by Gilda Bonanno LLC www.gildabonanno.com
When you give a presentation, how does the audience know you're done? If you're half-heartedly saying, "any questions?" as a means to signal that you're done speaking, then you're missing the opportunity to finish strong.
· Body
· Conclusion
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com
When you give a presentation, how does the audience know you're done? If you're half-heartedly saying, "any questions?" as a means to signal that you're done speaking, then you're missing the opportunity to finish strong.
Here are techniques
for ending your presentation strongly so the audience knows you're done:
USE CLEAR ORGANIZATION
Like your writing,
your presentation should have an introduction, body (with your supporting
points), and then the conclusion. The easiest
way to organize your material is to have a certain number of points, like three
tips or four steps, so the audience can follow along and know how many more
points you have to present.
SET THE AUDIENCE'S EXPECTATIONS
Be clear and
deliberate about what you're doing and tell the audience. For example, in your introduction, you could
say, "For the next 30 minutes, I'll share with you the five reasons we
should replace our current paper-based process with the new electronic
process. Please hold your questions and
I'll be happy to answer them near the end of the presentation and then I'll
finish with one action step you can take to get comfortable with the new
process."
AVOID ABRUPT ENDINGS
Don't just suddenly
stop speaking; instead give the audience cues that the end is near, such as
"in conclusion" or "my final point this morning is..." (And
avoid giving "false" cues, like saying "in conclusion," and
then going on for another ten minutes.)
USE WORDS & BODY LANGUAGE TO SHOW THAT YOU'RE DONE
Pause before your
final sentence and make it strong and declarative. End with a powerful conclusion such as a call
to action or a strong reiteration of your message and its importance to the
audience. Even if you end with a rhetorical
question, ask it deliberately. Use a
strong voice that's loud enough to be heard, make eye contact, stand
confidently and smile. When you finish
speaking, hold the eye contact and your posture for a few seconds.
EXAMPLES OF CONCLUSION SENTENCES
·
"As I've demonstrated today, the
three year projection for the business is bright and we expect to continue our
excellent performance."
·
"As we've discussed today, there
are 5 steps to the process of preparing and delivering an effective
presentation. Following these steps will
help you be a more powerful and effective presenter."
BE PREPARED FOR WHAT COMES NEXT
Speak to the
meeting organizer well before your presentation to understand what comes next
and who you should transition to after you finish speaking.
DON’T END WITH "ANY QUESTIONS?"
If at all possible,
avoid taking questions at the very end of your presentation – doing so shifts
the energy away from you and can also result in a negative conclusion, especially
if you get an off-base or hostile question which you have to reply to
defensively. You also have lost the
benefit of a strong close if the questions just trail off into silence and you
have to say, "…ok, no more questions?"
TAKE QUESTIONS BEFORE YOUR FINAL CONCLUSION
Decide with the
meeting organizer before your presentation whether you will have time for
questions. If so, take questions near the end of your presentation instead
of at the end. In order to do this, you'll need a
mini-conclusion before you take questions so you can summarize your points and
transition to the questions. Then after you're
finished answering questions, transition back to your presentation for a final
conclusion, which allows you to have the final say and leave the audience with
a strong restatement of your message.
So your
presentation outline would look something like:
·
Introduction· Body
o
Point 1
o
Point 2
o
Point 3
o
Mini-conclusion
·
Questions and answers
·
Transition back to presentation· Conclusion
(Thanks to
professional speaker and consulting guru, Alan Weiss, www.summitconsultinggroup.com
who first introduced me to the idea of not ending a presentation with the
question-and-answer format.)
SAY "THANK YOU" IF YOU WANT AND IF IT'S
APPROPRIATE
Some people and
organizations are very strict about whether presenters should end by thanking
the audience. I think either way is
fine, as long as it makes sense for that audience and your choice is
deliberate. A feeble, half-whispered "thank you…" that trails off
uncertainly at the end is not effective.
The next time
you're preparing a presentation, also prepare and practice how you will
conclude. Ending your presentation
strongly will improve the effectiveness of your presentation and clearly signal
to the audience that you're done.
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com