4 Ways to Finish A Presentation Strong
Whether you’ve hired a Power Point presentation designer or taken on the assignment yourself, a strong conclusion is absolutely essential if you want the reader or audience to remember the message and respond to your content in the desired manner.
Even if the bulk of the presentation was easy to create, making the big finish will often prove to be the most difficult challenge of the entire process. Here are four ways that are guaranteed to succeed.
1. Thank Them & Add A Call-To-Action
Thanking a reader or audience for their time isn’t only a courteous thing to do after taking up 30 minutes or an hour of their time. It also serves as a clear indication that you are coming to the end of the talk or presentation, which may also remove the threat of leaving a stage to the sound of silence.
However, you should not forget that the final moments of your presentation offer the chance to highlight the purpose of the presentation once more. It’s one thing for a user to enjoy your presentation, but it counts for very little if they don’t know what to do next. A clear and concise CTA that instructs them to “join the cause” or “book a place today” work wonders.
2. Use A Memorable Quote
Ending a presentation with a famous and relevant quote may sound a little cheesy. On the contrary, though, a punchy sound bite will inevitably stay fresh in a guest’s mind long after they’ve returned home. Therefore, they will remember your business and the brand message by association.
Memorable quotes can come from industry professionals, especially if giving a B2B presentation. However, you could also look to pop culture icons who have said something that captures the mood that you are trying to express. However, you may wish to avoid the universally known quotes as audiences won’t attribute those phrases to your brand.
3. Ask A Rhetorical Question
The presentation itself may set out any number of objectives depending on the brand’s background, its intended audience, and the purpose of the speech itself. However, the desire to keep the brand on the tip of their tongues is consistent across all business presentations. A rhetorical question does that.
It is a particularly powerful ending for presentations that have set out to change a person’s way of thinking. For example, if the presentation is meant to encourage prospective students to challenge themselves or introduce the eco-friendly upgrades that the brand has made, the right question will make them realize that ignoring the message is not an option.
4. Summarize
Even if you deliver a truly stunning presentation, the fact of the matter is that audiences will only remember a small percentage of what is said. While your PowerPoint presentation designer can include a printed version or a download link for users to revisit the content, they need the incentive to do this.
Summarizing your presentation makes a great ending because it goes back over the main points and motivates the audience to think more about the content itself as well as how it applies to them, whether it’s B2B or B2C, this is a very powerful tool that works wonders for forcing home the message and opening the door to meaningful interactions.
