The last slide in your presentation

I came across this closing screen of an ancient King Kong movie (via FFFound).

Vintage closing screens actually make a nice final slide of a presentation, you Google lots of them
Always close your presentation with a sentence that makes it clear that the presentation comes to an end. “End that is how…”. Don’t say explicitly “well, this is the end”. Let questions come up spontaneously, and don’t say: “OK, I have time for 5 questions”, there just might be chance that no questions will come up (a bit awkward). I have seen many great presentations without questions.

7 comments

mannerofspeaking.org2010-10-17 15:37:10

Jan,

I recently wrote a post on this topic called "Two Slides You Can Lose":

In it, I said that two slides that a presentation does not need are ones that say "Thank You" or "Questions?". Do people really need to see the words “Thank You” or “Questions?” to understand that the presentation is over and you are now ready to have a discussion? No.

I think that there are better slides with which to end a presentation: an inspirational image that signals a call to action; a (very) short statement that encapsulates your key message; your main contact details; or no slide at all — just a black screen.

Not sure that I agree with a slide that just says "The End" - unless you are going for a humorous effect - but that's what makes these dialogues stimulating: different opinions.

Hope all is well.

John Zimmer

rwwh2010-10-16 19:59:57

IMHO, any presentation that needs special wording plus a slide to indicate that it ends is weaker than it should be. Hopefully, your presentation has one main point that you want your audience to remember, and it is not "The END".

I always try to make a strong, controversial or at least thought provoking statement to end my presentation.

Related to this: Many scientific presentations end with acknowledgments. I understand that it is necessary to acknowledge all contributors, but doing it at the end takes the apex off your presentation.

Sacha Chua2010-10-15 11:41:53

I like using a one-slide summary with key points, next actions, and contact information. This helps people remember what they wanted to ask questions about, too.

Your last slide may be up there for a long time, so you might as well make it useful. =)

Jan Schultink2010-10-17 16:06:19

You guys are right that the best presentations do not need a closing slide that says "this was it". This vintage slide can add a bit of humor to your final slide. Always great to contradict myself :-)

Thomas2010-10-15 14:32:27

nice trick -- but what about the copyright??

Jan Schultink2010-10-15 16:01:51

Not sure how copy right works with old movie stills

Ravi Moosad2010-10-17 10:05:22

I think the last slide should be a take away for the audience. It could be a slide showing main points of the presentation with a title 'Conclusion'. It will communicate both end of the show plus the message.