Marathon runners hit the “infamous” wall at about 18-20 miles into their 26-mile marathon. Public speakers, on the other hand, hit their wall at this infamous point in their speech writing process.
In this lesson, you’re going to learn how to move past that wall and close out your speech with a bang!
Sure, we don’t have a physical terrain of 6-8 miles ahead of us, but we do have our own public speaking triathlon to face. A powerful introduction, an inspiring message and today’s topic — the last leg of your speech.
Remember, the key word for your conclusion is “sticky.” However you choose to close out — storytelling, humor, etc., — you want to incorporate an emotional appeal that will paint a picture and make your message stick with the audience.
And always, always, tie your ending back to your beginning and summarize your main points to make sure your audience leaves with those key takeaways.
As you bring your speech to an end, you have to leave your audience with a clear, direct, and specific call to action. You want to inspire but you certainly don’t have to overdo it and turn it into a pep rally. A good CTA is practical and involves the audience in the solution, at an individual level.
Learning Reinforcements
Bookend your speech like a pro.