who are starting to lose interest will start paying more attention. Ironically, announcing the ending also makes it more memorable.
But how do you make an ending memorable? If saying “Thank you” or “Any questions” is not advisable, what can you do?
To view full podcast notes, visit How to End Your Presentation with a Bang.
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