How to summarize and close down a presentation

So what structure should you use to close down a presentation?
Well, I’m sure some of you have your own methods, but this simple format has always worked for me and covers all the main points:

1. Give your audiences a clear signal that you are going to finish.
2. Briefly summarize the main points of your presentation.
3. State your recommendation or give your call to action—let your audience know what you want them to do.
4. Finish off by thanking your listeners and inviting questions or discussion.


BEP 33 - Dialog

Nick: Product and industry knowledge is important. But the crux of the matter is that we simply aren’t aggressive enough in our approach to selling. To sell you simply have to push and push hard.
So as we can see, a first-class CRM strategy and a great marketing plan are not worth the paper they’re written on if we don’t have qualified staff to push them through.
Okay, that’s all I have to say on this topic for the moment.
Now I’d like to recap the main points of my presentation before I open it up for questions.
So to sum up: First, I analyzed the sales results for 2006. I talked about how our drive to increase brand recognition through a surge in advertising has failed because of mediocre initiative and inconsistent follow up from our sales people. Second, I explained about how our special taskforce found major deficiencies in our sales training system and in our staff’s basic sales skills. Finally, I proposed a recovery plan for 2007. I stressed that the most important thing at this stage is not advertising or technology but the way that we train our salespeople.
Let me leave you with one thought. What I’d like to stress is—and I can’t emphasize this enough—that it is absolutely essential to have an effective sales team. And effective salespeople must have effective training. Now what I’m asking from you today is a commitment to increase the training budget by 25% so that we can address this training shortfall. Then, by this time next year, instead of scratching our heads we’ll be cracking the champagne.
Many thanks for your attention.
So now I’m very interested in hearing your comments.

Useful Language

To signal the end of a topic or section of a presentation:

Okay, that’s all I have to say on this topic for the moment.
Right, that ends the last section of my talk.
That's all I want to say for now on the third part of my presentation.

To introduce the summary:

So, to sum up
To conclude,...
In conclusion,...
Now, to sum up...
So let me summarize what I've said.
Finally, may I remind you of some of the main points we've considered.
During my talk today, I’ve described the results of our investigation.

To make a concluding recommendation:

In conclusion, my recommendations are...
I therefore propose the following strategy.
I'd like to finish with...some observations based on what I've said.
There are two conclusions to be made from this, namely,...
I think we have to...
I think we have seen that we should...
What we need to do is...
So, let me get straight to the point. We need action and we need it now.

To finish off a presentation and invite questions:

Many thanks for your attention. So now I’m very interested in hearing your comments.
Thank you for your attention. And now if you have any questions, I’d be glad to answer them.
Thank you for listening. Now, I’d be glad to try and answer any questions.
I thank you all for being such an attentive audience and now I’m sure you must have some questions, so I’ll be happy to answer them…. Yes, Simon ..
So, let’s throw it open to questions.
Any questions?