Study 36

Appropriate Conclusion and Your Timing

1-3. How can you make the conclusion relate to the theme of your talk?

¹ What you say last is often remembered first. So the conclusion of your talk deserves careful preparation. It should draw into sharp focus the principal points that you want remembered and drive home the theme with finality. As a result of both your composition and the delivery it ought to stimulate the audience to action. It is to this that we urge you to give attention when you come to “Conclusion appropriate, effective” on the Speech Counsel form.

² Conclusion in direct relation to theme of talk. For ideas on how to relate the conclusion to the theme of the talk, we suggest that you review Study 27. Your conclusion does not need to restate the theme of the talk in so many words, although some students, especially those who are new, may find it a help; but it should draw attention to it. Then, on the basis of the theme, show what the audience can do.

³ If the conclusion is not directly related to the theme, it will not round out the material and tie it together. Even if you use a straight summary conclusion, presenting a skeleton of the main points, still you will no doubt want to add a final sentence or two, expressing the central idea or theme of the talk.

4-9. Why must your conclusion show your hearers what to do?

⁴ Conclusion shows hearers what to do. Since ordinarily your purpose in speaking is to stimulate to some type  of action or to persuade to a certain viewpoint, certainly, then, the concluding thoughts of the talk should drive home those points. The main purpose of the conclusion, therefore, is to show the audience what to do and encourage them to do it.

⁵ For this reason, in addition to making clear the purpose of your talk, the conclusion should have earnestness, conviction, a motivating force. Often it will be found that short sentences are advantageous in giving force to the conclusion. But, regardless of sentence structure, sound reasons for acting should be given, including the benefits that will be derived from taking such a course.

⁶ The conclusion should follow logically what has already been stated in the talk. Thus, what you say in your conclusion is to move your audience to act on what has already been stated in the body of the talk. Your conclusion will clarify and emphasize what they are to do so that they will act on the basis of those things covered in the talk and will be particularly moved to do it by the forcefulness of your conclusion.

⁷ In the house-to-house ministry conclusions are often weak. This happens when the householder is not shown definitely the course we expect him to take, either in obtaining one of the publications, agreeing to a return call or something similar.

⁸ Conclusions on assignments in the school will also be weak if they are simply summaries of the material and do not move the audience to action. Some application of the material should be given, or in some other way the material should be shown to be of particular value to the audience.

⁹ Some speakers find it very helpful to conclude a talk on a Bible theme with a short summary of the entire talk, using the key texts and theme of the talk as the basis for it. By epitomizing the talk in this way with a few texts discussed as you would at the door, you will not only make the point of the talk clear but you will give the audience something they can carry away with them and use in repeating the highlights of the talk. That is the primary purpose of the conclusion, and this method is not only appropriate but effectively accomplishes that purpose.

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10-14. Give suggestions as to the length of a conclusion.

 ¹⁰ Conclusion of proper length. The length of the conclusion should not be determined by the clock, though that often happens. A conclusion is of proper length if it is effective and accomplishes its purpose. Therefore, the appropriateness of its length should be determined by the results. This is what your counselor will do when you are working on “Conclusion of proper length,” on the Speech Counsel slip.

¹¹ For a comparison of conclusions in proportion to the length of the body of material, notice the brief conclusion to the entire book of Ecclesiastes as found at Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14, and compare it with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and his conclusion at Matthew 7:24-27. Here are two different types and lengths of conclusions, yet both accomplish their purpose.

¹² A conclusion should not catch the audience unawares. Not only should the words spoken point obviously to the end of the talk, but they should also have a note of finality. What you say and how you say it should end your discussion. It should not drag on unnecessarily. If you are not able to tie your talk together and still hold interest throughout the conclusion, then it should be reworked. It is still too long.

¹³ If you are a beginning speaker, it is often best to make your conclusion shorter than you feel might be needed. Make it simple, direct and positive. Do not let it run on endlessly.

¹⁴ If you are giving one talk of a symposium, or if you are speaking on a service meeting, then your conclusion will tie in with the introduction of the next talk and therefore can be briefer. Nevertheless, each individual part should have a conclusion that accomplishes the purpose of the talk. If it does, then it is of proper length.

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15-18. If timing does not receive careful attention, what results?

¹⁵ Timing. Not only is length of the conclusion important; the timing of every part of the talk deserves attention. For that reason there is a separate entry on the Speech Counsel slip for “Timing.”

¹⁶ The importance of proper timing of a talk should not be minimized. If the talk is properly prepared, the timing will also have been considered, but if the speaker, in an endeavor to squeeze in all the material, runs  overtime, he is actually not accomplishing his objective. This is because those in the audience will begin to fidget and look at their watches and not really pay attention to what he is saying. The conclusion, which should embody the application and motivation that are vital to accomplishing the purpose of the talk, will be lost. Even if it is presented, in many cases the audience will fail to get the benefit from it because the speaker is going overtime.

¹⁷ Not only is the audience ill at ease when the speaker goes overtime, but the speaker is too. When he sees that his time is running out and he has too much material, he may endeavor to cram in too much, destroying its effectiveness. This often results in lack of poise. On the other hand, if the speaker finds that he does not have sufficient material to fill in the allotted time, in an endeavor to stretch it out he may well become incoherent and ramble in his presentation.

¹⁸ While it is true that the school overseer will indicate to the student when his time is up, it is disappointing, both to the student and to the audience, when a talk must be cut off before it is finished. The speaker should have sufficient interest in his material to want to present it. The audience will feel as if they have been left hanging in midair if they fail to hear the conclusion. One who consistently goes overtime on his talks shows that he is inconsiderate of others or gives evidence of lack of preparation.

19, 20. Why is timing particularly important on service meetings and convention programs?

¹⁹ When a number of speakers have part in a program, proper timing is of particular importance. For example, there may be five parts on a service meeting. If each speaker talks only one minute over his allotted time, it would make the meeting five minutes overtime. Yet each one was only a very little overtime. The result may be that some have to leave before the meeting is over in order to catch a bus home, or unbelieving mates who have come to pick up one at the meeting and who are kept waiting may become irritated. The general effect is not good.

²⁰ Difficulties can also arise if a speaker on a symposium does not fill his allotted time. If, for example, a brother assigned a half-hour discourse on a convention program were to stop after twenty minutes, it might cause a disruption in the program if the next  speaker did not happen to be ready to start immediately.

21-24. Briefly relate some of the problems with regard to timing and their causes.

²¹ Of course, one of the basic causes for running overtime in a talk is having too much material. This is something that should be corrected when the talk is being prepared. If the other points, the earlier points on the Speech Counsel form, have been mastered up to this point, however, timing will not be a problem. If you have already learned how to isolate your main points and prepare a proper outline, you will find that good timing follows naturally. Timing is being considered near the end of the counsel form because it is to a large extent dependent on the earlier qualities of speech that have been discussed.

²² Generally the problem in timing is going overtime. A well-prepared speaker usually has plenty of informative material, but he must exercise care so as not to use more than the allotted time will allow for.

²³ However, new or inexperienced speakers are at times inclined to run short. They will want to learn to make full use of the available time. At first they may find it a little difficult to gauge their talks so as to make them come out exactly the length that is desired, but they should endeavor to come as close to the allotted time as is possible. Nevertheless, unless the talk falls considerably short of the allotted time, the timing would not be counted weak if the student prepared and presented a well-rounded-out, satisfying talk.

²⁴ Whether a speaker’s timing should be considered weak or not can best be determined by observing the effect of the presentation on the audience. When the school overseer indicates that the time is up, the student should feel free to finish his sentence. If with that sentence he can bring his talk to an effective conclusion so that the audience feel that they have heard a well-rounded-out discussion, then the timing should not be considered weak.

25-29. How can a person make certain his talk is properly timed?

²⁵ How can proper timing be achieved? Fundamentally it is a matter of preparation. It is important to prepare, not only the material that will go into a talk, but the presentation of the talk. If there is adequate preparation for delivery, timing will usually be correct.

²⁶ In outlining your talk indicate clearly which are your main points. Under each main point you may  have several sub-points to be covered. Some, of course, will be more important than others. Know which ones are vital to the presentation and which ones can be deleted if necessary. Then if, during your presentation, you find that you are getting behind time, it will be a simple thing to present only the principal arguments and delete the secondary ones.

²⁷ This is something that we are constantly called on to do in the field ministry. When we go to the doors of the people, if they will stay and listen we will talk to them for several minutes. But we are also ready to give that same presentation in condensed form, taking perhaps only a minute or two if necessary. How do we do it? We have in mind our key point or points and the most important material needed in support. We also have in mind other information of secondary importance that can be used to enlarge the discussion, but we know that when the situation calls for it this can be dispensed with. This same procedure can be followed in presenting a talk from the platform.

²⁸ It is often helpful to a speaker to make a note in the margin of his talk to indicate how much he should have covered when half his time is up, or, if it is a longer discourse, he may want to divide it into quarters. Then when he passes those time markings on his outline, he should check the clock and see how he is doing. If he is running behind time, that is the time to start deleting material of secondary importance rather than waiting till the last minute and cramming the conclusion and so destroying its effectiveness. However, it is very distracting if a speaker is constantly making reference to his watch or if he does it in a very conspicuous way, or if he tells the audience that his time is running out and so he must rush through his material. This is something to be handled in a natural way without disturbing the audience with it.

²⁹ Achieving proper overall timing requires that the introduction be of appropriate length, that each of the key points be developed in proper proportion, and that sufficient time be left for the conclusion. It is not something to be considered simply when you see that your time is running out. If you watch your timing right  from the start, the result will be a well-proportioned presentation.

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