Making Full Conclusions

Theoretically, if you write a proper introduction and structure the body of your document to obey the pyramid rules, you should not need a concluding statement. You have, after all, clearly stated your reader's question at the beginning and answered it fully with impeccable logic. Nevertheless, you may feel a psychological need to end gracefully rather than simply to stop writing. The tendency to end short memos by saying, "If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call," no doubt reflects this need.

The obvious, perhaps too obvious, procedure at the end of a longer document is to signal the end by putting a line of asterisks in the middle of the page, which is sometimes called a "sunset." You then begin your last paragraph with the words, "In conclusion ...” and remind the reader of your main point. However, if you favor this approach, you want to avoid merely making a lame restatement of what you have already made abundantly clear:

This report has outlined our recommendations for reorganizing the company and spelled out the specific steps each department must take to bring it about.

Rather, you want to find a compelling set of words that not only sums up for the reader what you have been saying, but also produces an appropriate emotion in hint about it. At least, that is Aristotle's advice about what to do in a conclusion.

That there is an "appropriate emotion" for the end of a business document may be open to question, but I should think the major feeling you want to leave with your reader is that of a need and desire to act. Consequently, you want to give hint some indication of what he is to think about or is able to do with the new knowledge he now possesses as a result of his reading.

This indication can take the form of either a philosophical insight or a prescription for immediate action. Abraham Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, managed to do both:

With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in-to bind up the nation's wounds---to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

You will, of course, want to be as subtle and restrained as your subject and your reader demand, so that what is an appropriate ending will vary with each document. An airline president, for example, would probably be offended by strongly emotional statements when being urged to adopt a new planning system. But on a subject on which he already feels strongly, such as reregulation of his industry, he would surely be wide open to emotional appeals.

In general, however, if you insist on appending a conclusion, you will want to write something that puts into perspective the significance of your message. Here, for example, is the concluding paragraph of a report whose message was that it is technically possible to create a European-wide system for rapid retrieval of technical literature by computer.

"If you succeed in launching the system, you will not just have created the means for improved access to scientific and technical information in Europe by users in industry, commerce, the professions, and academia. You will also have created a common market for information, one that makes available the full range of existing sources, not just national collections, to all users. This could lead not only to advances in standardization and harmonization, but also to the development of totally new standards. We find the prospect exciting, and are eager to work with you in launching the pilot project."