Finish-to-start

 

When you conclude, you have to leave your audience restless. You want them wanting more. Even better, you want them starting something new.

Start what?

Start a new way of thinking, a new journey, or even a new action.

When you speak to people your words should never be an end. They should always produce something new.

Yes, you can review quickly the points you presented in the body of your speech. This is a good way to entrench your message into their mind. Just don’t leave it at that.

If you plan on persuading and inspiring people, consider leaving them with a challenge. The challenge should be, SMART, like a goal: specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound.

In my blood donation speech mentioned before, I ended with a challenge that each person make one blood donation in the next two weeks. Do not water down your challenge with words like “consider” or “suggest”. The next time you see them, ask them if they have met your challenge yet. If not, offer them support and encouragement.

Like a finish-to-start dependency, when you conclude your speech your audience starts working on your message.