Speech 1010

Public Speaking
Mrs. Christianson
Developing a Conclusion
Understand the Purposes of
Conclusions
Your introduction creates an important first
impression; your conclusion leaves an equally
important final impression.
An effective conclusion will serve four
purposes:
Summarize the speech
Reemphasize the main idea in a memorable
way
Motivate the audience to respond
Provide closure
Summarize the Speech
A conclusion is your last chance to
repeat your main ideas for the audience.
Most speakers summarize their speech
in the first part of the conclusion or
perhaps even in transition between the
body of the speech and its conclusion
Reemphasize the Central Idea in a
Memorable Way
Another purpose of a conclusion is to restate
the central idea of the speech in a memorable
way.
The end of your speech is your last chance to
impress the central idea on your audience.
Do it in such a way that they cannot help but
remember it.
How can you end your speech in a
memorable way?
Motivate the Audience to
Respond
One of your tasks in an effective introduction is to
motivate your audience to listen to your speech.
Creating motivation is also a necessary function
of an effective conclusion not motivation to
listen, but motivation to respond to the speech in
some way.
If your speech is informative, you may want the
audience to think about the topic or to research it
further.
If your speech is persuasive, you may want your
audience to take some sort of appropriate action
write a letter, buy a product, make a telephone
call, or get involved in a cause.
In fact, an action step is essential to the
persuasive organizational strategy called the
motivated sequence.
Provide Closure
Probably the most obvious purpose of a
conclusion is to let the audience know that the
speech has ended.
Speeches have sound finished.
You can obtain closure both verbally and
nonverbally.
Verbal techniques include using such transitions
as finally, for my last point, and in conclusion.
A concluding transition needs to be followed
quickly by the final statement of the speech.
Provide Closure (continued)
You can also signal closure with one or more
nonverbal cues:
Pausing between the body of your speech
and its conclusion
Slowing your speaking rate
Moving out from behind the podium to make
a final impassioned plea to your audience
Indicating with falling vocal inflection that
you are making your final statement
Develop an Effective Conclusion
Effective conclusions may employ illustrations,
quotations, personal references, or any of the
other methods used for introductions.
Illustrations or anecdotes They can help the
audience focus on the main point of your speech
and hold their attention. A personal illustration used
in a conclusion will also reinforce your credibility.
Startling facts or statistics They can help your
audience remember afterward what you had to say.
Quotations They serve same purpose as a
quotation in an introduction.
Develop an Effective Introduction
(continued)
Humor A humorous conclusion puts the audience
in a relaxed frame of mind so that they leave with a
sense of enjoyment at what you have told them and
goodwill toward you as a speaker.
Questions Using a rhetorical question to open a
speech focuses the audiences attention. Using it in
a conclusion keeps your speech in the audiences
mind as they try to answer the question.

In addition, there are two distinct ways of concluding
a speech: with a reference to the introduction and
with an inspirational appeal or challenge.
Refer to the Introduction
Finishing a story, answering a rhetorical question,
and reminding the audience of the startling fact or
statistic you presented in the introduction are
excellent ways to provide closure.
A related introduction and conclusion provide
unified support for the ideas in the middle.
Alluding to the introduction in your conclusion will
make your speech memorable and motivate the
audience to respond.
Issue an Inspirational Appeal or
Challenge
Another way to end your speech is to issue an
inspirational appeal or challenge to your
listeners, rousing them to a high emotional
pitch.
The conclusion becomes the climax.
An inspiring conclusion should reemphasize
your central ideas in a memorable way,
motivate your audience to respond, and
provide closure to your speech.
Recap
Techniques for Developing an Effective Conclusion:
Use an illustration or anecdote
Use a personal anecdote to reinforce your
credibility
Present startling facts or statistics
Use an appropriate quotation
Use humor
Use a rhetorical question
Refer to the introduction
Issue an inspirational appeal or challenge.
Recap
Purposes of Conclusions
Purpose Technique
Summarize your
speech

Reemphasize the
main idea in a
memorable way

Motivate the audience
to respond

Provide closure
Tell the audience what you told them.

Use a well-worded closing phrase.
Provide a final illustration, quotation, or
personal reference.

Urge the audience to think about the
topic or to research it further.
Suggest appropriate action.

Use verbal and nonverbal transitions.
Refer to your introduction
Ethics Question
Brenda, who is from a rural area in Kentucky, is
now a student at a prestigious college in Boston,
Massachusetts. She has to deliver a speech to
her classmates.

Is it ethical for her to deliver her speech using the
Boston dialect, even though she uses her original
speech patterns with friends and when she
returns to Kentucky?

Why or why not?