Sometimes the Conclusion Belongs at the End
My blog on how to fail in executive staff presentations argued that you should make your request—whatever it is that you are trying to get approved—right up front.
Several people complained that this blog didn't follow its own advice. Linda Henry put it best:
When I first started blogging, I did worry about the rules for conclusions in short essays. In most papers and presentations, I try to "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them." That argues for putting the conclusion in front.
For blogs, this format didn't work. The entries were so short that "conclusion, meat, conclusion" left no room for meat; simply repeating the conclusion twice didn't seem right. To confirm my intuition, I read several opinion/editorial pieces in the newspaper, because those are about the same length as my blog entries, 600-700 words. Sure enough, they generally make a short argument with the conclusion at the end.
Why? Why should the rules be different for an op/ed or a blog than for an executive staff presentation?
The key is whether you require a decision at the end of a limited time. If you have 60 minutes, and you hope to leave the room with a decision, then you better tell your audience right up front what you hope to accomplish. I have seen so many meetings fail because the goal doesn't appear till time is almost out, and then it's too late for the presenter to accomplish what he had hoped. Sometimes, if I want to help the presenter out, I'll interrupt early in the meeting and ask, "Before we go too far, can you tell me what you actually want?" If I suspect that I'd rather say no, I might choose not to help; I'll let the presenter dig their own grave.
In a blog I'm not requesting a decision and there is no time limit, so neither rule applies.
A written essay is also different than a presentation because you can easily go back and re-read the arguments after you get to the conclusion. One of the big problems with leaving the goal till the end in a presentation is that it's hard to evaluate arguments when you don't know where you are going. But in a short essay, it's easy to go back and re-evaluate the arguments in light of the conclusion.
A short essay is different from a long paper. Reading a long paper takes time, and at the end of the paper I'm going to be upset if the conclusion catches me by surprise and I need to re-read the whole thing. E-mails are also different because many people read only the first few lines before hitting delete, so if there's something you need people to know, you had better put it right up front.
Conclusion: For presentations that end in a request, or for long papers, it's best to start with the conclusion. E-mail too. For short essays, or for presentations without a request, it's okay to save the conclusion till the end.
Several people complained that this blog didn't follow its own advice. Linda Henry put it best:
Okay, had to laugh. Your concluding statement on your blog "Always start your presentation with the conclusion" was in the final paragraph. Master of Irony!The real irony is that I didn't do this on purpose—didn't even notice what I had done!
When I first started blogging, I did worry about the rules for conclusions in short essays. In most papers and presentations, I try to "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them." That argues for putting the conclusion in front.
For blogs, this format didn't work. The entries were so short that "conclusion, meat, conclusion" left no room for meat; simply repeating the conclusion twice didn't seem right. To confirm my intuition, I read several opinion/editorial pieces in the newspaper, because those are about the same length as my blog entries, 600-700 words. Sure enough, they generally make a short argument with the conclusion at the end.
Why? Why should the rules be different for an op/ed or a blog than for an executive staff presentation?
The key is whether you require a decision at the end of a limited time. If you have 60 minutes, and you hope to leave the room with a decision, then you better tell your audience right up front what you hope to accomplish. I have seen so many meetings fail because the goal doesn't appear till time is almost out, and then it's too late for the presenter to accomplish what he had hoped. Sometimes, if I want to help the presenter out, I'll interrupt early in the meeting and ask, "Before we go too far, can you tell me what you actually want?" If I suspect that I'd rather say no, I might choose not to help; I'll let the presenter dig their own grave.
In a blog I'm not requesting a decision and there is no time limit, so neither rule applies.
A written essay is also different than a presentation because you can easily go back and re-read the arguments after you get to the conclusion. One of the big problems with leaving the goal till the end in a presentation is that it's hard to evaluate arguments when you don't know where you are going. But in a short essay, it's easy to go back and re-evaluate the arguments in light of the conclusion.
A short essay is different from a long paper. Reading a long paper takes time, and at the end of the paper I'm going to be upset if the conclusion catches me by surprise and I need to re-read the whole thing. E-mails are also different because many people read only the first few lines before hitting delete, so if there's something you need people to know, you had better put it right up front.
Conclusion: For presentations that end in a request, or for long papers, it's best to start with the conclusion. E-mail too. For short essays, or for presentations without a request, it's okay to save the conclusion till the end.
I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks for your outlook, even on conclusions and getting your point/request out first. I have noticed when I do speaking engagements that the conclusion is the KEY element of my workshop. Once it is out in the begining, there is something to build on.Thanks for thinking out loud!
Posted by: Jenny Ward | April 23, 2007 at 10:31 AM