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Courses Archive
Final Thoughts: Concluding Your Presentation Well
Crafting and delivering a good presentation is a challenging task. Often, people spend much time developing the "body" of their presentation; they focus on the mass of information to present and spend most of their delivery energy focused on this area. While undeniably the body of the presentation is critical, the conclusion of the presentation can be even more powerful - and it is usually the section of the presentation that is most overlooked by the presenter.
Following is a brief list of helpful tips to insure that your conclusion packs all of the necessary punch!
Plan to give a great conclusion. Many people consider the conclusion of a presentation something they "need to do" - but they don't realize the importance of it. So, they don't really plan for it. This is an easy mistake to make. Instead, when developing the content of your presentation, make sure that your conclusion is a defined task.
Save time for your conclusion. Like the previous point, speakers often are so concerned with getting through the "meat" of the presentation that, if push comes to shove, they sacrifice timing on the conclusion. This is a mistake. A strong finish drives your point home, embeds its in your audience's mind - and that is the most that you can hope for from any presentation.
"Tell" your audience you are about to conclude. While you may deliver a fantastic presentation, as you are nearing the conclusion, the energy level of your audience will probably not be at its peak. Letting them know that you are about to end piques their interest and gets them reconnected to you. Go the extra mile by using lots of eye contact with audience members during the conclusion.
Make it brief. Summarize the key points of your presentation, but keep it short and sweet. Audience members are waiting for you to finish.
Recommend action and reinforce benefits. Regardless of subject matter, your conclusion should recommend action on the part of the audience. This can be a physical or mental action. The key is to tie the action to real benefits for the audience.
Points to keep in mind:
- If you are going for a fact-derived conclusion that asks the audience to use logic at this point in the game, you need to choose facts with punch. Pick the example that will stick in the audience's mind long after they have gone home.
- If you are looking to challenge the audience with a bold question such as "Are we ready to make this quality change happen?," make eye contact with the energizers in the audience. These are the people that you can count on to respond with a positive.
- If you choose to ask for a decision (at a later point) in the conclusion, express confidence that the audience will make the "right" decision. Let them know that you have full confidence that now they are presented with all necessary information, they will "do the right thing."
Final Tips
- Practice - as with any other part of your presentation, ALOUD.
- Pause before you begin your conclusion. Allow yourself to re-energize.
- Try to stay with the audience for a few minutes after your presentation. While you may be tempted to bolt, resist the urge.
- If you answer questions, try to keep your answers brief.
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