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How to Conclude a Speech

Last Updated: May 15, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gale McCreary . Gale McCreary is the Founder and Chief Coordinator of SpeechStory, a nonprofit organization focused on improving communication skills in youth. She was previously a Silicon Valley CEO and President of a Toastmasters International chapter. She has been recognized as Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year and received Congressional recognition for providing a Family-Friendly work environment. She has a BS in Biology from Stanford University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 117,418 times.

The last moments are where a good speech can be made. If you want to leave your audience stunned, you can learn the basics needs of a good conclusion, as well as some tactics for ending creatively. You can also learn what techniques to avoid.

Things You Should Know

Summarize the main points of your speech to remind listeners what they've learned.
Recall something from the introduction so your speech comes full circle.
Thank your audience for attending and listening.

Concluding Your Speech

Step 1 Summarize the main points you made throughout the speech.

Use the chance to repeat your thesis a final time, if necessary. What's the one thing you hope someone remembers from your speech? What's the one thing that needs to be learned?
In informal speeches, repeating the main points won't be necessary. If you're giving a toast at a wedding, you don't need to run back through a list of the great things about the groom.

If you started the speech by drawing a sad portrait of a recently returned veteran who couldn't get work, or health insurance, and ended up in dire straits, that can be a heart-breaking intro. Pick back up with the story in conclusion to let you know where that vet is now.
Any kind of reference can work. If you started a speech with a quote by Thomas Paine, end with more about Thomas Paine. The bookend technique is an excellent way of signaling the end for the audience.

Put a face on things. Case studies and personal examples are extremely effective in helping an audience connect with a complicated issue or topic.
Some people like to use this technique for the introduction, but it can be unexpected and even more effective to wait and use it at the conclusion, especially for speeches that are a little bit shorter.

Step 4 Use a signal phrase from your title.

"We can turn back the oceans and stop the warming of our planet. It's not too late, as the title of my speech promises. It's not too late for any of us."

Step 5 Don't be afraid of using the phrase "in conclusion."

It's also appropriate to use a "thank you" as the very last thing that you say: "We must continue fighting the good fight on climate change, for our children, for our economy, and for ourselves. Thank you." Cue applause.
Sometimes, it's also appropriate to ask for questions if the occasion calls for it. People should be sure your speech is over, but if people seem hesitant, it's ok to say, "I'd be happy to take questions, if anyone has them."

Nailing the Ending

Step 1 Slow down the speed of your speech at the end.

"The fight for climate change (pause ) is a fight (pause) that we must (pause) win. Our children (pause). Our children's children (pause). Demand it."

Return to the story of the veteran struggling to find work. With the sorts of infrastructure you're calling for in your speech, maybe he could be working a specific job, and getting into his own house, and even starting to plant a garden in the yard, something he always wanted to do. Dream a little, and let your audience do the same.

"We must do this for our children, we must do this for our neighbors, we must do this for America, we must do this for the world, we must do this for the oceans, we must do this for the forests..."
"Politicians can't legislate this. Architects can't build this. Artists can't dream this. Developers can't innovate this. Only you can do this."

Address the audience specifically. Start using "you" toward the end of the speech, or address an individual in the audience to help bring it home.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

"Well, that's pretty much it."
"That's it."
"I'm done."

When the speech is over, don't keep talking. Even if you just remembered a point you forgot to make a few minutes ago, don't launch back into the speech when people are clapping, or once they're finished. When the speech is over, let it be over. If there's a chance for Q & A, then get to it then.

Step 3 Don't apologize, even self-deprecatingly.

Some speeches can be leavened with a bit of humor in the ending. If you've just given a particularly touching toast at a wedding, it might be good to release a bit of the tension with a well-placed gag. Probably not so much for a professional presentation.

Community Q&A

Don't overwrite it. After your first few drafts, sit back and let it rest a few days. Then come back to your ending with new perspective. Pretend that you are listening to someone else say it for the first time. Read it like you will at the event. Then go back to editing. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0
Catch your audience's attention. Use a shocking fact, or statistic that will leave the listeners thinking and will urge them to action. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/introductions-and-conclusions
↑ https://westsidetoastmasters.com/article_reference/12_ways_to_end_your_speech.html
↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-conclude-a-presentation
↑ https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-communications/chapter/conclusion/
↑ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/best-call-action-speech-examples-mitch-carson?trk=public_profile_article_view
↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/avoid-these-common-speech-mistakes-1

About this article

To conclude a speech, try summarizing the main points you made throughout it so you can remind the listener what you want them to learn or take away. In some cases, you can use the conclusion to recall the introduction, showing how the speech comes full circle. Or, if you have a catchy title, work it into the conclusion to grab your audience's attention. You can also signal the ending by thanking the audience for listening or simply stating “In conclusion” to let your listeners know it’s time to wrap up. To put extra emphasis on your ending, slow your speech to get people to perk up and really hear your final points. To learn how to use your conclusion as a call to action, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

Writing the Conclusion of a Speech

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

One of the best ways to conclude a speech is to tie the conclusion into the introduction. For example, you might begin your speech by telling a suspenseful story that relates to your topic, but save the end of the story for the very end of your speech. Or refer back to the same quotation. Or refer to the joke that you told. Any of these strategies will give your speech a sense of connection and closure, and will leave the audience with a great final impression.

If you are delivering a persuasive speech, you might try a slightly different ending because your goal is not just to be remembered, it’s to inspire people to take action. One way to do this is to issue a call-to-action. This means that you specifically tell your audience what actions you expect them to take related to your speech. Another way to inspire action with the conclusion of your speech is to appeal to their emotions. If you create a desired emotion within your audience, and then leave them with that emotion, they will take that emotion with them. For example: If you leave them feeling guilty about not-recycling by painting a bleak picture about the state of the Earth that their grandchildren will live in, then they might recall that emotion the next time they choose not to recycle and alter their behavior.

Leaving a strong final impression is the most important aspect of the conclusion, but their are some other necessary steps as well:

Making a smooth transition from the body of the speech to the conclusion is crucial. To do this, use a signpost known as a concluding statement. The most common concluding statements include: “in conclusion”, “I leave you with”, “finally today”, and other similarly obvious endings.
Just as it is important to preview a speech in the introduction, it is important to summarize the speech in the conclusion. The more the audience hears your main points, the more likely they are to remember them. By previewing, discussing, and summarizing your main points your audience will be exposed to them at least three times during your speech.

A good conclusion should be about 5-10% of the total speech length. Anything shorter that 5% means that the ending has come too abruptly. Anything more that 10%, and the audience may become restless. This brings up another point: If it sounds like a conclusion, you need to finish your speech in a reasonable amount of time. The conclusion is not the place to add new material.

Effective ways to end a speech

Summarize the main speech topics or main points.
Repeat a few keywords or phrases by using the rhetorical figure of speech repetition.
State how your points prove your general and specific goal.
Restate and reinforce the central idea.
Repeat the tie between the needs and interests of the listeners, and your thesis.
Refer back to an anecdote or quotation in the introduction text.
Offer a so-called moral of the story.
Call them to act and offer them how-to-do-it steps.
List the benefits or available applications; very effective ways to end a speech.
Restate the problem and provide your solution in two sentences.
Visualize the outcome of your call to action with a prop or visual aid.
Transform your central idea or even the discourse title into an easy to remember slogan.
Recite a couple of lines from songs, poems or citations and quotes from a historical presentation.
End with a heart-felt human interest story in which all comes together.
Finish with a clinching personal anecdote.
Close with an illustrative design example.
End with a joke or funny remark. Must say that only choose these ways to end a speech if it’s really funny.
Connect your speech topics with the common grounds and thoughts of the public speaking audience. This way to end a speech brings the overall speech topic in their hearts and minds.
Ask a rhetorical question and answer with an easy to remember oneliner.
Give the ultimate answer on an important question you proposed earlier in your introduction.
Surprise with a shocking fact or figure that empahizes the need for change.
Draw the contours of the ideal situation you propose. Visualize that they will see paradise if they do, think or act as you want.