How do you end a presentation in English?
In three moves. First recap two or three points without adding anything new: "So, to sum up, …" Then ask for one concrete action with a deadline: "What I'd like you to do is approve the pilot by Friday." And end on your message, for example "Thank you all — I look forward to your decision on Friday." Introduce the last point in a sequence with "finally" or "lastly", not with "at last".
- Recap with "So, to sum up, …" or "Let me briefly recap …" — two or three points, nothing new.
- Ask with "What I'd like you to do is …" — who, what and by when.
- "Finally" or "lastly" opens your last point; "at last" means after a long wait; "in the end" means after everything.
B2 · Presentations · 10 minEnding a presentation in English, taught brick by brick.
A structured ten-brick lesson for B2 learners. Hear a typical close in context, learn the three moves of recap, request and last line with a tutor, then practise them in interactive tasks before a final test. The whole arc takes about ten minutes and nothing requires a signup.
- CEFR levelB2 · Upper intermediate
- Time to completeAbout 10 minutes
- Closing arcRecap — ask — end on your message
- Bricks10 blocks
01 / 06
What the last minute of a presentation has to do
The end of a presentation decides what your audience remembers. Your audience has taken in ten or twenty minutes of figures, slides and arguments; now they need two things: an overview of what mattered, and a clear statement of what should happen next. That is why a good close in English has three moves. First, the recap: "So, to sum up, …" — two or three points you have already shown. Second, the call to action, a request for one concrete step: "What I'd like you to do is approve the pilot by Friday." Third, the last line, the one that hands the stage back, such as "Thank you all — I look forward to your decision on Friday." If a talk simply stops after the final slide and a quick thank-you, the room has to work out for itself what you want from them. This lesson gives you the sentences that do that work for them.
02 / 06
The recap: short, parallel, nothing new
A good recap repeats; it does not add. Announce it with a signal — "So, to sum up, …", "Let me briefly recap the three main points" or, more formally, "In summary, …" — and then name two or three points the room already knows. Build those points in the same shape where you can: "The pilot cuts handling time, needs no new hardware and starts in March." Three verbs in the same form are easier to follow than three half-sentences built in three different ways. Phrase the points from the audience's side as well: rather than "We developed a new process", say what they gain, for instance "Your team saves an hour a day." And resist the urge to slip in one more figure or slide at this stage. A new fact in the recap opens new questions instead of closing the old ones. If the information belongs in the talk, show it in the main part; if it does not, keep it for the Q&A. When you want to anchor a single idea, a sharper frame helps: "If you remember one thing from today, make it this: …"
03 / 06
The call to action: who, what, by when
After the recap comes the sentence your whole presentation has been building towards: the request. An effective call to action names one action, the person who takes it and a deadline. "What I'd like you to do is approve the pilot by Friday" covers all three. Other forms work just as well: "What we need from you today is a decision on the budget.", "The next step is a short call with your IT team next week.", or as a question, "Could you let me know your decision by Friday?" "I'd ask you to send your comments by the end of the month" sounds a little more formal. Watch the register: "You must decide by Friday" is grammatical, but from a presenter to a client it sounds like an instruction. "Could you …" or "I'd ask you to …" keeps the request just as clear while leaving the decision with the room. A vague close such as "Maybe you can think about it" is polite, but it contains no action and no deadline, so nobody knows what happens next.
04 / 06
The grammar behind "What I'd like you to do is …"
The sentence "What I'd like you to do is approve the pilot" has a shape of its own. The front part, built with what, sets up an expectation: "What I'd like you to do …" Then comes is, and only after that the actual information: "… approve the pilot." The plain sentence "I'd like you to approve the pilot" says the same thing. The difference is emphasis: in the what version the room waits a moment for the action, and the action lands at the end of the sentence, where it is heard last. After "do is" the base form approve follows here; the version with to, "What I'd like you to do is to approve the pilot", is also correct. The same pattern works with other verbs: "What we need from you is a decision.", "What I'm asking for today is your support." Two forms break the pattern: an extra it ("What I'd like you to do it is …") and a missing is ("What I'd like you to do approve the pilot"). Keep to the order: what part, is, action.
05 / 06
Finally, at last, in the end: three phrases, three meanings
For the last point of your talk, German zuletzt or schließlich comes to mind, and in your head it is easy to translate it with the wrong word. In English, finally and lastly introduce the last point in a sequence: "Finally, a word on timing." Finally can also mean that something happened after a long wait, but at the start of a point in a list, listeners hear it as "this is the last one". At last, by contrast, says that something long-awaited has happened: "At last, the new system is live." If you open your final point with "At last, …", it sounds as if you are relieved the talk is nearly over. In the end means "eventually" or "after everything", the result of a process: "We compared three suppliers, and in the end we chose the cheapest." For the moment in your talk, use at the end, usually at the end of with a noun: "I'll take questions at the end of the presentation." The blend "in the end of the presentation" is not standard English. Keep the three apart: finally or lastly for the last point, at last for relief, in the end for the result.
06 / 06
The last line: thanks, message, questions
At the very end you say that the talk is over and open the floor. One sentence does it: "That brings me to the end of my presentation." Then comes the thank-you, and here a small decision pays off. "Thank you for your attention" is correct and polite. But if the thanks stands alone as your last sentence, the last thing the room hears is a courtesy phrase, not your request. So combine the two: "Thank you all — I look forward to your decision on Friday." That keeps the deadline fresh in their minds. If a Q&A follows, open it with "I'd be happy to take your questions now" and pick up the call to action again after the final question: "Thanks again — I'll send the slides today, and I look forward to your decision on Friday." Write this last line down word for word and practise saying it without notes. It is the one sentence in your presentation you should improvise least.