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Fred Miller
Jul 7, 20193 min read

My Most Popular Posts Are About . . .

Closing a Presentation.

By far, the most read and listened to posts I’ve written and recorded, over many years, are ones about Closing a presentation. They are favored because of their immense importance.

This is because of The Law of Primacy and Recency.

This rule says an audience best remembers the first and last things they hear and see. Those are the bookends of your speech and why, as a speaker, you want to have a strong opening and a stronger closing.

It’s crucial because the last thing you say and do, is the first thing the audience is going to remember.

Many speakers struggle with developing and delivering that part of their talk.

Important: The Closing comes after your Q&A! FREE Speaker’s Template CLICK HERE.

The Closing has two parts.

  1. Review what you told the audience.

  2. Close the presentation.

Review Give a few highlights of the talk. These should be the main take-aways for the audience and best to limit it to three.

Memorize and practice, practice, practice your closing! Rehearse it so it becomes second nature and when you close, as with the rest of your presentation, it seems unrehearsed!

Remember, though, it’s the first time this audience will hear it. Don’t lose the enthusiasm and emotion you had when delivering the closing many audiences ago!

Close Your Closing must be strong and compelling. You’re going for a ‘Knock Out!’ It’s your last opportunity to make a lasting impression. You want them saying, “Yes!” and “Wow” and rising to their feet applauding.

  1. Give them a ‘Call for Action.’

  2. Challenge them.

  3. Present a ‘Quotable quote’ they’ll remember and tell others.

Important: Before closing, tell the audience that you are about to close your talk.

It’s OK if your closing has a surprise in it, but not if your closing is the surprise!

Here’s an analogy. You’re on a trip and have been leisurely driving down the road for a while. There’s a large, wide bend in the road and as you drive it and the road starts to straighten out, suddenly, and with no signs to warn you, there’s a dead end!

Don’t do that to your audience. Give them that ‘sign’ that it’s time to close the speech. In fact, tell them.

Here’s an example: “It’s time to closing close my talk. Before I do that, let’s review a few highlights of the things we discussed today . . . “

Make that Closing STRONG! Consider:

  1. Courtroom summations by lawyers will likely be the words most remembered by jurors as they head to deliberating a verdict.

  2. Political debates, where the closing statements of candidates, can often carry a disproportionate amount of influence than what took place in the debates.

Follow this advice for Closing your presentations and I guarantee they will be absolutely, positively – NO SWEAT!

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Write a Book!

About the Author Fred E. Miller is a speaker, an international coach, and the author of the books, “NO SWEAT Public Speaking!” and“NO SWEAT Elevator Speech!”

Businesses, Individuals, and Organizations hire him because they want to improve their Networking, Public Speaking, and Presentation Skills.

They do this because they know: Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.

They also know: We perceive really great speakers to be Experts. We like to work with Experts.

He shows them how to: Develop, Practice, and Deliver Fantastic Presentations! with – NO SWEAT!

Services:

Topics:

  1. Lessening The Fear of Public Speaking with – NO SWEAT!

  2. Crafting Your Elevator Speech, Floor by Floor with – NO SWEAT!

  3. Speaking Opportunities are Business, Career, and Leadership Opportunities.

  4. We are All Self-Employed!

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