A closing remark is the last sentence, paragraph or concluding part of your speech or presentation. They are also referred to as ‘concluding remarks’. In a speech/presentation, the outset and the conclusion are 2 essentials. It leaves an impact on the audience and makes your speech/presentation eloquent. We have written an article on opening lines in speech writing, read this article to know how to begin your speech perfectly. Every speech or presentation comes with an objective and something to take away from it. The point is that if you don’t end your speech appropriately the main essence of your speech/presentation will be forgotten and dispersed just as quickly. The closing remark will be your last chance to be innovative and make up for the missing bits if any. The limit of your closing remark must last between 10% to 15% of your speech. So for instance, if your speech is a 7-minute speech your closing remark must last for at least a minute. Have a speech coming up? Get the ULTIMATE Public Speaking Checklist to ensure you are 100% ready for it. (Printable PDF)
The main purpose of closing remarks is, it lets the audience know that the speech is supposed to end.It helps to summarize your speech in short and accentuate the main points of your speech. Also, research suggests that the audience often remembers the end closing part precisely than the entire speech. A powerful speech ending does 40% of your work. It’s also not easy to write a ‘Closing remark’. You have to think and choose the right words that hit hard and leave a mark. Here’s a detailed video we have made of some amazing speech ending lines you can get inspiration for your own speech: This remark is to re-energize your audience towards your speech/presentation. When the speaker ends his speech it should have such an impact that they remember your words and do something with that motivation. Motivational speeches can be given on a variety of topics. We have written an article about ‘How to give a motivational speech on leadership to students’. You can check it out to get a better idea. This is just one example of how to go about it.
In this remark, the speaker ends with a piece of advice for the audience. It’s more subjective than objective. This is more like a suggestion/tip.
Adding humour to your speech will make the audience lively and enthusiastic. If you leave the audience laughing at the end of your speech you will leave on a positive note and they will most probably leave with a good impression of you and your words. 
This is the most common remark and can be utilized in most of the closing remarks. Call- to- action is simply requesting your audience to take a step forward and take action towards the theme of your speech.
Make your CTA direct and don’t hint at it, this may induce confusion.
Why is it a must, you may ask? This is because the audience may have listened to your entire speech but until and unless you won’t take the initiative and be upfront not everyone is compelled to take action.
Leonardo DiCaprio in this speech is asking the audience and people to take action to put a price tag on carbon emissions and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies.
This closing remark can be one of a kind for the audience. In this kind of a remark the speaker can undertake an activity that will help the audience understand the theme of the speech with an act of creativity. For instance, the speaker can make use of his talents to showcase his message through them. Like singing, doing a trick or playing a quiz with the audience.
Sparsh Shah a 13 year old boy who ends his inspiring speech with a song and rap wants to tell the audience that nothing is impossible in life. He uses music as a closing remark to end his speech in a heartening way.
Meetings are often compulsory as compared to presentations or speeches. They can be called at any time and are mostly informal. Whereas, a conference is formal and has a specific time and place, where it is conducted. But in both of them, the purpose is to plan and execute. So end your closing remarks with action. For example- Reiterate the actions that need to be executed so that the actions will remain fresh and can be recalled easily. Here is a pro-tip, do not drag the meeting/conference over time and then rush up to close the conference. This will make no room for your closing remark and many things will remain unsaid even if you manage to close the meeting/conference in a rush.
As the heading suggests the closing remark for a school activity will be for school kids so try not to use too many technical terms or make it complicated. Keep the remarks simple and fun. Here the speaker can use the Activity remark mentioned in the types of closing remarks. It is creative, engaging and hence the kids will connect more to fun activities rather than to boring long remarks. For example- The speaker can use the Q & A method to end or play a quiz and include all the points mentioned in their speech/activity.
Workshops come with an intent to teach and for the audience to learn. So make your closing remarks interactive. You can ask questions like ‘What is your take-away from this workshop?’ This will let the audience ponder over what they learnt during the entire span of the workshop. One more way to end is by requesting the audience to fill out the feedback form and cater step by step guidance.
Since a zoom meeting/webinar is a virtual platform, there are chances the speaker might not see all the audience or ‘participants’ of the meeting but everyone can see the speaker. So this may also fall as a disadvantage in the speaker’s case but don’t let this demotivate you. In your closing remark, you can add a poll that is a feature of zoom to know how many of them are listening. Before closing the webinar, leave your Twitter or Facebook handles so that if the audience has questions they can connect with you on these platforms.
A ceremony is more of a large scale event with too many decorations, music, and arrangements. Keep in mind though, these things are not what the audience will want to leave with, so what you say last will be the end of what they take-away. Therefore, in a ceremony, you can use any one of the types of closing remarks mentioned above. For example- You can use ‘The expository remark’ where you can share your own story to make your closing remark relatable and two-sided.
