How can you confidently end a speech on a high note?

I recommend leaving with something that makes people smile. Not necessarily a joke, but something that leaves them remembering you contributed to joy, and added value to their lives. I always think you should end a speech with a smile because it's the last thing someone will remember about what you delivered.

Avoid overwhelming your audience with unnecessary details or introducing new information. Instead, focus on reinforcing key takeaways, leaving them with a solid understanding of your message that they can remember and apply. This not only enhances your credibility but ensures that your audience leaves with a clear and impactful understanding of your speech.

I try to turn the spotlight away from the speaker and onto the audience and their role. I want to frame the fundamental challenge as an opportunity for action from another vantage point. My goal is to move beyond describing the who, what, when, where, and why, and focus on *how* to solve a problem. The 'how' is distilled into a call to action connected to a well-defined vision for progress. (i.e. "We have great tools and resources for tackling this issue, and there is always a seat at the table. We know approaches a, b, and c can make a difference--the only thing standing in the way is the willingness to take action.")

Summarising your entire speech is a way to leave people with something to remember. Being able to simplyfiy tons of information is such an important skill and even doing so memorably will enable your audience to remember you in a very unique way.

Recently I tried a new way of ending a presentation and that was to use a quote. It wasn’t a quote from a historical figure or someone in the legal profession I am in. I pulled a quote from the lyrics of a song by BTS! I found that landed well with such a great reaction amongst the attendees and they repeated it later to me. Subsequently when the host posted an article about the event on LinkedIn, that quote was a key part of what was mentioned. I ended on a high note and made me a more memorable experience.

My favourite formula for a successful speech is hook-story-CTA. Strong and inspirational CTA is essential to wrap up your speech and be remembered by your audience. People naturally tend to forget the middle part, but they remember the beginning and the end more vividly. Use it! I, for one, love to challenge the audience to do something as my CTA.

Appealing to their intellect matters, of course, but by experience, I’ve learned that a lasting walk away impact needs to be something part visceral, part heartfelt. IOW, make ‘em “feel” it to their gut.

Activists have called me to help citizens prepare to speak to the City Council or the Board of Education. Upon arrival, I found that citizens knew what they wanted to say and needed help organizing it. No one planned to ask for action. Too many times, my local City Council is not asked to act. When this happens, our Mayor pro tem simply thanks the speaker for coming. There is an important moment at the end of these speeches: the opportunity to ask the governing body to act. Ending these speeches with a specific call to action is powerful. When a specific call does not exist, as was the case in 2010 when local citizens were speaking to the BoA about the public school academic achievement gap, the call to action was, "Do something!"

In my experience, we can sometimes infuse a call to action somewhere in the middle of a presentation and reiterate it at the very end. Suppose I begin my presentation letting my audience know that I have a few strategies to share. In that case, I like to pause and ask them to pull out their cellphones and text something specific to get all the information and not just what I can share in a limited period. I wan t my audience to be fully engaged and not focused on getting all the points down. At the end, I circle back to ensure that if you want more, text. . . This has proven to be effective in getting to know potential clients and ending my presentation well.

Here’s a tip that took me way too long to realize. Before you give your last story/point, tell people how to reach you or contact you (I like to put up a slide with a QR code). Then close with your last point. That way, you can close with a memorable thought rather than a “here’s how to keep in touch with me.”

I find ending a speech with a question has been effective in not only making the event memorable, but also encouraging attendees to reach out after the event ends. This invites them to continue the discussion, perhaps with more confidence as they aren’t taking center stage to ask questions. I’ve made many friends this way as well!

One of my favorite techniques is to use a callback. Finish a story you began earlier in the talk, and you'll close a loop and make the audience feel like they've been on a journey with you.

Repetition and tying back to the beginning are a few of the tactics I learned back when I was on the Competitive Speech team in college. Our memories are fallible. Repeating and tying back to the beginning can help your audience with recall.

End your speech with a message that feels genuine and personal to your audience. A call to action that they can see themselves carrying forward after the event. The message resonates, when your audience can repeat your message and CTA back to others!

A great speech feels like two way conversation. Your audience wants to feel connection and be part of the conversation. People want to feel the passion and be moved. Create a safe place for people to engage, ask questions, and value their feedback. There is even an opportunity for you to learn too!

When you invite feedback, you need to ask open-ended questions. Don't ask, "Did everyone learn something today?" That's most likely a leading question and people will often say yes just to be kind. Ask something along the lines of, "What's something interesting you learned from this speech and what's something that wasn't clear from this speech"? If you want answers, you need to ask questions where you'll actually get answers.

I gave a short speech at a campaign event where my party would not be the most obvious choice for most, and ended by inviting the audience to tell me why they disagreed with me. Since I’d already had them laughing and engaged with me, it was an excellent note to end on, and led to so many great conversations that evening.

If you only focus on how amazing your idea is, but remain careful not to give away your ip, a strong close is bound to happen. It happenes when you finish talking about the thing you love the most, which is your baby, aka your idea.

Make sure you know the rules of engagement: how much time do you have? One of the worst things that can happen to you is that you are rushed in the end, forced to condense your carefully crafted speech, takeaways and conclusion in just 1-2 sentences… that you probably deliver stumbling over the words. Rehearse and time yourself. It might be better to end early, but posed and graceful, than to use up every second and leave your audience stressed!

Always have an *adaptable* exit strategy. Time schedules change, technical difficulties occur, etc. Ensure that regardless of those issues, you are able to graciously close out your speech and walk away. Always alway always (!) thank the audience for listening and the event team for trying to solve the issue – even if they didn't try! To the best of your ability, always come up with some contingency endings: 5 minutes for a 45+ minute presentation, 3 minutes for 20-45 minutes, and 1 minute or 30 seconds for anything shorter are often decent benchmarks to prepare for closing out the presentation quicker than you may have liked or planned!

I would challenge that this is relevant to a smaller potion of public speaking situations than I infer is intended. First, not every topic is an occasion to smile, which I’m sure is implicitly understood. But, secondly, I sense there is an increasing understanding and acknowledgment that smiling isn’t a requirement. A lot of experienced speakers (myself included) do naturally smile, but I think it’s the authenticity the audience is connecting with, not the smile itself necessarily. I’d advise speakers to prioritize being themselves over of forced smile if that is something that doesn’t come naturally. Because, if it doesn’t, that’s ok!

If you only focus on how amazing your idea is, but remain careful not to give away your ip, a strong close is bound to happen. It happenes when you finish talking about the thing you love the most, which is your baby, aka your idea. Figure out how much time you have to talk, and write down everything they NEED TO ABSOLUTELY KNOW in a speech that takes you half the alloted time. Rehearse that. Dont prepare questions. Simply prepare the least amount of info to give and still walk away funded

The beginning and the ending of your speech are the parts you need to practice the most. Most people understand the importance of the first impression and how hard it is to change it. However, very few people truly understand the importance of the LAST impression. You want to make sure that your ending is flawless. It is not the time to stumble on your words and then politely utter: "I guess that's it, thanks so much" - as it ruins everything you've built to that point. You want to make sure that you finish your talk confidently and on a high note. You also want to make sure that your last words are so clear and purposeful that every single person in the audience knows that it's the actual end, increasing your chance of big applause.

Once your speech is drafted, copy/paste your conclusion by your opening assertions. - Do your conclusions pair to your opening questions/assertions? - Does your roadmap accurately describe the requisite steps from opening to conclusion? - Is your conclusive portion aligned to that with which you should open, and be able to draw additional points. Additionally, be sure to include what further investigations would add to the support of, detract from, or if it is unknown how such further data or insights would affect your conclusions. This will help you get in front of and prepare for questions and critiques, as well as demonstrate your competency on the subject matter and acknowledgment that if further work that would benefit the topic.

Indeed along with your bright smart and positive presence will suitably back your considerate words and attract an attentive audience throughout!!

End with a memorable image, and caption, literally and/or describe it, either a new one or one you used in your talk if you used slides.

A perfect way to end a speech is by closing the loop of your presentation. i.e. you summarise key takeaways or concepts shared in the presentation, followed by an action item(s) and a story that has a relatable lesson for each person in the audience. This helps your audience to refresh your presentation, connect it with an action item i.e how they can implement it in their daily life with a dose of inspiration through story.

Your one story from one of the many inspiring stories is the best way to close your speech on a high note. A story that resonates with the audience based on the entire speech will not just reinforce your message but also leave your audience with a call to action on the same note. Your life’s very own story is often considered one of the most easier and confident tasks one can undertake while storytelling. The ability to articulate your thoughts, command the attention of an audience, and convey your message in an engaging and impactful manner is a skill that takes time and practice to master, but it flows naturally when you speak about your very own experiences.

A high note is characterised by three things 1. The audience wanting to hear or from you 2. The audience eager to go ahead and find a way to take action 3. The last message you leave with the audience this can be: ' - A call to action, - A quote that summarises and brings home the key points of the speech - A story that illustrates the transformation from your speech so that they can leave with a lasting feeling as the saying goes "People will forget what you said but they won't forget how you made them feel.

In my experience, audiences feed off a presenter’s energy. So, one of the simplest ways to end on a high note is to present your closing - regardless of what it is - with confidence and a “sense of finality.” This serves as a transition to the next step. That might be to say thank you then signal it’s conclusion by leaving the microphone/stage, saying you are happy to take questions, etc. Otherwise, if you seem unsure how to end the talk, they will be equally unsure that it’s over. I’d recommend something more engaging than, “…and that’s the last slide. That’s all I have for you today.” Take advantage of the closing to craft a lasting (if not meaningful) impression and message.