That's All Folks!
Author: Maria Ngo and Ray DuGray

Your presentation is about to end. You feel highly satisfied with your performance thus far and this is it, your grand finale! This is the one moment that will be forever embedded in your listeners' minds. Yes, these last few seconds on stage can determine the audience's impression of your entire presentation. Oh no, you suddenly feel awkward because you don't know how to end the presentation! The pressure builds, you smile nervously and blurt out in porky pig style, "that's all folks" and quickly stumble off the stage.


Delivering the closing is probably one of the most crucial and memorable factors of a presentation. This is where you can make a lasting impression. Your entire presentation may be influenced in a negative fashion if your closing is poor.


The following are suggestions to delivering a great and memorable close. A memorable close does not have to grand in order to be good.

1. A simple and genuine "Thank you" is an example of a great close without the grandness . After your summary, smile with confidence and thank the audience for listening. It's a nice way to end your time with the audience.

2. Challenge the audience or make a call for action. This is most appropriate when you are persuading or motivating an audience about an idea or a belief. If your presentation is about giving techniques to living a healthy lifestyle, a call to action may be challenging the audience to add 2 servings of fruit and vegetables in their daily meals or participating in physical activity at least 3 times a week.

3. Close by making a startling statement. This can be part of a two step close. First make a startling statement with a statistic and then follow up with a call for action. This is usually a great close for a charity fundraising presentation.

4. Close by using a vivid illustration. Remember the saying that a picture is worth 1000 words. An illustration can support your main events and closing statement.

5. Use an appropriate quotation. Ending with a quotation can be extremely powerful when delivered correctly. Make sure you practice the quotation using necessary voice punctuation. Use voice inflection and emphasis on key words, use pauses, speed up or slow down your speech all of these will help impact your audience.

Close with a supporting story. A story can be dramatic, startling, humorous, and thought provoking. Stories are a great way to close a presentation because it gives the audience a chance to connect with the speaker by relating to them. The story should support the material covered in your presentation.

In closing, I would like to share a personal experience. It was my second year of university and I had to give a presentation as a final exam for a speech class. My speech was about the hardships that my parents and I went through while escaping from Vietnam to the United States-a true story. This counted for 50% of the total grade. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous. To my amazement the final exam was going well. I had people at the edge of their seats and then it was time for the closing. The grand finale! In preparation for my speech, I focused primarily on the content and did not prepare a closing. I quickly said my last sentence, my voice fading out with each word . I stopped abruptly and blurted "that's all folks". This was not an appropriate close for my speech. I stormed off the stage nearly tripped to my seat. The moral of the story is, had I prepared a proper closing, my grade would have been higher!

Happy presenting!






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