FINISHING ON A HIGH!
Welcome to Telling it Straight – the newsletter dedicated to presentation skills. This January we look at five top ways to finish your presentation on a high note. This month in 1965 marks the end notes in the life of Winston Chuchill, one of the 20th Century's leading orators. And with Presidential Inauguration tomorrow we profile John F Kennedy's 1961 Inauguration Speech in Speaker's Corner.
In addition to a new survey on your best presentations, we also have our regular Quotation Marks and Art of Presentation Gallery sections.
Finishing your presentation with style and panache is pivotal to successful presenting. 
Your opening comments aim to grab the attention of your audience. Your closing comments will keep that attention; keeping the main points of your speech in your audience's memory.
Your onclusion can take many forms. But one thing is certain. It won't be rushed; it's your final opportunity to make your points memorable and it's got to be thought through. To help your planning we've listed the five main ways that you might use to finish a presentation.
1) In a summary you re-emphasise all the key points that you have already made in your presentation. You re-emphasise their importance. You re-establish their relevance to your audience. In the same vein, a winding-up conclusion pulls together the main strands of your presentation, shows their mutual connections; and confirms their relevance. Read more.
2) A call to action is used when you want your audience to do something. If the aim of your presentation is for your audience to do something tangibly different – after listening to your presentation – then now's the time to say it.
3) An inspired conclusion involves you telling a story, anecdote or quotation to make your final point. If you aim for your audience to do something then an illustrative anecdote could be right for you. In all cases your choice of illustration is key. Inspiration requires a certain tone. Read more.
4) A humorous finish might involve you telling a story or an anecdote to illustrate your major point from an alternative perspective. It's a useful means to show how others might have wrestled with the point, made light of it, but still recognised its value.
5) Reference. A reference closing refers to a date, an event or an external happening to set your presentation in a wider context and reinforce its relevance. Your task is to set your presentation in a wider frame of reference – politics, business, or sporting history.
Finishing your presentation well requires some work and training. But that work is worthwhile. You have the opportunity to boost the collective memory of your presentation among your audience. And that's your aim for a powerful presentation finish. Read more.
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IN THIS ISSUE
- How To Finish Your Speech
- Speaker's Corner
- Quotation Marks
- Art of Presentation Gallery
- Training Calendar
- Survey: Presentation Preparation
"In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it – and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you." President John F Kennedy, 20th January 1961.
"Eating my words has never given me indigestion."
January 1965 marked the passing of one of the world's finest orators, Winston Churchill. Born at Blenheim Palace into the Marlborough family, Winston had an undeniably privileged start in life.
Educated at Harrow and Sandhurst his career charged ahead as a young cavalry officer in India, the Sudan (Battle of Omdurman) and South Africa. Brief capture by the enemy and his subsequent escape fueled useful publicity for him at an early age. Following in his father's footsteps into politics was never a problem. Although his experience of switching from Conservative to Liberals to Conservative does not have a modern equivalent.
His political career took in major offices of state in the Lloyd George wartime government and 11 years on the back benches in the inter-war years. Called to form a wartime coalition government by the King in 1940 Churchill's bulldog spirit and powerful oratory inspired the country and its allies to eventual victory. While his oratory never had the same target in his later years, he is still credited with his reference to the "iron curtain", in a 1946 speech in London.
Our PresentPerfect™ training courses demonstrate many of the tools and techniques used by Churchill.
The schedule for PresentPerfect training courses in 2009 is now available.
This month we are looking at your best ever presentation. We have five questions in an anonymous survey that should take you about three or four minutes to answer. Questions include:
- Did you volunteer to present?
- Was the presentation at a conference?
- How did you begin your presentation?