You just gave a great presentation in English… And it’s time to conclude.
If you think all the work is done –watch out! Did you know that the beginning of your presentation, together with the end of it, are the most important parts of your speech? This is what your audience will remember best, so it’s important to make the introduction and the conclusion as memorable as possible.
The last few minutes of your presentation are your best opportunity to make a long-lasting impression on your audience. This last part will help your audience remember the key points and help you get across the main idea.
In this article, you will learn 5 strategies to end your presentation in a powerful way. You’ll also learn useful expressions you can use to transition from one point to the next. One great tip is to prepare both the beginning and the end of your presentation:
5 Effective Strategies to Close Your Presentation
Choosing the right strategies to conclude your presentation will help you bring your audience back to the main point. We all get distracted sometimes, and our attention span keeps getting shorter.
The goal is for you to connect with your audience and make them feel connected to your topic. Your presentation should always be about them –not you. Make it easy for them to remember key points and bring their attention back to them.
Download this great effective presentation checklist and check the strategies below. Pick the ones you feel most comfortable with and dare to combine them –some of them work great together!
1. Restate your main idea
The most effective way to make your key points stick? Repeat them. Once again. And again.
You may feel that restating your key message throughout the presentation can be repetitive. However, adding recaps after each section and summarizing your main points in your conclusion will really make it stick in the minds of your audience members.
When you restate your main idea, make sure you paraphrase the points in a slightly new and refined way. You can change the word category, use synonyms, or use a simpler version.
Use these closing words and useful phrases to summarize your key points:
In other words, today we went over …
To put it simply, this presentation examined …
What I mean to say is, throughout this presentation, we explored …
As we/I understand it,
By and large, we discussed …
Overall, today’s presentation covered …
To recap, we examined …
In conclusion,
To conclude,
In short, I’d like to highlight…
To quickly recap,
In a nutshell,
In summary,
To sum up, I’d like you to remember…
To summarize,
All things considered,
All in all,
To put it briefly,
Briefly,
2. Include a Call To Action or next steps ➡️
Your presentation has a goal and some next steps. When you give a speech, you expect something else to happen. Whether that may be for your audience to provide feedback, for them to buy your product, for you to send them a brochure…
What are your future actions? It’s what we call our “Next” in our WHAT-WHY-NEXT framework. This should be one of the first things should consider when preparing your presentation. What do you want your audience to do after your speech? Do they need to take action or will you follow up with them?
Clearly tell your audience what they need to do after your presentation –or what they can expect.
Introduce your Call To Action and present how your findings will impact the future:
To wrap this up, I’d love to ask you to…
After today’s session, please take a minute to…
I’m counting on you to…
Looking forward,
To this end, it would be great to…
As a consequence, we must …
If you would like more information, please…
Please reach out to me if you have any questions…
I will send you a list of great resources that will help you…
So, next time you…, remember to…
3. Close the loop ⏺️
The “Loop Technique” is a popular technique in which you return to the subject you opened with at the start of your presentation. It’s especially effective because it creates a perfect circle and a satisfying sense of completion. Skillful speakers often build up audience anticipation at the beginning of their talk and then keep them in suspense until the end when they finally finish their story, give the punchline to their joke, or answer the question they posed right at the start.
Closing a presentation referring back to your opening message is a very common speech structure in many TED Talks. It is a great way to round off your story and remind your audience why they were there in the first place. It is also commonly used in comedy and marketing.
To approach this technique, you can finish a story or an anecdote you started or set up a question at the beginning of your talk and wait until the end to answer it.
4. End with an inspirational quote or surprising statistic
I must be honest with you –quotes are not my favorite way of ending a presentation, but I see how it can work in some contexts.
If you want to make your audience feel in a particular way or there is something you want your audience to remember, a quote or a surprising fact can be your best ally. It is an effective way to reengage your audience and help them remember your main point.
Always remember to add a quote or statistic that is related to your topic.
Oh, an impactful image could work just as well!
Use these phrases to introduce great quotes or statistics:
I’d like to finish with this inspiring quote from…
This reminds me of a wonderful quote from…
Let me leave you with this surprising statistic…
Let’s finish this session with an interesting quote…
Did you know that…?
It reminds me of the words of…
In the end, this is what matters…
5. Thank your audience
Before you go, remember to always thank your audience. After all, they’ve stayed until the end, right? A simple sentence will suffice, and it will make a difference by making you more likable.
Phrases to thank your audience:
Thank you so much for your attention today.
I’d like to thank you for your interest today.
I truly appreciate your interest and attention this morning.
Keep improving your presentation skills
Continue improving your communication skills for professional situations with our free resources. If you are serious about improving your business English skills, get in touch with Talaera. We will help you take your professional English communication skills to the next level.
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More resources on presentation skills:
101 Must-Know Transition Phrases for Engaging Presentations Online
21 Helpful Tips For Remarkable and Outstanding Presentation Skills
How To Bring Across Your Main Idea In A Presentation Effectively
How To Do Effective Business Storytelling According To Former Prosecutor
8 Little Changes That’ll Make A Big Difference With Your Presentations
