You can start in a poor style, even your story may be not so impressive, but if you finish it in a great, interesting, exciting way – all your attendees will remember this presentation and your performance. Of course, it is better and a must to make everything well-planned from the very beginning, but you should know – last words are not less important (sometimes much more important!) than everything else you've already said. How to close your presentation in a most effective way?
To learn more about three main parts of a presentation see our previous useful articles
The Best Ways To Start A Presentation
The Heart Of Your Presentation: What To Know?
There are several popular styles that work good in most situations and topics. Choose one of them for your presentation, and try to use different styles every time. You'll see the results soon!
Way 1. Attention to key points
Every presentation has several main thoughts or ideas which are called key points. One of the most effective styles to close a presentation is to pay attention to those points in the last minutes of your performance. How to choose them? Better to do it on a preparation stage. Just write down main thesis or thoughts which you are going to speak about and underline the key ideas. What do you want your audience to remember after the presentation? Repeat the key points before closing the performance in a clear and simple way. Important! Use from 3 to 5 key points, not more. The less is better. Highlight it on your slides or put a small bulleted list on the last slide you show.
Way 2. Summarize it
Make a short summary about the main ideas that you've discussed during the presentation. This style may look like the previous one, but this is not the same. If you use the "Key Points" style, you note the main points of your speech: "Now you know that a presentation may contain a beginning, a body and a conclusion". If you prefer the "Summary" style, you note the main actions and topics: "Today we've discussed several ways to create a presentation and now you know how to create it in the most effective and simple way". This method helps your audience to remember all the path of your presentation and to connect all parts of your speech together.
Way 3. Impress and express
Find out the most impressive and convincing thought of your speech and shock your audience with it in the end of your presentation. This may be some "bombing" phrase or quote, some good (underline this word) joke or expressive fact. Prepare this moment well before you even start to speak. You should already know what you are going to tell in the end. This type of closing is one of the most difficult but one of the most effective and sometimes causes applause even for beginners. Be careful: if the idea is not new, the expression is too widespread, the thoughts have been already told by you before, the result may be not so interesting.
Way 4. Time to ask and answer
One of the most effective and interesting (because of its unpredictability) way to end a presentation is to invite your audience to ask questions. This way may lead to anything – you may learn something more by yourself or give them more information they want to know, you may find a new idea and start to develop it together with your audience. At last, you may check what they've learned during your presentation and how they've understood your topic. This is also a good way to finish the presentation together, in the collaboration and interaction. You can ask and answer questions not only in a verbal way. For example, PodioBox allows you to create polls and surveys and get more useful information in your device.
Way 5. Plan it now
Your presentation is almost finished. What next? You have some time in the end of the performance. Try to think about the future of your field or topic, or tell your audience about your own career or business developmentplan. Ask about their plans and points in the future work (or personal interests). Don't make this part of the presentation too long – let it be short, clear and positive.
So, you did it. Great work!
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