First of all, DO NOT close with questions from the audience. You have no
control over which question will be asked or if your answer will be inspirational.
And you certainly don’t want your presentation to dribble out like this
(weakly)..”well. if there are no further questions..I guess.. I’m...done. Am I
done? Alright, then...good night.”
Your Closing Remarks need to mean something..to call the troops to action..or
to get them thinking. Don’t take them lightly. And, don’t ad lib. The world’s
best entertainers, politicians, and trial lawyers don’t ad lib. They rehearse.
So, rule number one is, “Know your closing story by heart...be
passionate...confident...and DO NOT read it from notes. Here are some
examples.
WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN YOU’VE HAD A GREAT YEAR AND YOU
WANT NEXT YEAR TO BE EVEN BETTER?
We’ve done very well and I am very proud of all of you. But, how do we push the
envelope and come up with new ideas? How do we surpass ourselves? Well, Nolan
Bushnell, the founder of Atari Games said “everyone who’s ever take a shower has a
brilliant idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something
about it who makes all the difference”. So, I say.. shower often and dry off here!
WHAT IF YOU WANTED TO CLOSE WITH SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR
COMPETITION.
I heard a story about a traveler who visited a Greek monastery that was perched high
on a steep mountain. The only way to reach the monastery was in a rope basket. The
traveler got into the basket, and just as he was about to be taken up the steep cliff
wall, he noticed that the rope lifting the basket was frayed. He asked the monk. “How
often is the rope replaced?” The monk said, “every time it breaks”. That has been the
attitude of (your competition). I say..let’s replace the rope before it breaks and take
our rightful position as number one in this industry!
WHEN YOU WANT TO INSPIRE CREATIVIY, USE THIS ONE.
We need to look around and get creative. See things that others don’t see. How many of
you know the story of Betty Nesmith? Well, in l951, Betty was a secretary who realized
that the electric typewriter, while it was a wonderful office too, seemed to also multiply
typing errors. So she concocted a mixture of water based paint and a coloring agent that
matched the bank’s stationary. Soon everyone wanted to use Betty’s correction fluid. By
l956, she quit her bank job and sold the fluid full time. In l979, Gillette bought her Liquid
Paper Corporation for 47.5 million dollars. The sole heir to her fortune is her son,
Michael Nesmith, leader of the 60’s rock group THE MONKEES.
What opportunities are right under our noses? What lemon could we turn into
lemonade? While our competition is sleeping, what can wee do that would really
make them squirm? That is our challenge this year. And, I can’t wait to see how we
meet it! Thank you.
LET’S SAY YOU WANT TO RELAY YOUR APPRECIATION FOR
EVERYONE’S CONTRIBUTION AND HARD WORK.