purposes of Conclusions 11.1 229
Lehrman notes, “When I teach that speech, students stop texting and start
crying.”
But memorable endings are not the exclusive property of famous speakers.
With practice, most people can prepare similarly effective conclusions. Chapter 12
offers ideas for using language to make your statements more memorable. As a
preliminary example of the memorable use of language, here is how Noelle con-
cluded her speech on phony academic institutions on the Internet:
What we have learned from all this is that we, and only we, have
the power to stop [fraudulent learning institutions]. So we don’t get
http://www.conned.^3This speaker’s clever play on “dot.com” helped her audience remember her
topic and central idea.
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.
REstatE thE main idEas In addition to reemphasizing the central idea of
the speech, the conclusion is also likely to restate the main ideas. Note how John
effectively summarized the main ideas of his speech on emissions tampering,
casting the summary as an expression of his fears about the problem and the
actions that could ease those fears:
I’m frightened. Frightened that nothing I could say would encourage
the 25 percent of emissions-tampering Americans to change their ways
and correct the factors that cause their autos to pollute disproportion-
ately. Frightened that the American public will not respond to a crucial
issue unless the harms are both immediate and observable. Frightened
that the EPA will once again prove very sympathetic to industry. Three
simple steps will alleviate my fear: inspection, reduction in lead content,
and, most importantly, awareness.^4Most speakers summarize their speech in the first part of the conclusion or as
part of the transition between the body of the speech and its conclusion.
Provide Closure
Probably the most obvious purpose of a conclusion is to bring closure—to cue
the audience that the speech is coming to an end by making it “sound finished.”
UsE VERbal oR nonVERbal CUEs to signal thE End of thE
spEECh As described in the How To box, you can use both verbal and nonver-
bal clues to let your audience know your speech is coming to the end. However,
one technique that can backfire in signaling the end of a speech is the phrase
“in conclusion.” In fact, like the techniques mentioned at the beginning of
Chapter 10, it is a pet peeve of many public-speaking instructors because of the
carelessness with which student speakers often use it. Like opening your speech
by asking a rhetorical question, signaling your closing by saying “in conclusion”