Lemme ask you something Greenblasters:

Have you ever been in the audience at a conference or workshop, and the speaker was… pretty good? Great, even?

But then, at the end of their talk, it just kinda… fell flat?

Ending a talk awkwardly - with no clear “closer” - is one of the biggest mistakes I see onstage, and one I’ve made myself too many times to count.

So to save you from that, I’m gonna explain why NOT having a solid closer is hurting your talk’s impact and costing you opportunities, and how to end with a BANG instead of a whimper. (s/o T.S. Eliot)

***BTW, if you don’t feel like reading this whole thing, I totally get it. Here’s the secret upfront:

End your talk by saying:

“I’ll leave you with this:

{A quote or sentence that sums up why the work you taught them is so powerful and important}.

Thank you.”

If you want some more context, read on!***

Why endings matter

So I don’t know how to say this but:

I’m a pretty cool guy. Why, you ask? Well:

I play in a mostly dad-based, mostly Jewish-based cover band in downtown Toronto with my old baseball buddies. We’re called Made U A Mixtape, and we play “music from the CD era”, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, mostly classic rock type ish.

(Sorry ladies, I’m married.)

ANYway, I tell you all this because:

When we rehearse as a band, we always practice the endings of our songs, to try to make them as exciting, sharp, and flourish-y as possible.

Because as all musicians know:

• A good ending can save a mediocre song performance, because it’s the last thing the audience remembers, and the cue for them to start applauding.

• And a shitty, tepid ending can ruin the audience’s enjoyment of a song that was cookin’, and then they feel slightly cheated and their reaction usually reflects that.

Same goes for public speaking:

You need to end with a BANG, otherwise the audience will feel slightly cheated - even if they don’t know why.

How to end with a BANG

In my Signature Workshop Structure, I teach speakers to spend the final 5 minutes of their workshop on:

• a CTA (call to action)

• and lately, I’ve added a CLOSER

A CTA is: telling the audience how they can follow up with you at the end, if they’re interested to learn more, or in working with you. (Hint: leads. More gigs. Good.)

It’s WAY too often left out of a talk, and if you want to make the most out of your workshop you MUST include one. (I use Talkadot for this).

However:

A CTA is no way to end a talk.

If you end there, it makes the audience feel like the entire workshop was just a promotion for your coaching course or whatever, and even if that’s common practice, it cheapens the experience for them.

This is where the CLOSER comes in:

How to close your talk:

When you’ve done your CTA (“Come talk to me after this” or “Download the QR code onscreen and fill out the survey to get the freebie”m etc.), say:

“I’ll leave you with this.”

Then, say:

“A quote or sentence that sums up the spirit & reiterates the Big Idea of your workshop, so they’re reminded about the power of what you taught them and why it matters”

Finally, say:

“Thank you.”

Then look them in the eye, and accept their thunderous applause with grace.

Then get the hell offstage.

After my “Story First” workshop for Entrepreneur’s Organization (above), where my Big Idea was:

“Your Origin Story is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the world”

…I ended with this closer:

“I’ll leave you with a quote from Brené Brown:

‘One day you’ll tell your story, and it’ll be someone else’s survival guide.’

Thank you.”

And THANK YOU, dear reader, for your precious time and attention - even if before this you were watching sports highlights or makeup tutorials or scrolling LinkedIn. I’m not judging you, although the Lord Almighty will! Just kidding.

I wanted to tell you though:

I’m releasing an online video course called ‘Paid To Speak: Create your Signature Workshop for more income, more leads, and more general badass-ery”

Or something. Still working the kinks out, but I have a feeling it’s gonna be awesome. Stay tuned!

Greenblast… OUT 🚀