In this lesson, we're going to talk about wrapping up our presentation into a nice tidy little bow. We've all been to presentations that suddenly and without warning, a speaker says something without any notice like, well, that's all I've got, perhaps a slide with questions suddenly appears on the screen. These sorts of dumb endings ruin all the good groundwork you've laid. So let's talk about some ideas about what you can do instead. First of all, we need to signal when we're transitioning between sections of our presentation, whether it's between key messages or signaling that we are wrapping up. We can do this quite simply by using words such as, as I conclude this presentation, or to wrap up today's discussion.
I sometimes insert a blank screen between sections as a subtle cue that I'm transitioning. The handouts obviously don't need these slides. This sets up a brief recap of each of our key messages. If you had a compelling opening that asked a question or left an idea open, make sure you close the loop on these loose ends. Hopefully we're getting much closer to answering your question I posed to you at the outset of this course, what makes for an effective presentation? After summing up our presentation, don't forget to convey a call to action.
Tell the audience exactly what you want them to do with this information. Remember, we began by stating a purpose to our presentation. And now we want to call upon our audience to act upon our purpose using such words as I encourage you to or I ask that you try to think of a statement that is quote worthy. For example, Winston Churchill said, Let men still say this was their finest hour. Finally, it's usually appropriate to recognize your audience who have given you one of their most valuable resources there. Time.
You can also thank or recognize anyone who had helped participated or invited you to the presentation. Hopefully, you can use a little more imagination than what I have presented on the screen before you to finish off your presentation. even use a blank screen so that their eyes returned to you and your audience can see you and feel your gratitude and your expression is better than what I'm showing here. So in this short lesson about how to wrap up your presentation, there are three points to remember. First of all, signal the end is near. And second, recap each of your key messages.
And third, articulate a call to action to your audience in words worthy of quoting. In this case, I want you to imagine sending off your audience like someone might send off a carrier pigeon, fly little bird fly. In our next lesson, we're gonna talk about how you present. Until then, I'm Blair cook