As the famous saying goes, “it’s not over ‘til it’s over.” In a race, losing focus and energy no matter how close to the finish line can lose a race. In those final moments, a poorly conceived lasting thought can break the spell of a good speech and cause the audience to disengage, losing confidence in the speaker and the importance of the speech itself. To keep the energy and focus of your speech until the very last word, a good speaker employs a concluding device.

Low-Order Concluding Devices

1. Rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one to which no reply is expected, but instead invites the audience to consider something.
   • “The next time you see that spicy, smelly, fermented red dish, will you pass or will you dig in?”
2. Quotation. This concluding device uses the words of another person that relate directly to your topic. If the person you are quoting is not well known, it is a good idea to provide information as to why that person is relevant in the context of your speech.
   • “As we’ve learned today, kimchi is so much more than a simple condiment or even meal. When you think about kimchi, consider the words of American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer: ‘Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving, and identity.”

High-Order Concluding Devices

3. 

   These posters of Rosie the Riveter, Uncle Sam, and Smokey the Bear are all examples of calls to action.

   Call to action. A call to action is an explicit appeal to your audience members to take specific action. Since no new ideas should be presented in your conclusion, it is important that the call to action stems from the ideas mentioned in the speech by concretizing and providing actionable steps that each audience member can perform. A good call to action has the following components:

   1. Clear and direct. Begin with a strong action verb and state exactly what action the audience should take, when, where, and to or with whom
   2. Immediate. The longer that time elapses, the less likely the audience will be to act, regardless of how well you may have convinced them. A successful call to action will be an action they can perform before leaving the room or, if necessary, that day.
   3. Lowers barriers to action. The first, small action leads to more complex action. In order to help the audience make the first step, you must make that action very easy to complete. Bring in any necessary forms, information, or products for the audience to use. Start a process, like a petition or a form letter, so that the audience just needs to sign or join. Create a small task that is easily completed so the audience members can act immediately and with little risk.
   4. Focuses on the benefits to the audience. Surround the call to action with how it will improve the audience’s life by focusing on the same values you used in the introduction to provide a reason to listen.
   5. Personalized to the power of various roles of audience members. In some speeches, the topic equally affects everyone in your audience. In others, audience members each have different roles that either contribute to or are affected by your topic. Asking a student to complete an action that only a college president has access to will likely discourage those students. Instead, using your audience analysis, consider the power and the limitations of the roles that comprise your audience and provide actions for each role.

   Of course, the call to action makes the most sense if your speech is persuasive, but you can also provide a call to action with an informative or ceremonial speech simply by providing a way for the audience to use or channel the information provided. This concluding device is a wonderful way to leave your audience empowered and motivated.

   • “I’ve brought homemade kimchi with me today, already separated into single servings. Improve your gut health, build your spice tolerance, and taste the culture of Korea. Take one and try it. I’ve listed the ingredients in case of allergies. If you’ve got allergies, I’ve printed out recipes with substitutions that you can try at home. Take one, and let the class know how it turned out.”

4. Visualize the future. This conclusion device helps to set the tone that you want the audience to have at the end of your speech. By illustrating how the information provided can create a better or more interesting future to your specific audience, you can motivate your audience to act or to reflect on the importance of what was said in your speech. This was British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s strategy in his famous speech to the House of Commons on June 18, 1940: “Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for thousands of years, men will say: ‘This was their finest hour.'”^[1]
   • In our hypothetical speech on Kimchi, we might envision future unity: “Imagine a world where a taste and a smell are a shared national experience. Where all it takes is a shared dish of kimchi to unite strangers.”