TIPS FOR CONCLUDING A SPEECH WITH IMPACT

end with a bang

Research tells us that people most commonly remember the first and last things they hear when listening to a speech, seminar or lecture.

Consider the situation: - You begin your speech with a big bang opening. You cruise confidently into the body. The audience is engrossed eagerly waiting for the climax. Then you run out of gas as you approach the close. You finish speaking but your audience isn't finished listening - yet. They stare at you. You stare at them. The silence is deafening. You fidget. You can hardly breathe. Finally, you blurt out: "Thank you." Mercifully, the audience applauds, putting you out of your misery. You can breathe again. But your purpose is defeated.

The end of the speech is the climax of all your hard work. The better you end the better your speech will be remembered. Here are some top tips for how to prepare yourself to end your speech with confidence and elegance. End your speech with an attitude, not a platitude.

Call Attention to the Close of Your Speech

Contrary to the prevailing practice of too many politicians and business and community leaders, the most influential speakers don’t end their speeches with a perfunctory and mundane “Thank you.” That’s too easy. And too lazy. It takes creative thinking and a compelling delivery to end your speech with a mighty climax that relegates the perfunctory “thank you” as superfluous.

End Your Speech on a High Note

Leading speakers end their speeches like the opera star—on a high note, vocally and intellectually. Just as the comedian should leave ‘em laughing, the speaker should leave ‘em thinking. Last words linger. Last words crystallize your thoughts, galvanize your message, and mobilize your audience.

Following are few tips of ways to close your speech. Please feel free to test any of them, mix and match or find new ways to conclude your speech with a bang.

Tips of Closing a speech

#Book Style Close: For a book style speech closing, refer back to your opening anecdote or quote and say, “We have arrived, now, where we began.”

Then reiterate the message you want your audience to remember. This will achieve symmetry in the classic 3-part speech outline: Tell them what you are going to tell; tell them, then tell them what you just told them.

#Drumming Close: Find a phrase and structure that is in a repetitive format which looks like a drummer building up the crescendo for the final finish. Very usefull for a motivational speech

#Challenging Close: Challenge your audience to apply what you have told them in the speech. This is very useful if you are speaking on some very important day to day issues.

#Echo Close: Focus on one word in a quotation and emphasize that word to echo your final point. This quotation have to emphasize your total views.

#Title Close: Give your speech a provocative title that encapsulates your message. Then, use the title of the speech as closing words to keep your audience thinking about what they heard, reinforcing the title you referenced to. For such close, its better to write the close and then work on the Title.

#Callback Close: Refer back to a story you told where some activity was not fully completed. Then pick up the story and close it around your theme.

#Quotation Close: Use a famous quotation to harness the audience’s attention, much like turning on a spotlight.

Please note that these are just a few tips. You can mix and match the tips to work on your close.