Steve Jobs was famous for concluding his keynotes with “One more thing…” then following it up with a surprising fact, feature or innovation. Why is this effective? Because it leaves people talking. Next time you’re about to give a speech try leaving out the most surprising part ‘til the end. Then channel your inner…
The Echo Close Is an Inspirational Way to End Your Speech with a Bang. You can end with an inspirational quote, and then echo a single part of that quote as your presentation capstone. For instance, you might say something like… A wise man once said, “The mind is not a vessel to be…
Quite often, when we deliver a speech, we are doing so to get the audience to take action. And, more often than not, the audience never does what we suggest. So, if it is important for your audience to do something with the great content that you have provided, end with a call to…
Questions stimulate the part of our brain that overrides instincts and old behaviors. So, when you pose a question, your brain automatically thinks about it. Sometimes, your brain will instinctively answer the question of whether you want to or not. That’s why people are drawn to thought-provoking questions. So a great way to end…
If you want to be more inspirational with your stories, give the beginning of a story early in the presentation and then end the story in your conclusion. For instance, I sometimes start my public speaking classes telling the story about how I bombed my first big presentation as a college intern. I will…
My favorite way to both start and end a presentation is with a compelling story or anecdote. I delivered a breakout session speech a few weeks ago about how to design better technical presentations. I started my presentation by describing my first day in Macroeconomics class in college. (That day was really, really boring.)…