5 Foolproof Ways To Close A Speech

You’ve heard how critical it is to have an amazing opening for your speech. Yes? Good. I’m glad because if your opening is weak, you can lose your audience very quickly. I can’t tell you how many speakers go up to the stage, or the podium and proceed to bore their audience to tears even before they are out of their intro paragraph.

However, I’ve also heard the opposite…speakers who had a strong opening but had no idea how to wrap it up. I’m guilty. I’ve had speeches or even workshops where I could feel my mind tensing up as I was coming down to the end. I’d gotten the plane in the air, we had a great flight but I had NO IDEA how to land it. And landing the plane is critical. You can land the plane smoothly, or you can have an abrupt-slam-the-wheels-on-the-ground landing, the awkward, sideways landing or you can have a horrible crash and burn. I’ve had the crash and burn happen, but mostly the awkward-sideways landing. This is where you see the eyes of the audience get wider in slow motion as you approach the end. When you reach the end, their eyes are still wide, like they expect more and have no idea you’ve finished. So, you bow your head, say thank you and make your exit to polite applause.

I’ve actually heard a speaker end their talk by saying, “OK. That’s it.” Well, we certainly knew he was done.