How to End a Speech
The last 30 seconds in your speech are critical as the final words tend to linger in your audience’s minds. People tend to remember what they hear last a lot better, which is why every second counts towards the conclusion of your speech. The key to ensuring that your speech ends on a high note, memorable and leave your audience wanting more.
If you are in need of the perfect way to end a speech then consider these strategies:
1. Simple Summary
Ending your speech with a simply summary will remind your audience of what you have just said. A good summary will briefly mention the critical information from your entire speech. This will help remind your audience of what you have just said. Repetition is a very powerful technique to help cement your speech in your audience’s minds, and a simple summary will give a very quick and effective overview of your entire speech.
2. Direct Call to Action
Usually, the goal of any speech is always to make your audience do or think something differently. As such, your audience is more likely to remember what your speech was about if your last sentence says something impactful. And the probability that your audience remembers improves the chances of them acting on it. Most speeches, particularly in a business context, require a call to action, and if there is no call to action, then it is a speech that probably is not worth giving.
3. Close with A Powerful Question
A powerful question that’s suggested by the talk always leaves the audience thinking and wondering about your speech for longer. Give your audience something to talk about in the next week or month. And so long as the audience remembers the question, your speech lives on in their minds. A powerful question at the end of your speech drives your audience to look for answers themselves, which they often find. These answers can change your audiences’ lives and actions, which is precisely your purpose for giving the speech. If possible, always end with a question that ties in the call to action directly to improve its chances of soliciting a reaction from the audience.
4. Circular Close
A good speech ending must always have a circular closing. A circular close is when you use a statement or point that you mentioned at the beginning of your speech as part of the summary statement. You can use the same statement or question to conclude your speech if you want it to open and end with the same theme.
A circular close help you to summarize any crucial points that you mentioned in your opening statements to make them stick in your audiences’ minds. Start by telling them what you are going to tell them, then repeat what you just told them to help them remember. It is also a brilliant way of summarizing your main points into one classic ending.
5. Let Your Audience Say the Last Words
Even though it isn’t widely used, this is another powerful way of ending a good speech. You can let your audience finish the speech by asking them to repeat a phrase in the speech. Your audience will believe and even remember your message best when they have a part in it too. So, prepare your audience and let them say a bit of information from the speech themselves. Try to get your audience to recite or remember a specific critical sentence that summarizes the base of your speech and prepare them to say it out loud as you close.
6. End with A Quote
Ending your speech with a powerful quote is another effective tactic that you could explore. A short, appropriate quote can be effective for opening your speech as well as ending it. Thanks to the internet, you can get millions of quotes in an instant online to use to come up with quality speech openings and closings. Remember to only select and use a quote that is most appropriate for your speech and know where and when to use it.
Bottom Line
Remember, the closing of your speech is the climax, the result-getter, which is why you must choose your words carefully and use them appropriately. The last 30 seconds of your speech can either make it impactful and memorable or weak and forgettable, depending on how you use them.
