How to end a seminar or conference talk

The ending of many talks I attend are awkward, abrupt, or ambiguous. Perhaps the speaker just stops talking. Or we’ve probably all witnessed the “non-ending” where the moderator has to walk up and verbally interrupt the speaker. Both scenarios drive the audience mad. Let’s fix this.

The following advice is so basic I can hardly believe I’m taking the time to type it, but you would be surprised how many people don’t do this.

When I give a talk, I have a script¹ for the close of my presentation. I have rehearsed this so many times that I don’t even think twice about it anymore. When I hit my (quasi?-)famous question mark slide (see below—I’m a finite element researcher after all), here’s the verbiage that rolls off my tongue:

“With that, I’d like to conclude my presentation and thank you for your kind attention². If you have questions, I’m happy to answer them at this time. Thanks.”

Concise, composed, direct—that’s all you need. It tells the audience to start clapping, gives the moderator a clear cue, and makes you look like you know what you’re doing.

A few bonus thoughts about your closing slide:

• I think this is one of the few places a creative/quirky graphic works in a technical talk. Opening slides never seem to get the intended comedic response, at least in most talks I see with an audience who doesn’t know you. I created this question mark mesh because it tells the audience I’m a finite element geek, while maintaining a professional air.
• Put your academic website/blog on this slide and point people to it for more information. I will often pre-blog my slides and some links which will be waiting for them. I have previously covered the why and how of academic websites.
• I use the LaTeX Beamer class for slides. This works wonderfully during Q&A; because the presentation outline you see at the top is hyperlinked—I can get to any slide rapidly without leaving full-screen.