[Image by Gerd Altmann of Pixabay]
We’ve all heard it before and maybe even said it…“Thank you.”
While those two words have immense value in some situations, that’s not the case when it comes to a speaker ending a presentation by saying “Thank you.” Some speakers even start a presentation by saying “Thank you.”
The advice I always give my clients when they seek my assistance in sounding their best for a wide array of business communication activities is to avoid ending (or starting) their presentation by uttering “Thank you.” As you suspected, there’s a reason I advise this. My whole philosophy of encouraging my clients to Stand Out is to do something original or novel. By ending your presentation with “thank you,” it’s what I refer to as ritualized behavior. What I mean by that is the speaker uses those two words as a way of signaling to the audience that the presentation has concluded. When speakers say, “thank you” it is also considered to be a verbal filler. Saying “thank you” is extremely predictable and mundane; we all know that predictability isn’t recommended for a speaker.
Speakers learn to Stand Out or be remembered by the words they choose. Given that, why conclude by saying “thank you” to your audience when you have the opportunity to say something powerful, or inspirational? By stating these two words, it’s definitely a way of lowering your effect and diluting your message. As an alternative, you may want to consider including a call-to-action, a startling statistic, a relevant quote, or telling a meaningful story. Try being pithy. The goal is to become memorable to your audience–who doesn’t want that?
Why are you thanking your audience when they should be thanking you for…sharing your experience, helping solve a problem, providing alternative solutions. Now I urge you to think about options available to you to replace saying “thank you.”
If you’d like to discuss this topic further, you’re welcome to connect with me by phone (518-664-6004), email (dale@profitablespeech.com) or virtually. I’m always interested in your comments and questions.