Grab a pair of headphones and a lighter to wave in the air. Ready? Then let’s rock. When you’re trying to bring your report to a conclusion, do you ever feel like Paul McCartney at the Olympics opening ceremony, rehashing the same points (‘na na na nananana …’) as the audience sneaks quietly for the exits? Or do you take the John Lennon approach in I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and crash to a sudden halt? Endings can be tough to write, but they’re so important. You want to send your reader away thinking about what they’ve read – or even persuade them to make a decision right there and then. Going out with a whimper isn’t an option. Here’s Neil Sedaka demonstrating just how awkward a bad ending can be – Breaking up is hard to do indeed. Four types of conclusion: PQRS If your report includes recommendations, you’ll already have stated them in the executive summary and supported them throughout the document. So your conclusion should contain no surprises – no Brotherhood of Man-style twist. There are four basic types of conclusion you can use, summed up by the letters PQRS: Predict, Quote, Repeat or Summarise. Predict the future (Take my hand and we’ll make it I swear) There are two main ways you can use predictions. If your report is about a decision already taken, you can use the ending to sum up the effects you expect to see. For example:
But if the purpose of your report is to persuade the reader to take a certain action, predicting what will happen if they don’t can be a persuasive tactic. For example:
Then follow this up with a prediction of how things will be different if they take your advice. You’ll already have mentioned this in the body of the report, but you should crank it up a gear in the conclusion. Think Livin’ on a Prayer, where the key changes for the final chorus. (Getting a shaggy perm is optional, but we’d admire your dedication.) Quote (Who’ll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?) If you do it with care and justification, ending with a quotation can be powerful. But don’t be tempted to stray into show-off territory; this isn’t the time to demonstrate your encyclopaedic knowledge of Latin or Shakespeare. A relevant and pithy quote from someone influential and well-informed, however, can be persuasive. It could be someone you’ve already cited in the report, or someone new. For example:
This works on two fronts: first, it reinforces your message, showing that others support you. And second, it offers a slightly different angle, and often a chance for a personal opinion. Here are The Pogues, doing it very well in Eric Bogle’s And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. After seven-and-a-half minutes of the horror of war, it cuts to the original song, with the old soldier – now a double amputee – asking ‘Who’ll go a-waltzing Matilda with me?’ Repeat a major issue (Seriously, she is totally buying a stairway to heaven) This can be tricky. You don’t want your reader to feel like you’re repeatedly bashing them over the head with the same message. But at the same time, you do want them to walk away with that message in their head. Basically, you want to bash them very gently, without them noticing. The secret is to keep it brief, to-the-point and memorable. For example:
Go for the Led Zeppelin effect. When Robert Plant finishes his slow, deliberate howl at the end of Stairway to Heaven, you’re in no doubt about what the protagonist is buying, but you don’t feel as if you never want to hear about a stairway ever again. Summarise (Where do we go now?) When summarising, resist the urge to go over all your points again, and keep it brief. Your summary should just bring together your main points, and reinforce any recommended plan of action. For example:
This example includes both a summary and a prediction – you can combine the different endings to make the right conclusion for your document. Most importantly of all, you’re looking to be concise, memorable and powerful. Think the impact of Sweet Child o Mine, but with less ‘where do we go?’ and more ‘this is where we go’. Conclusions, in conclusion Most importantly of all, your ending needs to be arresting and to leave a lasting impression. Not for you, the gradual fade out. Use the techniques above and aim for a grand finale. Rock on! Do you have any tips for writing a great conclusion? And what’s your favourite (or least favourite) song ending? Tell us what you think in the comments section below. These tips (minus the music) were taken from our High-impact business writing course, which is available both to bring in house for teams and for individuals. To learn more about making report writing a much easier and less painful task, check out our free webinar recording How to turn your expert analysis into exceptional reports. It’s ideal if you have to write reports to colleagues and clients as part of your day-to-day job – whether that’s as a traditional written report or as a slide deck.
https://writing.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/535/2018/07/conclusions_uwmadison_writingcenter_aug2012.pdfI. General Rules When writing the conclusion to your paper, follow these general rules:
The function of your paper's conclusion is to restate the main argument. It reminds the reader of the strengths of your main argument(s) and reiterates the most important evidence supporting those argument(s). Make sure, however, that your conclusion is not simply a repetitive summary of the findings because this reduces the impact of the argument(s) you have developed in your essay. Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate:
The conclusion also provides a place for you to persuasively and succinctly restate your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with all the information about the topic. Depending on the discipline you are writing in, the concluding paragraph may contain your reflections on the evidence presented, or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the research you have done will depend on the topic and whether your professor wants you to express your observations in this way. NOTE: Don't delve into idle speculation. Being introspective means looking within yourself as an author to try and understand an issue more deeply not to guess at possible outcomes. II. Developing a Compelling Conclusion Strategies to help you move beyond merely summarizing the key points of your research paper may include any of the following.
III. Problems to Avoid
Failure to be concise The conclusion section should be concise and to the point. Conclusions that are too long often have unnecessary detail. The conclusion section is not the place for details about your methodology or results. Although you should give a summary of what was learned from your research, this summary should be relatively brief, since the emphasis in the conclusion is on the implications, evaluations, insights, etc. that you make. Failure to comment on larger, more significant issues In the introduction, your task was to move from general [the field of study] to specific [your research problem]. However, in the conclusion, your task is to move from specific [your research problem] back to general [your field, i.e., how your research contributes new understanding or fills an important gap in the literature]. In other words, the conclusion is where you place your research within a larger context.Failure to reveal problems and negative results Negative aspects of the research process should never be ignored. Problems, drawbacks, and challenges encountered during your study should be included as a way of qualifying your overall conclusions. If you encountered negative results [findings that are validated outside the research context in which they were generated], you must report them in the results section of your paper. In the conclusion, use the negative results as an opportunity to explain how they provide information on which future research can be based. Failure to provide a clear summary of what was learned In order to be able to discuss how your research fits back into your field of study [and possibly the world at large], you need to summarize it briefly and directly. Often this element of your conclusion is only a few sentences long.Failure to match the objectives of your research Often research objectives change while the research is being carried out. This is not a problem unless you forget to go back and refine your original objectives in your introduction, as these changes emerge they must be documented so that they accurately reflect what you were trying to accomplish in your research [not what you thought you might accomplish when you began]. Resist the urge to apologize Concluding Paragraphs. College Writing Center at Meramec. St. Louis Community College; Conclusions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Conclusions. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Freedman, Leora and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Leibensperger, Summer. Draft Your Conclusion. Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria, 2003; Make Your Last Words Count. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Tips for Writing a Good Conclusion. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Kretchmer, Paul. Twelve Steps to Writing an Effective Conclusion. San Francisco Edit, 2003-2008; Writing Conclusions. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Writing: Considering Structure and Organization. Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College. |