Presentations - Closure - when you come to the end - stop
The two parts of your presentation that will be remembered most clearly are the introduction and the conclusion especially the conclusion. Try to finish a presentation on a positive note - make the audience feel that you and they have shared a worthwhile experience. As they say in show business - "Always leave them wanting more".
3.31 Know when to stop
Don't be afraid to finish early. Speakers often fall into "endless maze" or "more the merrier" mode when they find that they have finished ahead of time and thereby snatch defeat from the very jaws of success.
To put it bluntly, few presentations fail by ending early unless the premature ending is due to lack of adequate preparation. Don't spoil the effect by trying to pad your speech up to the official length.
3.32 What was it all about? - Summarise it for them
The closing section of a presentation is the vital part of that structure and must be something more than just the end of the event. It must summarise all that has gone on before and create a bridge to whatever happens after the presentation is all over. What your audience will really need to know is-
- What (are we supposed to do)?
- When (do we do it)?
- How (will we know when we've done it satisfactorily)?
- Closing comments
3.33 Some Common Errors
- The emergency stop - without a hint of warning the speaker pulls up - Well, I think that's all I have to say, so I'll stop there
- The endless maze - where the speaker clearly ends up as lost and confused as his audience, And so I'll finish on that point and remind you of the comment I made earlier about ...
- The more the merrier - often due to lack of order and structure - And in addition ... I'd also like to say/point out/remind you