In our experience as vocal coaches, a speech’s conclusion can be just as significant as its introduction and main points. However, many public speakers often need help with this part of the speech. Take a look at these tried and tested strategies and techniques to learn how to end a speech on a strong note.
How to End a Speech
It’s important to keep your audience engaged from the beginning of your speech until the very end. A part of making sure this happens is to end your speech on a strong note. By planning your conclusion with the same care as your introduction, you can guarantee that your speech maintains the attention and engagement of your audience throughout.
When ending a speech, leaving your audience with a memorable and impactful closing is necessary. This can be achieved through techniques such as highlighting key points, integrating personal stories, and effectively using quotes.
Highlighting Key Points
Effectively summarizing your main message can reinforce the purpose of your speech and remind the audience of its central themes. Revisit the primary arguments or ideas you have discussed. This recapitulation helps to reinforce learning and retention.
Use concise language to guarantee the key points are crystal clear. Sometimes a brief statement or list can be powerful, offering a quick refresher that solidifies your message. Consider using visual aids if possible. These can provide a visual summary that complements your verbal review and makes your points more memorable.
Incorporating a Personal Anecdote
Incorporating a personal anecdote can make your speech more relatable and impactful. Sharing a relevant personal story helps to humanize your message and create a stronger emotional connection with your audience.
Choose an anecdote that directly relates to the main message of your speech. This guarantees that the story is engaging and underscores the points you’ve made. Keep it brief. Your anecdote should be concise enough to maintain the audience’s attention and long enough to convey the emotional weight of your experience.
Utilizing Quotes and Stories
Quotes and stories are powerful tools for concluding a speech. A well-chosen quote can encapsulate your message and leave a lasting impression. Select quotes from renowned leaders that resonate with your subject and enhance the central themes of your speech.
Make sure the quote is from a credible source, as this adds weight and authenticity to your message. Stories can also be incredibly effective. Sharing an interesting story that illustrates your message can foster a deep connection with your audience, making the content more memorable.
Mastering Delivery Techniques
Ensuring you deliver your speech effectively involves modulating your tone and pace, practicing eye contact and body language, and using pauses appropriately. These techniques help create a more engaging and impactful experience for your audience.
Modulating Tone and Pace
Your tone and pace play a critical role in maintaining audience interest. Varying your tone helps express different emotions, adding depth to your message. Speak clearly and adjust your volume as needed to convey confidence or intimacy.
- Practice changing your pitch to avoid a monotone delivery.
- Use slower pacing to emphasize key points.
- Increase your pace slightly during exciting parts to convey urgency.
Using humor and smiling naturally during appropriate moments can make your speech more relatable and enjoyable.
Practicing Eye Contact and Body Language
Effective eye contact and body language can enhance your connection with your audience. Eye contact helps create trust and shows confidence, while body language complements your verbal message.
- Make direct eye contact with different sections of the audience to make everyone feel included.
- Use gestures to highlight important points, yet avoid overdoing them.
- Stand straight and avoid crossing your arms to appear open and welcoming.
Employing Pauses for Effect
Strategically timed pauses can make your speech more powerful. Pauses allow your audience to absorb information and heighten the impact of your words.
- Use short pauses after delivering a significant point to let it sink in.
- Employ longer pauses before starting a new topic to signal a transition.
- Practice your pauses while rehearsing to guarantee they feel natural.
Pausing lets you collect your thoughts and guarantees you’re taking your time with your speech. 
Engaging and Influencing the Audience
To effectively engage and influence your audience in a speech, three key techniques can prove to be powerful: Using rhetorical questions, inviting audience participation, and crafting thought-provoking statements. These strategies can captivate the listeners and encourage them to reflect deeply on your message.
Using Rhetorical Questions
Rhetorical questions are an excellent way to prompt your audience to think critically about a topic. By asking questions that don’t require a direct answer, you challenge your listeners to reflect internally.
For example: The question, “What if we took responsibility for our actions?” encourages the audience to consider their behavior. This technique can be particularly effective when discussing societal or moral issues.
Benefits:
- Stimulates critical thinking
- Enhances engagement
- Sets the stage for deeper reflection
Inviting Audience Participation
Engagement increases when the audience feels involved. Inviting participation can include asking for feedback, encouraging volunteers, or posing questions that require a show of hands.
Consider using a call to action where the audience is invited to share their experiences or opinions. For instance, you might say, “Who here has faced a similar challenge?” This not only keeps the audience attentive, it also makes them feel valued.
Ways to invite participation:
- Ask open-ended questions
- Use polls or surveys
- Encourage the sharing of personal stories
Crafting Thought-Provoking Statements
Using statements that challenge your audience’s viewpoints can leave a lasting impact. Thought-provoking statements should be concise and directly related to your topic.
An example is, “Our greatest enemy is not ignorance yet the illusion of knowledge.” Such statements force the audience to re-evaluate their assumptions and beliefs. They can be used effectively at the beginning or the end of your speech to guarantee your message resonates.
Tips for effective statements:
- Keep it relevant and concise
- Relate it to your main message
- Make sure it challenges the audience’s current thinking
Closing Your Speech in a Powerful Way
A well-structured closing should make a lasting impression and effectively circle back to your opening.
Making a Lasting Impression
Choose closing words that leave a positive and impactful memory in the audience’s minds. Use powerful language that reinforces your key points. Make sure your final words align with the core theme of your speech, giving it a coherent and cohesive ending.
To help the audience internalize your message, a compelling phrase or an appeal for action can be a strong cue that your speech is ending.
Creating a Memorable Conclusion
To end your speech impactfully, focus on crafting a closing statement that echoes the essence of your message. Summarize the main points without introducing new information. Employing a metaphor or a vivid image can make your conclusion more memorable.
Repeating a statistic or fact helps emphasize its importance and guarantees it sticks with the audience. Your concluding remarks should inspire and motivate, leaving the audience with a clear understanding of your call to action.
Circling Back to Your Opening
Linking your conclusion back to your opening can provide a sense of closure and completeness. If you start with a story, finish it in your closing, allowing your audience to see the full picture.
This structure helps reinforce your speech’s main theme and leaves a lasting impression. Referring back to an initial question or statement ties your points together cohesively, making your message more memorable.
A consistent narrative throughout your speech, starting and ending on the same note, can enhance the audience’s retention. It’s a powerful technique to end your speech effectively and one that is used by some of the best public speakers.
Related Questions
What Is a Good Last Sentence for a Speech?
A good last sentence for a speech should leave a lasting impression on your audience. It can encapsulate your main message, evoke an emotional response, or provoke thought. Phrases like “Together, we can achieve greatness,” or “Let us embrace change and move forward” are effective. Plausibly, you can also use a relevant quote that resonates with your topic.
Should I Leave Time for Questions After the Conclusion?
Leaving time for questions after your conclusion can enhance engagement with your audience. It allows for clarification of any points and fosters a two-way dialogue. Announce this opportunity clearly. This approach shows confidence and willingness to interact, which can strengthen your connection with your audience.
What Is the Appropriate Length for the Conclusion?
The appropriate length for the conclusion should be brief yet concise, typically lasting at most 5-10 % of your total speech time. A well-crafted conclusion reiterates key points without dragging on. It should signal the end clearly, summarizing your main ideas and a strong closing statement.
Conclusion
A successful public speaker will know how to engage the audience, when to stop talking, and how to bring the speech to a striking close. To ensure you do all three, use powerful quotations that resonate with your message, link your conclusion to your opening, and encourage your audience to take action related to your topic.
