I was at a conference in London a few weeks ago and witnessed a truly poor ending to a presentation.
“Are there any questions before I head off?”
“No?”
“Good, I must have been comprehensive in that case.”
It was so bad that I found it almost hypnotic to observe.
(He also sounded like Gareth Keenan from the ‘The Office’ but this is not critical to the story.)
The presentation had been pedestrian anyway.
But the close made the whole thing feel like a waste of time.
Let’s unpick his wording.
“Are there any questions before I head off?”
He placed greater emphasis on the words ‘head off.’
He sounded like he would rather not answer questions.
He was clearly already in the departure lounge.
Want questions? Sound like you mean it.
Don’t want questions? Copy this guy.
“No?”
He said ‘no’ almost instantly.
Instead, he should have paused for a few moments.
It takes time for the audience to reflect and move into question mode.
There may have been a possibility of questions but he shut it down.
If you do want questions, pause.
It often takes a while for them to flow.
“Good, I must have been comprehensive in that case.”
Deep down, he knew he wasn’t comprehensive.
We knew he wasn’t comprehensive.
He knew we knew.
We knew he knew.
Not a smart thing to say generally – certainly not here.
Conclusion
Always give careful thought to your closing remarks.
A good close can lift a presentation.
A weak one drags it down.
When you ask for questions, sound like you mean it.
And give the audience time to respond.
Your closing remarks deserve as much preparation as your opening.
Looking for more presentation tips, why not check out the following article on why distance slows connection and how to bridge the gap…
