To end a speech or presentation like a pro you have to plan for it. This doesn’t happen by accident for most of us. Why conclude an awesome presentation with a whimper when you can end with a bang?
Okay, so let’s say you read my post on the 5 most boring ways to start a presentation. Now you need a little help with the conclusion.
The things people will remember the most from a speech or presentation are the beginning and especially the end.
When I first started speaking, I spent nearly all of my time on the body of the message. I didn’t plan for a real conclusion.
I tried to wing it without anything memorable. HUGE MISTAKE.
If you’re a speaking pro you can get away with not planning your conclusion but for the rest of us mere mortals, we have to plan it.
Not giving some thought to the conclusion is a lost opportunity. The conclusion needs to reinforce the meat of your message so that your audience has something specific to walk away with.
That’s me giving my first keynote speech for the Leadership School of Armenia’s graduation.
Here are 8 ways to conclude your speech or presentation like a pro:
Call To Action
Leave the audience with something to do. As a presenter or speaker, you have the opportunity to inspire people to take positive action. That’s an awesome responsibility you shouldn’t take for granted. A call to action is simply a push for an action you want the audience to take. For example, go set goals, find a new job, work smarter, find their “why”, etc.
QUESTION: What action would you want the audience to take after listening to your talk?
Challenge the audience
Similar to the Call To Action, a challenge is an attempt to push the audience past their comfort zones. Most people will not challenge themselves so we need an outside force, problem or circumstance to do it for us. According to Newton’s 1st law of motion: “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
This force applies to people too.
QUESTION: How can you challenge your audience to push past their comfort zones?
Close with a story
My favorite way to end a speech or presentation is with a story. It could be funny, serious or inspirational. The strongest conclusions are the ones that tie in a story used in the opening.
People will remember little about your presentation no matter how good it is, but stories stick with us. Stories are in our DNA. Stories can stay with us forever.
QUESTION: Is there share a short story that captures the theme of your message?
Use A memorable quote
It’s safe to say we love quotes especially from well-known people who back up our message. A memorable quote can capture the essence of your message and give the audience something to take with them.
But the key is to not use the super obvious quotes. Do some research and find special and unique quotes on sites like AtoZ Quotes or Good Reads. Find as many as possible and then choose the best one.
QUESTION: What quote can inspire the audience and remind them of what they learned?
Repeat your most Tweetable line
Make your own quotes. I’m serious. I once went through my first book “Leader By Choice” and took out my favorite quotes. I was surprised to find around 40 really good quotes or sentences some of which are Tweetable.
For your speech make a note of your strongest sentences or Tweetables and leave one for the end. If there’s one that captures your message you use it throughout your talk and then drive it home again it in your conclusion.
QUESTION: If you could summarize your key point in one sentence what would it be?
Share something personal
When presenters share a personal experience, it takes the speech to a whole new level. I once heard a Ted talk where the speaker was talking about someone who was going through some difficult emotional experiences. At the end, he revealed that it was him all along. We were shocked, but at the same time inspired. We connected.
There’s no more authentic way of connecting with an audience than with sharing something personal that ties into the talk. But don’t share something personal just to manipulate people.
QUESTION: What have you personally seen or experienced that can reinforce your message?
Be Intentional about the conclusion
Being intentional about your conclusion is absolutely the most important thing you can do. Don’t just wing it. Plan it, write it down, memorize it word for word.
I’ve given many speeches where the body was loose but I had memorized the conclusion. As you prepare your speech or presentation you can even “Start with the end in mind” by writing your conclusion first.
QUESTION: What do you want your audience to do, think or feel after listening to you?
Don’t end with a Q&A
It depends on your speech but try not to end with a Q&A.
Can you answer questions during your presentation? And if you do have a Q&A
have a closing statement after that. The reason for this is because you have no
control over what types of questions you’ll receive. Those questions might take
you off your game with not-so-relevant discussions or they’ll end on a low
note.
QUESTION: How can you incorporate Q&As during your talk?
That’s me speaking to a group of students in Armenia.
Over the years, I’ve also sat through countless boring and some terrible presentations. Sometimes people have important content to share but the delivery just isn’t there so they lose the audience quickly.
There are no boring topics only boring presenters. You don’t have to be a stellar speaker to capture the audience’s attention. But there are boring ways of starting a presentation that will ensure you ruin your opening.
As an active speaker and lecturer myself, I was on a schedule of speaking to small groups two or three times per month so I’ve made tons of mistakes and have learned a lot in the process. You can see some of my videos here and here.
Last year, I survived a week-long conference where I saw between 6 to 8 presentations per day. I took notes on the content, but whenever I got too bored I scribbled notes about best and worst things about the presentations.
So, for this post, I’ll focus on what I found the most boring ways of starting a presentation or speech because they immediately lose the audience’s attention. My follow-on post will be on better ways of starting a presentation.
You know, I really don’t understand how someone can travel somewhere to give a one-hour presentation that puts people to sleep. I find it disrespectful to the audience’s time.
As the presenter, YOU have the responsibility of keeping the audience’s attention. No excuses.
Here we go…
“Uhm… Okay, let’s start!“
The audience doesn’t have to start anything. As the speaker, you’re the one who has to start. In fact, your presentation started before you walked on stage. Audience members hear this “Uhm” so often it’s like hitting an automatic snooze button.
“Can you hear me?”
This reminds me of the cellular phone commercial “Can you hear me now?” Please don’t get on stage and ask if people can hear you. As the speaker, it’s your responsibility to ensure you know how the sound system works and that it’s working properly. Don’t wait for the sound technicians; go to them to understand it. Figure it out BEFORE you start your talk.
“Is the clicker working?”
By the end of the week at my conference, the audience members were laughing at the presenters (in a fun, not mean) because none of the speakers knew how to use the clicker. There was a big green button on the clicker, but most presenters struggled with it for the first few minutes. That’ was time wasted. Test the clicker BEFORE you go on stage or bring your own.
“So,…!“
By far this is the most popular 1st word used when starting a presentation. Is “So” a bad word? No; it’s not. But it’ so boring because it’s predictable. The opening sentence is so important because that’s where you grab the audience’s attention.
“I’m so excited to be here…“
Really? The worst part about starting like this is when the words coming out of the presenter’s mouth don’t match the boring body language and tone. Plus, we hear this opening phrase so often that by now we just ignore it. Instead of saying how excited you are how about showing it?
I’ve used all 5 of these openings multiple times so I’m not claiming to be a master orator like Winston Churchill. But thanks to these experiences I’ve learned what doesn’t work.
So, just by avoiding these 5 ways of starting a presentation/speech you’ll give your audience more opportunities for engagement right from the beginning.
Public speaking is a skill. And like any skill, it can be improved.
So, which of these opening phrases do you use most often and how can you replace it with something else?
As a leader, what are you doing to earn the respect of your people? Sometimes leaders assume that they will be respected automatically because of their titles but those days are long gone. Fortunately, there are a lot of things leaders can do to earn more respect even if they’ve lost it.
OBSERVATION: There’s a difference between a leader and being a person in a leadership position.
This distinction is important because without it there’s some confusion or maybe delusion is a better word that leadership is taking place when it’s not.
Some people assume that being in a leadership position means they will be respected automatically or will receive loyalty simply because of one’s title.
But respect is earned.
As a diplomat, we change locations every 2 or 3 years. So, I’ve had the opportunity to work in 6 different locations, 5 of which were in foreign countries. I’ve had about 15 different supervisors during my career. And I’ve also observed about 13 organizational leaders (Ambassadors and their Deputies).
In all this change I’ve seen good, bad, and ugly leadership (including from myself). So, here’s my list of the qualities for those leaders who are respected the most.
1. Respect Yourself
If you don’t respect yourself it’s impossible for others to respect you. Respecting yourself means you value yourself, your work, and the way you carry yourself. Some leaders spend too much time trying to be the office comedian, being liked, or are just too self-interested.
As a result, they give the impression they don’t respect themselves, which makes it harder for others to respect them.
2. Respect Your People
If you want respect, give it first. When leaders ASK their team members for their opinion or concerns it demonstrates a healthy amount of respect. When leaders assume that all the answers and strategies must come from them it backfires. When you involve your team in problem-solving you earn trust.
3. Take Responsibility for Your team/organization
One of the worst things is when leaders blame everyone else for failures, mess-ups, or not succeeding. It’s even worse leaders speak badly of their team members with trying to help them improve. Complaining and blaming is not a solution.
Leaders focus on results. In the book “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win” Jocko Willink says, “the most fundamental and important truths at the heart of Extreme Ownership: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”
4. Address Problems Directly and Quickly
Have you ever seen one of those emails admonishing the entire organization when it was really just one clown who did something stupid? Why not just address it with that person directly?
Leaders who address conflict and toxic employees directly and immediately get major respect. I saw one situation where a manager didn’t want to confront an employee who displayed toxic behavior because he was “a high performer.” The problem with this manager’s logic is that he gave the impression of protecting one employee at the expense of the rest of the team. I suspect the manager didn’t really think this employee was a high performer but was really scared to confront the situation head-on.
5. Protect Your People
Speaking truth to power is a barometer of character. Leaders who go out of their way to defend and protect their teams stand out. These are the leaders we trust the most and inspire us because we are drawn to their selflessness.
When we feel protected by our leaders it demonstrates they care about us. Care generates respect.
6. Do What They Say
If you’re a leader who doesn’t do what you said you’d do, it’s only a matter of time before you lose all respect. If you don’t back up your nice words with actions, why should anyone trust you?
Trust is earned. Your staff won’t say anything to your face, but they’re keeping a mental count of the things you said you’d do. So, do them.
7. Set High Standards
Leaders are the thermostats in the room meaning they are responsible for creating and protecting the culture and environment. Leaders set the standard for the culture, work ethic, how conflict is handled, attitude, team-work, etc whether they’re intentional about it or not.
8. Demonstrate Integrity
Integrity is a trait we don’t talk about a lot nowadays. But when it’s missing we have a major problem. Leaders make mistakes all the time. Yes, even great leaders make bad decisions.
But when it comes to a lack of character or integrity you lose respect instantly and without mercy. It doesn’t mean you can’t earn it back, but if there’s a pattern demonstrating a lack of integrity you’re done.
9. Create A Shared Vision
Leaders are responsible for creating the vision and then getting buy-in. Vision is not made by consensus. Create the vision instead of waiting for it to happen organically or magically. Leaders take responsibility for crafting the vision.
10. Execute
What makes Michael Jordan the G.O.A.T is not just the amount of points he scored, the number of MVPs he attained, or his All-Star appearances. What makes him stand out even among the greats is the fact that his team won each NBA championship they competed in. Six out of six.
Leaders consistently execute; not once in a while or when they feel like it or when the weather is nice out. The purpose of leading others is to get them to some preestablished victory. People want to win, so lead to win.
11. Understand and Use everyone’s strengths.
We all have strengthens and weaknesses. Leaders have a responsibility to not only know the strengths of their people but to create situations where those talents and special skills can be used more often.
When people know they will have an opportunity to use their strengths that creates more engagement and energy. It also builds more trust in that leader because we know that he/she will put the right people on the job.
I know there are more ways leaders earn respect, so tell me what I missed?
Have you ever worked with a leader or colleague whose emotions were out of control? As leaders we have emotions and that’s okay but how do you manage them?
I was listening to the farewell speech from the leader of an organization who was leaving. She gave an unexpected, yet heartfelt speech filled with professional stories that demonstrated some of the highs and lows she experienced during her tenure. Then, near the end of her talk, she couldn’t hold back tears and cried a little.
While wiping some tears from her cheek, she explained apologetically how she’d spent a career of intentionally not being emotional, especially taking pride in never letting anyone “see me cry” she said.
The person next to me at the event said he wished he had
seen this side of her during the time she was with the organization.
As a female leader, I suspect she didn’t want to feed the stereotype of being an emotional woman so she was more stoic. That’s understandable.
But men have reservations about crying in public too because we’re concerned that it’ll make us seem soft.
So, if neither men nor woman can cry, then who can?
Just kids?
There’s a big difference between showing emotions and being emotional.
If we remove our emotions, we’ve blocked our ability to be human. Without emotions, we’re just robots with skin.
Last year, someone I had supervised for about 6 months passed away in the middle of the night from natural causes. He was a young energetic family-man who had an amazing sense of humor.
He was also a servant leader that I had gotten to know both professionally but also personally since we attended the same bible study together on the weekends.
At the time, I was the Management Officer at the U.S. embassy in Yerevan, Armenia. As a Management Officer, you’re responsible for leading the teams that oversee the administrative aspects of an embassy like procurement, shipping, HR, finances, motor pool, real estate, IT, etc.
Also included, I came to learn, was coordinating the logistics for American employees who pass away overseas.
I was working with a team, but I was ultimately responsible for overseeing the return of my deceased colleague back to the United States for his autopsy and funeral. It took lots of phone calls, meetings, and international coordination to accomplish this move.
I’ll never forget the meeting where I was sitting at the head of the table discussing the logistics for my colleague’s return to back to the States for his final resting place.
As soon as I started speaking to the team, the tears started flowing down my face.
I was supposed to be leading, not crying.
But I couldn’t hold it, and I didn’t care. I cried. I stayed silent for what felt like an eternity but was probably a minute or two.
I deeply care about the people I’m supposed to lead so this felt personal. And we were all impacted this tragedy so why pretend otherwise.
Crying in front of my team, I later realized, actually made us a tighter group. At that moment, not only did they see more of my humanity, but it also gave them the freedom to grieve publicly however they wanted.
So, is it okay for leaders to show their emotions? Let’s rephrase it.
Is it okay for leaders not to show emotions?
Leaders should show their emotions because that’s part of our communication package as humans. For better or worse, Artificial Intelligence will never show authentic human emotions.
Your team should know what makes you happy, sad, frustrated, angry, etc. The key is to understand the difference between being an emotional leader versus being a leader with emotions.
The goal is to find a balance between head and heart.
In some situations, it’s okay to be all heart and in some all head, but being aware of the balance makes us more effective.
Image credit: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
How has Elon Musk achieved so much in so little time? From Tesla, to SpaceX, the solar industry, and even his impact on the banking industry which I learned about recently.
This book isn’t about leadership but I did find some traits that offer clues into Musk’s mindset which I believe helps explain how he’s achieved so much especially in industries where he had no prior experience and by doing things that were considered impossible by experts.
I can’t write book reviews because being a critic is not my thing. Most of the time, I end up focusing on what I learned and how much I enjoyed the book. So, this isn’t a book review. However, I appreciated how the author didn’t ignore Musk’s negative traits and showed him as a real and complex human being who can be loving towards friends and family and void of emotions when dealing with employees and business partners.
This is important because we can and should learn from both positive and negative examples. I’m a big believer in learning from others, but not imitating them.
So, while Musk was definitely born with some innate and atypical abilities like a near-photographic memory and the ability to learn complex mathematics there were some leadership skills that non-Iron Men like me and maybe you can learn.
So, I wrote a bunch of notes on the leadership traits I observed that have helped Musk achieve some remarkable things, but narrowed it down to the seven most powerful and consistent.
Prior to reading this book, I had no idea just how stacked the odds were against Musk’s ventures — Tesla to SpaceX. I also didn’t know about his troubled childhood in South Africa (where I’m currently living by the way).
So, here we go…
1. Bias Towards Action
Musk does not suffer from analysis paralysis in any way. Throughout the book, he’s depicted as extremely decisive. He acts quickly, maybe too quickly for some people but it’s possible that he’s this way because he can process a lot of information simultaneously. In some cases, it hurts him, but in others, his decisiveness gives him a competitive advantage. He uses science, physics and rational thinking to come up with solutions quickly without adding politics or ego into the equation (not always but most of the time).
If an employee was right and held his ground, Musk would concede, implement, and move on. The best way to describe this is as a bias towards action at all times. The advantage I saw in Musk’s bias towards action is that he would go through the experience quickly and in so doing he would receive immediate feedback on whether that decision was optimal or not. He analyzes an issue and then makes a decision instantly. The goal to make the best decision possible which is something that is controllable and not necessarily a specific outcome which is less controllable.
Then, once he makes a decision, he goes ALL in. And in that decisive process, he receives immediate feedback. Success or failure. That’s it.
Action leads to clarity.Inaction leads to doubt. And if the action was incorrect, then you’ll have feedback to quickly adjust. But if you just think and don’t take action you’ll never know what’s the right move. This reminds me of a quote I once heard, “Make a decision and then make it right.”
2. Aggressive Optimism
I really don’t know any other way to describe it other than being an aggressive optimist. In the initial stages of starting Tesla, Musk couldn’t find auto parts suppliers because the companies he approached didn’t believe Tesla would ever get far enough to actually building a car. The experts doubted him (this is a theme in his life be the way).
Musk consistently heard from suppliers, investors, and even his own employees “it can’t be done.” Those employees were quickly replaced by Musk himself who would literally do the work or project they said couldn’t be done. And if he succeeded, the employee would be fired.
Musk is a computer programmer by training, yet he wants to send 80,000 people to Mars by 2050. Without aggressive optimism, this isn’t possible. He built an electric car company without any prior knowledge or experience in the auto industry. To build a space company, he read everything he could find about rocket science and hosted roundtable discussions with experts on aeronautics, physics, space, and NASA.
I’m an optimist which means I live in a constant state of believing and expecting that things will work out for the best. But there’s a downside to this type of mindset if you’re effort doesn’t match the goals.
No work; no results.
In Musk’s version of optimism, he does everything possible to ensure that things work out for the best instead of relying on hope. Hope is not a part of his aggressive optimism.
3. Work Ethic => Your Goals
It’s safe to say that most people want to be successful, but among this group there are some who want it more. And there’s an even smaller group who will do “whatever it takes” to succeed.
I heard someone once say that if you “kind of want something then you’ll kinda get it.” No matter how much you want something, if your work ethic doesn’t match the goal, you cannot achieve it. Musk has a reputation for outworking the work. When he speaks of working 16 hours days for years he does it with so much of a “matter of fact” attitude that it seems normal.
I’m not proposing 80 to 100-hour workweeks. But we do need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves “Does my work ethic match my goals?”
Be honest with yourself.
In college, I attempted to start an internet company and the #1 reason it wasn’t successful wasn’t that the technology I needed wasn’t around or because of a lack of startup capital. It was primarily due to my insufficient effort and persistence.
Despite some investors not being 100% convinced that his ideas would work, they still invested in Musk’s ideas. But to be more exact, they didn’t invest in his companies as much as they were investing in Musk himself and his insane work ethic and commitment. If Musk didn’t succeed it would not have been for a lack of work ethic.
These early investors were convinced that Musk had the “What-Ever-It-Takes mindset to succeed. That’s a different mindset.
4. Know And Live Your Priorities
There’s a story in the book where Musk verbally assaulted one of his employees who missed a meeting because he took a few hours off to attend his child’s birth.
Musk didn’t care about his baby. This is the ugly side of Musk.
Don’t expect your boss or employer to care more about your priorities or your goals than you do.
Advocate for yourself. Fight for your priorities especially when you work with a bully-like boss like Musk.
If you don’t set and live by your own priorities others will try to dictate them for you. If you let your boss treat you like trash, they will do it. People will get away with whatever you let them get away with. One of the most important things I’m learning this year is that in life you don’t et what you deserve you get what you tolerate. And if you tolerate others setting your priorities you’ll accept.
Musk knows his priorities. Your boss knows his/her priorities. Do you know and live your priorities? Without knowing and living your priorities you’re just wondering around like a lost child.
5. Know Your Mission
Within minutes of meeting the woman who would become his second wife, Musk was talking about space travel and showing her videos of rocket launches.
Did she find it weird? Probably.
But when people are passionate or excited about something it doesn’t really matter what it is. Passion is contagious.
There’s a shortage of people in this world with a passion, excitement, or inner fire for something that’s important to them. Musk assigned himself a mission. He made it his personal responsibility to give humanity a plan B—life on Mars.
Is it crazy? Absolutely! But it doesn’t matter because it’s important to him.
Most big ideas are crazy until someone actually accomplishes them. The takeaway here is to consider assigning or creating your own mission and going after that. Or find someone working on something you truly care about and help them.
This reminds me of the quote from the theologian Howard Thurman who said,
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. “
From a career perspective, do you really want to spend your prime years working on stuff you don’t care about? My guess is no.
So, what do YOU care about and why? How can you invest more time in doing things you truly care about? There’s a chapter in my book dedicated to finding one’s mission.
6. Solve Big Problems
Musk believes that it’s a waste of time for smart engineers and programmers to work on dumb apps or ways to get people to follow clickbait on the internet. I feel the same way.
Former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang talks a lot about this problem too.
One of the things I admire about Musk is his obsession with focusing on big problems.
He believes that one of the most important things we can do for our future is to end our addiction to fossil fuels and exploit the Sun’s free energy. Musk also believes that colonizing mars will give humans a plan B in case things don’t work out here on lovely planet Earth.
For Musk, the purpose of technology is to improve the quality of life and not just our convenience.
As leaders, it’s critical that we divert more time, resources, and energy to SOLVING big problems and not just pointing them out.
And each one of us is uniquely positioned with certain knowledge, abilities, and experiences to solve problems. This reminds me of the boy from Nairobi who found a clever way to stop Lions from entering his property to eat his family’s cattle.
But you don’t have to colonize Mars. Maybe there’s a problem in your community, company, or home that you can solve. Problem-solving is a skill; therefore it’s something that can be improved.
7. Focus On Causes Of Problems, Not the Symptoms
It’s safe to say that Musk is a genius for things like physics and maybe programming (he found better programmers than him so maybe not so much). But one of the areas where his genius came to life was in how methodical and scientific he was portrayed when it comes to solving complex problems.
With the approach of a scientist, Musk is infamous for asking for the detailed physics on why something didn’t work. By focusing on the “physics” what he’s doing is getting to the root cause why a rocket launch didn’t succeed or why a battery overheated in a Tesla.
Musk has no time for distractions or noise.
Like a laser, he goes straight to the cause of the problem and then does everything possible to attack that ONE issue. Once that issue is resolved, he moves on to the next thing causing problems and so on.
Have you ever been in meetings where people spend the majority of the more time debating the symptoms of a problem while avoiding the actual cause?
Problem-solving is an art, but also a skill that can be developed by asking good questions, listening, and being obsessed with solutions instead of politics or egos.
There were a lot of gems I took from Musk’s life in this book. Even in the areas where he has had some major character shortcomings, there’s a lot I can learn. Do I agree with everything Musk has said and done? Absolutely, not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from each other.
So, do any of these 7 leadership traits resonate with you?
BEFORE YOU GO…
Learning about Elon Musk is great, but we could be reading about YOU? What do you want to achieve with this one crazy life you have?
If you liked this post and are curious about building your own leadership skills then check out my book “Leader by Choice“. I have an audio version too.
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“I think everyone can benefit from reading this, but especially those who feel they are held back by their past.”
“I read a lot of leadership books but few are as accessible, personal, and action-oriented as this one.”
“This was just the book I needed (as someone who has been in middle management for a while, but feeling stuck. Mid life!).”
“Leader by Choice is a must read! Do yourself, or someone you care about, a favor and order the paperback version of this book.”
