In Summary…
What goes through your mind when you hear a presenter say, “In summary…”? For most of us it snaps our attention back to the presenter because, to be honest, we think they are about to finish and perhaps we had drifted away in our minds to other pressing matters and the summary will allow us to glean the presenter’s message in a nutshell.
That is a very natural human trait, so let’s not fight it, let’s use it to our advantage. I recommend that you clearly announce that you are summarizing by using the phrase;
‘In summary…’ or
‘To summarize…’
This way we heighten the probability that our audience will listen to our summation, even if they did mentally wander off.
The summary should be concise and follow these guidelines:
Do not introduce new material as this only confuses the audience and lengthens the summary.
Have one summary towards the end of a presentation. If it is a lengthy presentation (in excess of an hour) then each point can be summarized independently once the point has been made. Then once more, briefly, towards the end of the presentation just prior to the conclusion.
In team presentations, each presenter should summarize their own point(s) at the conclusion of their portion of the presentation.
Do not fall into the trap of adding material that was initially omitted through forgetfulness. Perhaps the Q&A will afford you an opportunity to introduce that material.
In summary… be short, be sharp, be professional. Make the most of the opportunity to drill home your major points.