A very important and often neglected aspect of lectures is the way in which the lecture ends. Again, if we consider the television show analogy, the ending of most episodes is exciting, concluding, happy, and sometimes, involves a cliffhanger to motivate the viewers to watch further episodes. A lecture, in a very similar way, needs to end on a positive note while providing ample motivation for the audience to get excited about what they have just experienced. As a result, great care must be taken in the last few minutes of a lecture to end on a high note. For example, rushing to finish an example quickly due to the lack of time can have very negative consequences, as is the case when a topic causes confusion in the last moments of the lecture with no time to clarify the situation or to answer questions.

These issues will be explored in detail in the following sections.

DO NOT RUSH

The end of a lecture, unlike the beginning, needs to be a calm, relaxed and smooth event. It must finalize the topics of the lecture with a few moments to spare for further clarification. A very common mistake is to rush in these last moments due to an imperfectly executed lecture plan. However, what does rushing at the last moment really accomplish? Is reaching a lecture coverage goal worth the audience confusion that would result?