Think back to the last luncheon meeting you attended. Was there a guest speaker? Did you enjoy their talk? Good!
Then what happened? Let me guess. The Program Chair took the microphone and said, “Thank you, Tony. Let’s give him a hand.”
Or maybe they said, “Thank you, Tony, that was interesting. Let’s give him a hand.”
How about “Thank you, Tony. That was interesting. Next week we will have Dr. Silverman here to talk about ______ “
Or, worse yet, “Thank you, Tony. Next week we will have Dr. Silverman here to talk about _____ And be sure to see Marsha if your August dues have not been paid yet.”
The comments immediately following a speech can be powerful. Powerful in reinforcing the speaker’s credibility (“you’ve reminded me to take another look at my 401K limitations”) or powerful in their ability to make the audience forget there even WAS an expert speaker!
We call the comments after a speaker is finished, the “Outro”. The most neglected part of a presentation, an effective outro can actually improve the audience’s perception of the speaker’s expertise AND of the brilliance of the person who found this guest speaker for the group!
A guest speaker can significantly improve how they are perceived by offering a written outro in advance of their speech. A written outro will free up the Program Chair to relax
. . . and maybe even enjoy the actual speech itself!