Conclusions

Adapted from: http://www.publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/Intros%20Concl%20Web%201.pdf

Functions of Conclusions
Prepare the audience for the end of
the speech

Present any final appeals

Summarize and close

End with a clincher

 Preparing the Audience for the End of
the Speech
A speech should never just stop.

You let your audience know what they need to be ready for: any final
comments or appeals from you

Verbal and nonverbal cues:

You can use language cues
Now that we have seen that we can solve this problem effectively,
we can review the entire situation
movement cues
physically moving back to the center of the room where you began
the speech
paralinguistic cues (aspects of spoken communication that do not involve
words)
slow the rate of the speech, use more pauses to help prepare your
audience for the end of the speech.
Present Any Final Appeals
What do you want your audience to do?
Are you asking them to act in a certain way? Or change
their attitude toward a certain person or topic? Do you
want them to just understand what you have been
saying to them throughout your presentation?
Leave the audience motivated to do what you want
them to do.

Primacy and recency effect

People tend to better remember information presented
to them first or last, at the beginning of a speech or at
the end.
Summarize and Close
Re-statement of the thesis
Review of the main ideas of the speech
*These are mirror images of the preview
statement in the introduction*
The restatement and review bring the speech
back to the top of the circle (as speeches are
not linear bodies of work) and remind the
audience where the speech started
Functionally, they help cue the audience that
the end of the speech is coming.
End with a Clincher

Stories
You can complete the story used in your introduction
Re-tell the story, reflecting on what the audience has learned
from your speech

Humor
Leaves the audience in a receptive frame of mind
Provides a positive reminder to the audience of the main
purpose of the speech
Appeals and Challenges
Appeals: generally phrased more
as requests

Challenges: take on a forceful

tone
Composing the Conclusion

Conclusions need to provide a match to the introduction so that there is

symmetry and completeness to the speech structure.

Write the conclusion after the introduction

Conclusion should comprise no more than 10% of the total speaking time

Do not include any new information!!! *This will confuse your audience!

What you referenced in your attention grabber can be used again, even
verbatim, the reason being that your audience now comes away with a new
understanding based on what your speech has informed them of.