QuickBites: How to Craft Compelling Conclusions.

Welcome to QuickBites, public speaking tips and techniques you can digest in five minutes or less. Here's your host, Peter George.

That quote is a favorite of mine because it's both catchy and on target. All too often, people let their otherwise engaging presentations come to an unexciting and uninspiring end. Why is this so prevalent? Because many speakers either give little thought to how they're going to deliver a compelling conclusion, or they simply don't know how to do it.

Without a doubt, the conclusion is the most critical part of your talk. When you miss the mark, you undermine everything you did, leaving the audience underwhelmed, confused, or disappointed. But when you nail it, you finish in a way that brings all that you talked about to a fitting and compelling conclusion — like an explosion at the end of a fuse that's been burning throughout your talk.

Four Options for a Compelling Conclusion

Option 1: A Call to Action. By the time you reach the end of your presentation, your audience has listened to quite a bit of information — and they may not realize that they should take action. You need to direct them. Try something like: "Do X each morning for the next 14 days, and you'll finally see the results you're looking for," or "If you're ready to take your results to the next level, then I challenge you to do X."

Option 2: Ask a Question. An open-ended question moves your audience members to answer it for themselves. Examples include: "What are you going to do to make this happen?" or "How are you going to take advantage of this opportunity?" or "What's your greatest takeaway from our time together?"

Option 3: Provide a Choice. Showing your audience that they have a choice is a powerful way to get them thinking about what they're going to do. You might say: "Implementing the ideas you've just heard — or maintaining the status quo — is a choice. Your choice. Which are you going to choose?" or "Make no mistake about it. You can choose A or opt for B. But ultimately, you must make a choice."

Option 4: Vision. Sometimes we need to help people see what could be. Once they envision it, you help them move forward. You might say, "Imagine XYZ," or "How successful will you be when...?" or simply, "Picture this."

Weak Endings to Avoid

Now let's look at ways you don't want to conclude. The following are weak, meaningless ways to end your presentations.

"My time's up." Does that mean if your time wasn't up, there would be more we should know? "Thanks for listening." Polite, but not compelling. "I want to thank so-and-so." "I hope this helps." You should be confident that your presentation did help — so say it with conviction, or don't say it at all. And "That concludes my talk" is as useless as the words "The End" at the end of a movie.

Instead, end with the compelling conclusion you selected and rehearsed. Once you've delivered it, wait four beats, and with confidence and modesty, say thank you.

Thank you for devouring another episode of QuickBites. Tune in Monday when you'll hear another episode of Public Speaking with Peter George, and again Thursday for your next episode of QuickBites. Until then, remember — when it comes to speaking in public, you've got this! I'll see you next time.