Chapter 77 A failed finish will be regrettable

I once interviewed the industrialist George F. Jansen.When I got to his office, he said to me, "You've come just in time. I'm going to give a speech. You see, I'm ready for the end of it now." "It's really good for a speaker," I said, "to have something clear in your head beforehand." "Oh," he said, "I'm only now starting to prepare for the ending. I don't have a completely clear idea in my head. I just have the general idea and the way it ends." Mr. Johnson is not a professional speaker, he just gave many successful speeches based on his own experience.He has recognized the importance of an ending to a speech and the need to reason logically and arrive at a conclusion.The conclusion is arguably the most important part of your speech.When the speaker finishes his speech, the last few words he said may still stay in the audience's mind, and these words will be remembered by the audience for a long time.

If the prologue is the takeoff of the plane, then the conclusion is the landing of the plane.I don't mean to be sensational when I say this.Speakers often make mistakes of one kind or another in the end, making their speeches "crash" when they "land" like an airplane. I hope you can "land smoothly".In order to do this, you need to avoid the following wrong endings: Some speakers often don't know how to end their speeches.They lead the audience like an unplanned trip. He leads the audience into one landscape after another, and describes the landscape in detail, but he doesn't know how to stop.Only when it was dark did he realize that it was time for him to end.Such a person does not have any conclusive words in his speech, but he has indeed delivered his speech.

This feeling is like falling into a bottomless pit. The originally happy mood is suddenly closed without warning, which makes people feel very uncomfortable. A lot of people end their speeches by saying, "That's all I can say about this." Or they say, "Thank you guys." Now that they've delivered their speeches, why don't they sit down?This kind of conclusion is like a smoke bomb they released, and they want to use it to cover up the fact that they will not make a conclusion. A speech is like an equal deal, you start by telling the audience what you want, and by the end you naturally hope that the audience will give you what you want.This is what successful speakers often do, and it's natural, and audiences usually don't say no.

It is precisely because of this kind of transaction that the audience feels involved and can arouse the audience's interest. Don't say the same thing when speaking, and don't copy the previous words in your conclusion. This kind of conclusion does not do any good and will only make the audience more annoying.Therefore, you must be careful when the audience impatiently says "here it is again". Do you know the feeling of slamming on the brakes?Do you feel comfortable?Speech is like driving a car. Driving smoothly can make people feel comfortable, but some speakers end too quickly-when the audience is still immersed in his speech and ready to listen to him continue, he rushes to the end. The speech is over.

"Is this the end?" the audience will have such a question.It's as unpleasant as a car breaking down before reaching its destination.There is no transition to this kind of conclusion. When the audience just started to feel happy, they suddenly "slammed on the brakes", and the audience didn't even understand how this conclusion came about. I have repeatedly emphasized earlier that only by speaking with confidence can good results be achieved.So, you should also pay attention to this in the conclusion part of the speech. If you say to your audience: "You can see if I'm right." Such a question is tantamount to suicide.Many speakers will ask questions in the conclusion in order to trigger another thought in the audience.I am not opposed to asking questions, the key is to see which aspects of the questions are asked.But don't try suicidal questioning like this.

If you are not sure about the main point of view you expressed, it is best not to say it, for example, "Not everything I said before is correct."Do you know how angry your audience is by saying that?It's as if the audience had worked so hard to hear your speech that it turned out to be just nonsense. Some speakers summed up more than he covered the main points, and I'm amazed how they manage to do that.You should know that the so-called conclusion is just a summary of what was said before, not another discussion. I've heard many speeches where the conclusion is longer than the main point and I've only seen the audience leave their seats one by one.Nobody will pull themselves together to listen to your second speech, on the same topic.

If your opening statement feels grand in scale and your conclusion is rushed, it may indicate that you have doubts about your point, or that you are impatient to speak. Of course, your conclusion may not be simple, but it seems very shabby compared to your beginning.That is to say, your conclusion must echo your opening part, achieve overall coordination and consistency, and don't leave the audience with a top-heavy feeling.