Crafting a convincing conclusion

No writer of a story would start to put down words until he knew exactly how his story was to end. He must plan to bring about a certain conclusion. The hero and heroine must be united in marriage. The scheming villain must be brought to justice. Or if he scorn the usual ending of the “lived happily ever after” kind of fiction, he can plan to kill his hero and heroine, or both; or he can decide for once that his story shall be more like real life than is usually the case, and have wickedness triumph over virtue. Whatever he elects to do at the conclusion of his story, whether it be long or short, the principle of his planning is the same—he must know what he is going to do and adequately prepare for it during the course of, previous events.And the writer must secure that the ending of his book must be the most interesting part of it. It must rise highest in interest. It must be surest of appeal. Otherwise, the author runs the risk of not having people read his book through to its conclusion.Every book is written in the hope that it will be read through. A book which fails to hold the attention of its readers defeats its own purpose.

The above statements are self-evident, but they are set down because their underlying principles can help you prepare the conclusion of your speeches.

Is a Conclusion Necessary? But before we use them let us ask whether all speeches require conclusions.

There are some people who habitually end their speeches by adding some such expression as “I think thats all I can say. Thank you!”

In Toastmasters Philippines, we discouraged ending our speeches that way.

Is there any sense ending speech that way? When a speaker has said all he has to say, should he not simply stop and sit down? Will that not indicate quite clearly that he has finished his speech? What effect would such an ending have?

Ending speech with ‘that’s all” or “I guess I have to end my speech now because I have already said a lot of things and I do not have anything to say” may actually project that

1. the speaker is rude. He has just thrown his material at us, and all of a sudden he will just say that he has nothing more to throw. He left us hanging. We do not know what to do with what he has just given us. It was like him slamming the door at us because he wants to be out of us office soon.

2.The speaker is not clear, not emphatic, and not even sure of the purpose of his speech. He may have been quite plain and effective during the course of his discussion but we hear his speech only once. Can he trust our recollection of what he has tried to express? Will we carry away exactly what he wants us to retain? Has he made the main topics, the chief purpose, stand out prominently enough? Can he merely stop speaking? These are quite important aspects that will break or make his speech and his standing with us.

3. the speaker gives the impression that he has not actually “finished” his speech. No one cares for unfinished articles, whether they be dishes of food, pieces of furniture, poems, or speeches. A speech is a carefully organized and constructed product; it is always a beneficial to make a conclusion either by summarizing your points, calling to action, or both. A good conclusion gives an impression of completeness, of an effective product. Audiences are delicately susceptible to these impressions.

So, next time, observe your self when you give your conclusion. Bad conclusion kills the best intentions of the speaker. Don’t allow it to happen to you.