Article and photo by Adrianne Harris
We’ve all been to inspiring talks that have opened with passion or been centred on a topic we are interested in. They start full of energy, movement and colour but by the time they finish, they’ve run out of the energy and look like they can’t wait for the speech to end. Sometimes I really only notice it’s finished due to some mild applause for the speaker or the audience leaving the venue, my mind having wandered off previously missed the end of the talk and it all just seemed a bit lack lustre.
Finishing a presentation strongly is as important as the start of the talk. There’s nothing better to take away an expert’s power and authority than to finish a talk with “thanks for listening” or “that’s all”. I’m always reminded of a child giving their first talk at school and being thankful for the opportunity. However, if I’m listening to an industry expert, I don’t expect them to thank me for the opportunity to talk to me, I should be thanking them for sharing their information and knowledge.
Sometimes new presenters that I am coaching will say to me “but the audience won’t know I’m finished”. To them I say, “Oh they will know”. They will know because you’ve gone over time and delayed them from going to their next event (they are the ones that keep checking their watches) and you keep saying “I’ve gone over time, but I’m nearly finished”. They will know because you are rambling and filling in time on what was an otherwise well-structured talk. They’ll know because you keep saying “we only have time for one question”. They will know because you are skipping the last ten PowerPoint slides to get to the “thank you” slide at the end.
None of those are good ways of concluding a talk and none of them leave a lasting impression of a dynamic and energetic presenter.
So how do you finish a talk? Instead of saying “thank you” or putting “THE END” on the last slide (don’t laugh I’ve been to presentations where this is the last thing I see in their presentation). Two other things you can do to finish strongly are:
- Summarise what you’ve told them (“today we have looked at the four successful pillars of marketing online”)
- Call them to action – leave them with a challenge, a question or next steps
Don’t say thank you – finish with a powerful statement – and then just stop talking. That’s it, just stop talking. Really, just stop talking. Look around at your audience and then walk off the stage. The applause and accolades will follow. You don’t need to tell the audience “it’s now time to clap” or acknowledge your contribution your body language and strong finish will do that just fine.
The End.
Just kidding, contact Adrianne Harris to discuss your presentation strategy or to schedule a presentation feedback session.