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Write the End First - Part 1

Starting with the end has a number of advantages. Not long ago I heard a speaker wind up his story with, "As I said when I started, I didn't know what to tell you in ten minutes. But I've told you this —I think that's all I've got to say." Can't you picture the audience sitting on its hands after that ending? Can't you imagine the de­flated feeling of the speaker? He had been asked to talk. He had prepared a speech but in the time available he could only organize the start and the body of his speech; he never got around to the ending. Now if he had prepared a good ending, I'm sure the audi­ence would have thought better of him. No matter how good your speech, if you end like a slow leak, you are certain to leave a bad impression.

Your speech should have a good ending because that is where you sum up, restate your main theme, or give the audience the in­formation on what they are to do.

A well-shaped ending gives you confidence. If you write the beginning of the speech first, you are certain to put most of your ideas up in front. Then you run out of ideas and wonder where you will go from there. That's the weakness of most of the speeches you hear. They start at top speed. At the high point, the audience is won over and is ready to do something. But as the speaker goes on, the enthusiasm of the group goes down, down, down, until at the finish the enthusiasm which had been built up earlier has been completely dissipated. By writing the end first you can prevent that.

Your audience will be more impressed if you end your speech by giving them some kind of formula for action. If you want them to do something, to study something, to think about something, give them a formula for doing it. When you leave a formula with them it is apparent that you have thought out this project of yours and that you know exactly what you want them to do. Second, you make clear to them exactly what you want.

The formula may be a simple plan of greeting, no more complicated than—

1. You smile.

2. You offer your hand.

3. You say, "Howdy."

Just as simple as that. Such formulas never fail. Take the story you want the audience to remember, the job you want them to do, the something you want them to think about, and put the action into the steps of a simple formula. Make it as simple as the one above and you'll get more of them to do what you want.

That's because you specify the job. You pin it down. Many times you have heard people talk for hours, trying to get you steamed up about a subject. When they finished you were willing to do something, but they didn't tell you how. So you went home, thinking that you'd like to do something about it but not knowing where to start. They didn't give you a formula.

In writing the formula, first explain that there is one. Give it and list the steps. Then name the first point, elaborate on it, and explain fully what they are to do and how.

Related terms include political speechwriting and writing thank you.