Happiness Millionaire Retreat Training: Toastmaster Powerful Speech Endings

How The Right Speech Ending Will Turn You Into A More Powerful Speaker

Knowing your audience is essential to your success but understanding that in your audience there will be people who are on life’s hamster wheel. In fact, we all get on board at certain times in our life. Some stay on it forever. Unless they hear an inspiring speaker who ignites change in how they think or come up with a solution to their problem that they wouldn’t have otherwise thought of.

The thing is, you never know who in your audience is going so fast on the hamster wheel that they are about to fall off and BOOM!

You see, it is your job as the speaker to help people find solutions to their problems, not any old solution but an inspiring one, a life-changing one. Your final words are capable of influencing your audience to think and act differently, which will change their lives. Speakers are change makers.

In this blog, let's look at creative and inspiring ways to end your speech to leave your audience feeling better about themselves, more confident and happy. A feeling like anything is possible.

That is the job we have as speakers.

Very often it is your final words that your audience remembers the most, so let’s take a look at some ideas of how you can influence your audience for the better and help them.

1. Call To Action.

Your audience is there to be inspired. They are looking to do something different, which is why they are listening to you. So don’t leave them high and dry with no direction, you need to lead them to the next thing.

2. Tell a short story.

Everyone loves a story. Stories help people to connect, empathize and trust. If you get the right story, they can also summarise the point you are making in your talk in a really powerful way.

3. Rhetorical Question

This engages your audience and leaves them thinking and pondering your message. For example – you may ask your audience ‘Can we afford to do this? Or can we afford not to?’ or if you are inspiring your audience to change, you might ask ‘when is NOW the right time to become your best self?’

4. Use quotations

Quotations are inspiring and trustworthy. They are like a short story. They are usually from an old philosopher such as Socrates, Voltaire, Nietzsche or Thoreau to name just a few.

Oprah winds up her Harvard Commemorative speech with this quote by Theologian, Howard Therman;

‘Don’t ask yourself what the world NEEDS, ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world needs is people who have come alive’!

Another one of my favourite ones at the moment is by Picasso

‘Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone’

Kind of makes you want to take action immediately, doesn’t it?

5. Refer to the beginning of the speech

This is a great way to rounding up all the points you have made in your speech and confirm that your audience has both understood you and is onboard with your ideas.

6. Thank you

I feel I need to cover ending your speech with ‘thank you’. After all the research I did in creating this blog I discovered that most of the great, influential thinkers, all thank their audience. It isn’t a recommended ending in Toastmasters and a lot of other speaker training, which makes it slightly controversial. However, watch Les Brown, Oprah in her keynote speech, Brian Tracy (great for inspiring sales), Jim Rohn – they all thanked their audience, but what they did before, was inspire them with stories, quotes, and great wisdom. Use this carefully.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

- Memorise your ending - Memorize both your beginning and your ending. You want to capture your audience at both points so they believe in you and will take action on what you say.

- End on time - there is nothing worse than a speaker going over time. If there is another speaker coming on after you, then they are rushed to finish their slot on time. It is also rude, as members of your audience will have busses or trains to catch or perhaps it is lunchtime and they are hungry! You will definitely lose your audience if they are hungry as their mind will be on food, not you.

- Refrain from adding new points - this is the speaker bore, and really shows someone who hasn't put in the hours of preparation. It is said that for every one minute speaking there should be an hour of preparation.

So remember, you never know who in your audience may be on the hamster wheel and your words can literally change their life. Practice, practice, practice and be your best. Most of all, commit to getting better.

I am going to leave you with this thought. What are you NOW going to do differently to step into your best speaker self?'

Janet Jones
Your friend and mentor.

Written by Janet Jones