Imagine this: You have just led an event (= workshop or training/seminar). The participants diligently took notes, completed group work and asked questions. But now comes the moment that makes a lasting impression – the closer.

 

What is a closer and why is it so important? Let’s find out and get to know the four best closers that will inspire your participants!

 

A closer is the crowning glory of your event. It is the last impression that the participants take with them, and it can influence their overall success. A good closer summarizes the most important points, motivates the participants to implement them and leaves them with a positive feeling. In short: he ensures that your event will be remembered fondly.

 

The Closer is the last point of contact with your participants. A strong conclusion helps to obtain feedback, possibly also to anchor information and to motivate the participants to put what they have learned into practice. At BusinessMind, we attach great importance to this “transfer”, especially in the seminar context. A good closer can make the difference between an event that is quickly forgotten and one that brings about lasting change.

 

We now present four simple and effective event closers to make your event even better:

 

 

The “3 word feedback” closer is a simple but effective method of closing an event. Each participant is asked to describe your workshop or seminar in three words (especially adjectives = HOW words 🙂 ). These words are written down individually and then briefly presented. This closer is suitable if you don’t have much time left and still want to get an overview feedback. Examples could then be:

– “Informative, motivating, practical”

– “Inspiring, structured, helpful”

– “Dynamic, clear, practicable”

 

 

The “short message” closer is an innovative and interactive way to end your event. We ask participants to write a short message – a maximum of 160 characters, like a traditional text message. They should imagine they are leaving your event and write a short message to a good friend in which they briefly tell them about the event. Provide moderation cards to write on and let the participants pitch if it is only a small group. Otherwise, you can collect the short messages on pinboards, photograph them and integrate them into the photo log.

 

 

In the “object feedback” Closer, each participant chooses an object in the room that symbolizes the event for them. Each participant then briefly explains why he/she has chosen this object and how it represents his/her feedback on the event. This closer is particularly suitable for events that promote reflection and personal connection. Examples would be:

– “I choose the pen because it symbolizes creativity and collaboration for me.”

– “For me, the notepad represents the many ideas that I take with me.”

 

 

A classic among the closers: The participants are asked to answer the question of what they consider to be the two or three most important insights of the day. Provide moderation cards to write on here as well. The participants then pitch their thoughts. This closer promotes transfer, which is particularly important for seminars. This transfer helps the participants to filter the most important learnings from the wealth of information and thus supports them in applying it in practice.  We often combine “The most important thing” with Closer No. 3.

 

Now you know how to end an event. But how do you open a workshop or training course? You can find this information here.