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The role of a conclusion in a speech is to signal to the audience that the speech is coming to a close and help them remember the most important points.
While this may sound unimportant or superfluous, if you do end your speech without indicating you are about to do so, it can feel extremely abrupt and confusing to the audience. Make sure to give the audience closure with your ending.
You must always tie your conclusion back to your introduction. This can most effectively be done by circling back to your "hook," or attention grabber. The same "vehicle" or theme—for example, an anecdote about Margaret Thatcher—is employed to conclude the speech as was used initially to introduce it. A clever closing line is commonplace, and many strong speakers will simultaneously reference the theme discussed in the introduction and conclusion.
The end of your speech will form your audience's lasting impression of everything you've said. This is why your conclusion is the perfect opportunity to secure the key elements of your speech in your audience's mind. Make sure that you reiterate the thesis statement from your introduction, highlight the most important points from your speech, and then relate the concepts of the speech back to reality so your audience can see how it is applicable to their world.
By reiterating your introduction, you bring the audience's mind back to the overall purpose and message of your speech. By signaling the end of your speech, you ensure that your audience leaves with an overall positive impression of your speaking and does not feel confused. By highlighting the main points, you ensure they are fresh in your audience's memory.
Think of your conclusion as an opportunity to summarize. While your speech is undoubtedly well organized, concise, and poignant, it is still possible for listeners' attention to wander or for them to not fully understand a certain section of your speech. Your conclusion is the perfect place to reconcile any miscommunication with your audience.
Your conclusion is the perfect place to summarize the main points of your speech. That way, when your audience leaves, the most important information from your speech will be fresh in their minds.
Summarizing means succinctly communicating a complex or lengthy idea. In the context of your speech, it means concisely revisiting what you've just been speaking about in a way that is accessible for your audience. Summaries should be lean, only including the most crucial information and ideas.
The best way to summarize ideas in your conclusion is to ask yourself the following important questions:
It is important to always keep your primary message in mind when preparing for a speech.
Throughout the entire speech, you must constantly relate your research, examples, analyses, etc., back to the message of your speech. Your conclusion is no exception.
It is important to reiterate the focus of your speech again in your conclusion. By summarizing the primary message of your speech, you will refocus your audience's mind back to the overall purpose of your speech and the reasons why they should care about what you are saying.
After you readdress your primary message, it is then crucial to summarize your main points.
You have just spent your entire speech speaking in depth about these points, so you'll want to be sure that you are only summarizing them and not entirely rehashing them all over again.
Remember, a summary must be concise and lean. Clearly list your main points and connect them back to the primary message of your speech. There is no need to elaborate on them again or use examples—this should have been done in the body.
Thinking about what you want your audience to take away from your speech is necessary in order to write an effective conclusion.
You must decide the intention of your speech: Is it meant solely for educational purposes, are you trying to convince your audience to take a certain action (such as to give money or vote), or are you perhaps attempting to teach them a skill?
Whatever the answer may be, it is imperative that you make your final push toward this goal in your conclusion. You can easily summarize this idea in only a sentence or two. You can even address your audience directly using the second person ("you") to help implant the message in their memory. Using call-to-action verbs such as "go," "do," "vote," "sign up," etc., can also motivate audiences to engage in action.
Whatever you decide you want your audience to take away from your speech, it is important that you reiterate this in the conclusion and that you focus on simply summarizing it and not stating your entire speech all over again.
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