by Gilda Bonanno LLC www.gildabonanno.com
The last few minutes of your presentation are important - when you have the final opportunity to make your point and leave a lasting impression on the audience.
Here are examples of good (and simple) endings:
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com
The last few minutes of your presentation are important - when you have the final opportunity to make your point and leave a lasting impression on the audience.
Here
are 3 ways NOT to end your presentation:
1. “Any questions…?”
First
of all, don’t ask for questions if you don’t really want to answer any or there
is no time for them.
Secondly,
if you ask for questions and there aren’t any, you are ending with an
uncomfortable silence.
Thirdly,
even if there are questions, you want to have a final conclusion after
answering questions, so you stay in control of the presentation and have the
last word
2.
Endless Thank-yous
Like
your opening, your conclusion is not the place to list out every last person to
thank. Either thank a few people
briefly, before your conclusion or incorporate the longer list into the body of
your presentation or include it in your handout
3. Weak Non-verbals (shrug your shoulders, voice trailing off….)
“Uh,
so that’s my presentation…”
“Well,
that’s pretty much it…”
If
you mumble your final words or let your voice trail off, the audience will be
unsure whether you’re done. And you will
have missed your chance to end strongly.
Your
words and non-verbals should demonstrate confidence. Your final sentence should have a definitive
conclusion, whether it ends with a period, exclamation point or question
mark. Smile, stand tall, keep making eye
contact, keep your voice strong and clearly enunciate all the words to the end
of the sentence. You want your audience
to know that you’re done and to remember what you’ve said.
Here are examples of good (and simple) endings:
“That
has been my journey to minimize fuel surcharges in the eastern region.”
“The
bottom line is that I recommend we move on this opportunity before the end of
the month to maintain our competitive advantage.”
“In
conclusion, remember that public speaking is a skill that is essential to your
career – and since it’s a skill, you can practice and improve it.”
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com