How to Write a Conclusion for Persuasive Speeches

The beginning and the conclusion are the two most important parts of a persuasive speech and should, ideally, be linked to each other. The beginning introduces your subject/problem (the reason for your speech). The conclusion tells the audience what action they need to take or how they need to feel about what your speech reveals to them. You should conclude your persuasive speech with the main belief that you want the audience to adopt. Here are the main ways to write an effective conclusion.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

How to Write a Conclusion for Persuasive Speeches

1. Summarize and restate the main points of your persuasive speech. This helps your audience to remember the important points, a vital part of the conclusion of a persuasive speech.

2. Toward the beginning of your speech, you should articulate your thesis statement, or the main point of your speech. In the conclusion, you may either repeat your thesis statement or you may reword it, keeping the same basic idea.

3. Summarize the main points of your speech and connect it to the opening statements. For instance, if your thesis statement is “Cell phone use while driving should be outlawed,” your conclusion would list all of your main points in support of your thesis and end with, “Cell phone use while driving should be outlawed.”

4. At the conclusion of your persuasive speech, tell the audience what action(s) you want them to take as a result of the knowledge you have given them. For example, “Call your Congressmen, ladies and gentlemen. This abuse must be stopped!”

5. Link the needs of your audience with your speech topic. For instance, if your audience is aging baby boomers, and your topic is the social security crisis, tell your audience how this crisis will effect them.

6. Appeal to the audience’s emotions. Conclude your persuasive speech with a human interest story or a heart-wrenching tragedy that links to your thesis statement.

7. Get creative. Make up an easy-to-remember slogan that encapsulates your thesis, and use this as your very last statement.