what restatement of the thesis

How to Restate a Thesis Statement

Nadine smith, 25 jun 2018.

An essay introduces a thesis statement, an argument on a particular topic, typically near the end of the introduction, after the writer has explained the issue or subject. An effective essay also restates -- says it again using different words -- the thesis in the conclusion. Repeating the thesis statement at the end of the essay refreshes the writer’s main point for the reader, and using different words helps the essay avoid sounding monotonous.

Explore this article

• Substitute Synonyms
• Reorder the Sentence
• Shorten Thesis Statement
• Restate Closely Related Ideas

1 Substitute Synonyms

Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for some of the words in your thesis statement. For example, if your original thesis statement read “Hamlet is insane,” you could reword the thesis statement in the conclusion to read “Hamlet is mentally unstable.” Rework phrases to sound differently, such as in the following: “If there is no history of alcoholism in the family, and if it is drunk in moderation, alcohol can have some health benefits,” which can be changed to, “If no one in your family has suffered from alcohol addiction, and if it is consumed moderately, alcohol can benefit your health in some ways.”

2 Reorder the Sentence

Rearrange the clauses in the sentence. You can re-order the sentence, “If there is no history of alcoholism in the family, and if it is drunk in moderation, alcohol can have some health benefits” to, “Alcohol can have some health benefits if there is no history of alcoholism in the family and if it is drunk in moderation.” Both sentences present the same information in different order.

3 Shorten Thesis Statement

Summarize your thesis statement by focusing on the main idea it contains. For example, if your original thesis statement reads, “If there is no history of alcoholism in the family, and if it is drunk in moderation, alcohol can have some health benefits,” consider changing it to, “Under certain conditions, alcohol can have some health benefits.”

4 Restate Closely Related Ideas

A thesis statements is not like the dry scientific title you gave your research paper on fungi. The thesis statement asserts your opinion about an interesting subject that motivated you to do some research. The restatement must be strong and definitive. Start by listing the factors and main ideas involved in your thesis. Use these concepts to restate the main point of your thesis. "Hamlet's paranoia and ghostly encounters indicate periodic bouts of psychoses."

• 1 Bogazici University Online Writing Lab: The Essay
• 2 Purdue Online Writing Lab: Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper
• 3 University of New England: Conclusion Paragraph
• 4 Messa Community College: Conclusion Paragraphs

About the Author

Nadine Smith has been writing since 2010. She teaches college writing and ESL courses and has several years experience tutoring all ages in English, ESL and literature. Nadine holds a Master of Arts in English language and literature from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, where she led seminars as a teaching assistant.

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Thesis Helpers

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Easy-To-Use Guide On How To Restate a Thesis in 2023

So, you have painstakingly written your paper intro, body, and now you are stuck on how to restate a thesis in conclusion. Well, you are not alone, my friend! Many college and university students go through what you are experiencing now.

Nevertheless, do not panic. In this top-tier post, you will see how to restate a thesis statement effortlessly and fantastically. Keep on reading to get your problem solved by the experts today.

What Does Restate Thesis Mean?

For us to have better grounding, we have first to understand what restating means? It denotes stating an idea again or differently, especially more transparently or convincingly.

In most papers, this short part forms the first sentence of the conclusion paragraph. As you state the thesis again in a new way, you help the reader recap the original thesis statement, especially in a long paper.

How Do You Rephrase a Thesis Statement?

There are a plethora of ways to restate a thesis statement. However, a successful thesis restatement ought to remind your readers of what you have proven in your body paragraphs. It should also help to bring your research paper to a successful close.

Below are professional steps to guide you when you are thinking about a thesis restatement:

• Where do I want to restate my thesis?

The first step is to determine where you’d want to fit your thesis restatement in the conclusion paragraph. Most students think that it is supposed to be the first sentence of the concluding section. However, that is not the case.

You can decide to place it at the beginning, middle, or end of your summarizing paragraph. The goal is to remind your reader of the main idea while still maintain a sense of creativity and high writing standards.

Therefore, you can draft a rough conclusion and identify a suitable place for your thesis restatement before writing the final paper.

• What have I discussed in the body paragraphs?

By the time you write your conclusion, you have already exhausted everything; the reader needs to know the original thesis statement. Therefore, you have ‘an informed reader’ by the time you are thinking to restate thesis statement.

Why is this important to know?

It helps you draw your thesis restatement from the arguments you’ve raised in the body paragraphs. The restated thesis will, therefore, provide a greater level of sophistication to the original statement.

How To Rephrase a Thesis

It is no secret that paraphrasing as a whole is not an easy task. At this point, after writing your five-paragraph paper, your mind might be saturated, and rephrasing can seem like calculating a calculus equation.

But you can still achieve this task and accurately. Scroll down to see how?

• The ‘so what’ question

Professionals have unanimously agreed that this is the backbone of any thesis restatement. This question explains the significance of the original idea. When you revisit it in conclusion, it will prompt the reader to see why it was worth his/her time.

For instance, if you have a paper about cheating among students – the ‘so what’ question can address its meaning for the students and instructors. Look at the restate thesis example for this illustration: “Because cheating in exams depends on more than just the copy-pasting, it is crucial that students know about how cheating occurs.”

• Avoid apologizing

At this point, you have given your defense in more than four body paragraphs; why should you be apologizing now? It will only make your conclusion look weak and write off all the body paragraphs’ strides.

Desist from phrases such as “it seems like or it is possible” when restating your thesis.

However, when the original thesis uses this conditional language, then an exception is made. You should maintain a high level of confidence at all costs, even in such a case. Have faith that you have done justice to your thesis statement.

• Clichés are a no-go-zone

You all know how tedious and frustrating clichés can be on the part of the reader. Whenever you use words like ‘in conclusion or in summary,’ you will turn off your reader. Who doesn’t know that the last paragraph is a conclusion or summary?

Take a fresh perspective from the norm to make your conclusion paragraph thrilling and exciting. It will also show your maturity level in writing through the original and creative phrases you choose to use.

Rewording a Thesis

Are you supposed to reword your thesis in the conclusion paragraph? The answer is yes! As we have seen hitherto, rewording a thesis statement gives it a new and captivating outlook. Your conclusion will not appear blunt or dull when you re-write the thesis statement word for word.

So how do you achieve this task?

• By changing the structure

To have a dissimilar thesis statement from the original, you have to alter its language and structure. It also applies to the clauses used in the original thesis.

Use different parts of speech to begin our thesis restatement. For example, if you start the original thesis with a subject, begin the paraphrase with a prepositional phrase. Here is an example of how to do that:

Original thesis: “Students in college and university are fond of copying and cheating.” Thesis restatement: “In many colleges and universities, students copy and cheat in their exams.”

• Use different words altogether.

Make use of synonyms to the words used in the original thesis. Your word processor’s thesaurus function could be a good starting point. However, ensure that the words you choose bear the same meaning as the original ones.

• Break the points up

If you had an original thesis with one long sentence, you could split it up in two or three manageable sentences. After doing this, you can spread the sentences across the conclusion paragraph to break the monotony.

• Consider changing the tense.

Juggling between the present and past tense is a good strategy for rewording a thesis.

For instance, “I will discuss the impacts of exam cheating” to “I explained how deleterious cheating can be to students.”

How Long Does a Thesis Restate Have To Be?

In most cases, the conclusion paragraph accounts for 5-7% of the whole paper . Therefore, you should consider the overall word count of the entire piece first. After doing this, you will take the number of words you intend to use for your introduction and body paragraphs.

Once you determine the difference between these two, you can know the number of words to use for your thesis restatement. Either way, the number of words should not deter you from coming up with a quality thesis restate in conclusion.

Using the tips above guarantees you a top-notch restate of your thesis. If you wish to use cheap expert writing help to restate your thesis, our experienced writers are on standby.

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Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Writing Tutorial Services

Writing conclusions.

Though expectations vary from one discipline to the next, the conclusion of your paper is generally a place to explore the implications of your topic or argument. In other words, the end of your paper is a place to look outward or ahead in order to explain why you made the points you did.

Writing the Conclusion

In the past, you may have been told that your conclusion should summarize what you have already said by restating your thesis and main points. It is often helpful to restate your argument in the conclusion, particularly in a longer paper, but most professors and instructors want students to go beyond simply repeating what they have already said. Restating your thesis is just a short first part of your conclusion. Make sure that you are not simply repeating yourself; your restated thesis should use new and interesting language.

After you have restated your thesis, you should not just summarize the key points of your argument. Your conclusion should offer the reader something new to think about—or, at the very least, it should offer the reader a new way of thinking about what you have said in your paper.

You can employ one of several strategies for taking your conclusion that important step further:

• Answer the question, "So what?"
• Connect to a larger theme from the course
• Complicate your claim with an outside source
• Pose a new research question as a result of your paper's findings
• Address the limitations of your argument

The strategy you employ in writing a conclusion for your paper may depend upon a number of factors:

• The conventions of the discipline in which you are writing
• The tone of your paper (whether your paper is analytical, argumentative, explanatory, etc.)
• Whether your paper is meant to be formal or informal

Choose a strategy that best maintains the flow and tone of your paper while allowing you to adequately tie together all aspects of your paper.

The Final "So what?" Strategy

Part of generating a thesis statement sometimes requires answering the "so what?" question—that is, explaining the significance of your basic assertion. When you use the "so what?" strategy to write your conclusion, you are considering what some of the implications of your argument might be beyond the points already made in your paper. This strategy allows you to leave readers with an understanding of why your argument is important in a broader context or how it can apply to a larger concept.

For example, consider a paper about alcohol abuse in universities. If the paper argues that alcohol abuse among students depends more on psychological factors than simply the availability of alcohol on campus, a "so what?" conclusion might tie together threads from the body of the paper to suggest that universities are not approaching alcohol education from the most effective perspective when they focus exclusively on limiting students' access to alcohol.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "How does my argument affect how I approach the text or issue?"

The "Connecting to a Course Theme" Strategy

When you use the "connecting to a course theme" strategy to write your conclusion, you are establishing a connection between your paper's thesis and a larger theme or idea from the course for which you are writing your paper.

For example, consider a paper about mothers and daughters in Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding for a class called "The Inescapable South." This paper argues that a strong dependence on the mother is analogous to a strong dependence on the South. A "connecting to a course theme" conclusion for this paper might propose that Welty's daughter characters demonstrate what type of people can and cannot escape the South.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "What is an overall theme of this course? How does my paper's thesis connect?"

The "Complicating Your Claim" Strategy

When you use the "complicating your claim" strategy to write your conclusion, you are using one or more additional resources to develop a more nuanced final thesis. Such additional resources could include a new outside source or textual evidence that seemingly contradicts your argument.

For example, consider a paper about Ireland's neutrality during World War II. This paper argues that Ireland refused to enter the war because it wanted to assert its sovereignty, not because it had no opinion about the conflict. A "complicating your claim" conclusion for this paper might provide historical evidence that Ireland did aid the Allies, suggesting that the Irish were more influenced by international diplomacy than their formal neutrality might suggest.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "Is there any evidence against my thesis?" or "What does an outside source have to say about my thesis?"

The "Posing a New Question" Strategy

When you use the "posing a new question" strategy to write your conclusion, you are inviting the reader to consider a new idea or question that has appeared as a result of your argument.

For example, consider a paper about three versions of the folktale "Rapunzel." This paper argues that German, Italian, and Filipino versions of "Rapunzel" all vary in terms of characterization, plot development, and moral, and as a result have different themes. A "posing a new question" conclusion for this paper might ask the historical and cultural reasons for how three separate cultures developed such similar stories with such different themes.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "What new question has developed out of my argument?"

The "Addressing Limitations" Strategy

When you use the "addressing limitations" strategy to write your conclusion, you are discussing the possible weaknesses of your argument and, thus, the fallibility of your overall conclusion. This strategy is often useful in concluding papers on scientific studies and experiments.

For example, consider a paper about an apparent correlation between religious belief and support for terrorism. An "addressing limitations" conclusion for this paper might suggest that the apparent correlation relies on the paper's definition of "terrorism" and, since the definition is not objective, the apparent correlation might have been wrongly identified.

To use this strategy, ask yourself, "In what aspects is my argument lacking? Are there circumstances in which my conclusions might be wrong?"

Polishing Your Conclusion—and Your Paper

After you've completed your conclusion, look over what you have written and consider making some small changes to promote clarity and originality:

• Unless your discipline requires them, remove obvious transitions like "in conclusion," "in summary," and "in result" from your conclusion; they get in the way of the actual substance of your conclusion.
• Consider taking a strong phrase from your conclusion and using it as the title or subtitle of your paper.

Also, be sure to proofread your conclusion carefully for errors and typos. You should double-check your entire paper for accuracy and correct spelling as well.

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Workshop Resources: Thesis Statements & Outlines

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Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement should be a one sentence, declarative, controversial statement

Controversial meaning it is possible someone could disagree with it--you will have to ARGUE your case

Of course when you are writing a 15-20 page paper, it will be more than 5 paragraphs. But you can scaffold this out in various ways. Add additional Evidence Paragraphs, or make 3 Evidence Sections with multiple paragraphs each.

Introduction

Lead: One sentence that makes a general statement and tries to get the reader’s attention.

Background Information: One or two sentences that give you some general information about the topic of the essay.

Main Point of Paragraph: One or two sentences telling what your body paragraphs will discuss in the order they appear in the essay.

Thesis Statement: One sentence that gives a clear, concise representation of your topic and argument

Evidence Paragraphs

Topic Sentence: One sentence that tells the topic of the paragraph AND acts as a transition from the previous paragraph.

Details/Examples/Support/Quotes/Evidence: Several sentences related to the topic of the paragraph

Closing/Conclusion for the Paragraph: One sentence that relates to paragraph’s topic sentence and points back to the thesis.

Restatement of Thesis: One sentence that restates the thesis from the introductory paragraph.

Review of Main Points: One or two sentences that briefly reviews the main points from your body paragraphs.  No new information should be discussed here.

Closing for Essay: One or two sentences that wrap up the essay so that there is a feeling of finality.

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Learn How to Restate a Thesis Effectively

Table of Contents

Writing a conclusion is always a tough task. You would have easily crafted the introduction and the body of a thesis, but when it comes to summarizing, you need to restate the core of the thesis in simple words. It sounds hectic and difficult, isn’t it? Don’t worry! To help you in restating a thesis effectively, here in this guide, we have shared the important restating tips to be followed when writing.

What is Meant by Restating a Thesis?

In general, restating is the art of stating an idea once again or differently in a more convincing or transparent way.

Restating a thesis definition means reframing the hypothesis of a thesis paper using different words succinctly. The restated words or phrases of a thesis statement should be included in the conclusion part when summarizing.

Restating is not just about repeating an already discussed idea. Generally, in academic research papers, the thesis statement will be mentioned in the introductory paragraphs. In order to help the readers understand or recap the original thesis statement of a long paper, it is advisable to restate it along with a summary in the conclusion.

Where Should You Restate a Thesis?

As stated above, the thesis restatement should be done at the conclusion of the paper. Before you restate, you should analyze and find where the reframed statement should be included in the conclusion paragraph.

Usually, the majority of people place it in the first sentence of the conclusion paragraph, but that is not mandatory. You can restate a thesis at the start, middle, or end of the conclusion section.

When you restate a thesis, remember that your goal is to recall the central idea of the paper to your reader in a creative way following high standards. So, rephrase the statement accordingly and place it at any part of the summarizing paragraph.

Why is it Important to Restate a Thesis?

By the time you come to write the conclusion part of your paper after completing the introduction and the body, both you and your readers would have exhausted. So, in order to draw attention and explain what is discussed in the body paragraph, it is important to restate a thesis. The restatement gives a polished look to the original thesis statement .

Know How to Restate a Thesis Effectively

Do you know how to restate a thesis? If you want to restate a thesis statement effectively, then make sure to follow the steps described below. Executing it will aid you to make your paraphrased thesis effective without undermining your convincing arguments.

Step 1: Carefully read the original thesis statement multiple times.

Step 2: Identify in which person’s point of view it is written [1 st , 2 nd , or 3 rd ]. Preserve that point of view in the rewrite.

Step 3: Take a hint of all the keywords and important points to be included in the reworded thesis. Apply synonyms or any other closely associated words to make the sentence appear different without modifying the core idea.

Step 4: Without altering the original meaning, expand the thesis with your own contribution.

Step 5: Rephrase or reword the thesis using any of the strategies mentioned below.

How to Rephrase a Thesis?

Paraphrasing is a strenuous task. But you can effectively restate a thesis statement by following the below-mentioned tactics.

Ask the “So what” Question

A good thesis statement should explain why your argument on the topic is significant and why your reader should consider your topic to be important. So, when you restate a statement, seek a solution to the “So what?” question.

For example, if you have written an essay on liquor use in school, then you should cover the answer to the “So what?” question in your summary paragraph by including a statement on what it implies for the school officials. Also, along with these lines, you can also restate that since liquor consumption depends on more than the legitimate drinking age, it is important that understudies should be taught about the occurrence of liquor misuse along with the viewpoints of the experts in the school.

Never Apologize

You have already added your defense points in the body paragraphs. So, apologizing at this point will weaken your conclusion. When you restate your thesis, avoid using things like, “It is possible that” or “It seems like” in the statement. You can use this conditional language only if your topic has scope to discuss the possibility or if it is a part of your thesis statement. Otherwise, never use it. Always maintain a level of confidence when you restate a thesis. Also, it is important to acknowledge the opponents, if there are any, without using absolute statements.

Don’t Use Clichés

When you restate your thesis, never use phrases such as “As this paper explains”, “In conclusion” or any similar phrases. Your readers will already know that they are in the conclusion paragraph of the paper, and so needlessly using such blunt phrases will spoil the worth of your summary, and your readers may also feel that you lack creativity.

Add a fresh perspective to your conclusion and rephrase the statement in an appealing and transparent way using creative and original phrases.

How to Reword a Thesis?

Your conclusion will get a captivating look if you rewrite your thesis statement word by word. So, how to reword a thesis? Here are a few important tips for rewording a thesis.

Alter the Structure

In order to write a statement dissimilar from the original, change the language and the structure, change the clauses, and use different parts of speech.

If you have written an original thesis statement with a subject, then, when you restate, start the paragraph with a prepositional phrase.

Use synonyms

When you re-write a thesis word by word, alter the words in the original statement with their synonyms or any different words of the same meaning. You can refer to a thesaurus when you reword.

Split the Points

If your original thesis statement has long sentences, then split that into two or three short, meaningful sentences. Splitting the points would help the readers to understand the point of discussion easily.

Change the Tenses

One of the good rewording strategies is playing between the present and past tense. If you have used the present tense in your original statement, then, when restarting it, you can use the past tense.

What Should Be the Length of a Thesis Restatement?

Generally, the conclusion paragraph will occupy only 5 to 7% of the paper. Hence, at first, consider the total word count of the entire piece and then pick the number of words you have decided to use for writing the introduction and body paragraph of your paper.

If you have an idea of the word count difference between the body and introduction sections, then you can easily decide on the number of words you can use for restating a thesis. The number of words should not stop you from thinking of a quality thesis restatement in the summary paragraph.

Read more: Thesis Outline- Fantastic Tips for the Students

The Bottom Line

We hope you are now clear about how to write a thesis restatement. In case, you still have confusion on how to restate a thesis, contact us immediately. We have numerous thesis helpers online to offer you high-quality thesis writing help at an affordable price. Especially, according to your requirements, our well-qualified assignment help experts will compose your thesis restatement smartly in advance of your deadline.

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11.2 Steps of a Conclusion

Learning objectives.

• Examine the three steps of an effective conclusion: restatement of the thesis, review of the main points, and concluding device.
• Differentiate among Miller’s (1946) ten concluding devices.

Matthew Culnane – Steps – CC BY-SA 2.0.

In Section 11.1 “Why Conclusions Matter” , we discussed the importance a conclusion has on a speech. In this section, we’re going to examine the three steps in building an effective conclusion.

Restatement of the Thesis

Restating a thesis statement is the first step in a powerful conclusion. As we explained in Chapter 9 “Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively” , a thesis statement is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. When we restate the thesis statement at the conclusion of our speech, we’re attempting to reemphasize what the overarching main idea of the speech has been. Suppose your thesis statement was, “I will analyze Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, ‘A World That Stands as One.’” You could restate the thesis in this fashion at the conclusion of your speech: “In the past few minutes, I have analyzed Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, ‘A World That Stands as One.’” Notice the shift in tense: the statement has gone from the future tense (this is what I will speak about) to the past tense (this is what I have spoken about). Restating the thesis in your conclusion reminds the audience of the major purpose or goal of your speech, helping them remember it better.

Review of Main Points

After restating the speech’s thesis, the second step in a powerful conclusion is to review the main points from your speech. One of the biggest differences between written and oral communication is the necessity of repetition in oral communication. When we preview our main points in the introduction, effectively discuss and make transitions to our main points during the body of the speech, and finally, review the main points in the conclusion, we increase the likelihood that the audience will retain our main points after the speech is over.

In the introduction of a speech, we deliver a preview of our main body points, and in the conclusion we deliver a review . Let’s look at a sample preview:

In order to understand the field of gender and communication, I will first differentiate between the terms biological sex and gender. I will then explain the history of gender research in communication. Lastly, I will examine a series of important findings related to gender and communication.

In this preview, we have three clear main points. Let’s see how we can review them at the conclusion of our speech:

Today, we have differentiated between the terms biological sex and gender, examined the history of gender research in communication, and analyzed a series of research findings on the topic.

In the past few minutes, I have explained the difference between the terms “biological sex” and “gender,” discussed the rise of gender research in the field of communication, and examined a series of groundbreaking studies in the field.

Notice that both of these conclusions review the main points originally set forth. Both variations are equally effective reviews of the main points, but you might like the linguistic turn of one over the other. Remember, while there is a lot of science to help us understand public speaking, there’s also a lot of art as well, so you are always encouraged to choose the wording that you think will be most effective for your audience.

Concluding Device

The final part of a powerful conclusion is the concluding device. A concluding device is essentially the final thought you want your audience members to have when you stop speaking. It also provides a definitive sense of closure to your speech. One of the authors of this text often makes an analogy between a gymnastics dismount and the concluding device in a speech. Just as a gymnast dismounting the parallel bars or balance beam wants to stick the landing and avoid taking two or three steps, a speaker wants to “stick” the ending of the presentation by ending with a concluding device instead of with, “Well, umm, I guess I’m done.” Miller observed that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices when ending a speech (Miller, 1946). The rest of this section is going to examine these ten concluding devices.

Conclude with a Challenge

The first way that Miller found that some speakers end their speeches is with a challenge. A challenge is a call to engage in some kind of activity that requires a contest or special effort. In a speech on the necessity of fund-raising, a speaker could conclude by challenging the audience to raise 10 percent more than their original projections. In a speech on eating more vegetables, you could challenge your audience to increase their current intake of vegetables by two portions daily. In both of these challenges, audience members are being asked to go out of their way to do something different that involves effort on their part.

Conclude with a Quotation

A second way you can conclude a speech is by reciting a quotation relevant to the speech topic. When using a quotation, you need to think about whether your goal is to end on a persuasive note or an informative note. Some quotations will have a clear call to action, while other quotations summarize or provoke thought. For example, let’s say you are delivering an informative speech about dissident writers in the former Soviet Union. You could end by citing this quotation from Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers” (Solzhenitsyn, 1964). Notice that this quotation underscores the idea of writers as dissidents, but it doesn’t ask listeners to put forth effort to engage in any specific thought process or behavior. If, on the other hand, you were delivering a persuasive speech urging your audience to participate in a very risky political demonstration, you might use this quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live” (King, 1963). In this case, the quotation leaves the audience with the message that great risks are worth taking, that they make our lives worthwhile, and that the right thing to do is to go ahead and take that great risk.

Conclude with a Summary

When a speaker ends with a summary, he or she is simply elongating the review of the main points. While this may not be the most exciting concluding device, it can be useful for information that was highly technical or complex or for speeches lasting longer than thirty minutes. Typically, for short speeches (like those in your class), this summary device should be avoided.

Conclude by Visualizing the Future

The purpose of a conclusion that refers to the future is to help your audience imagine the future you believe can occur. If you are giving a speech on the development of video games for learning, you could conclude by depicting the classroom of the future where video games are perceived as true learning tools and how those tools could be utilized. More often, speakers use visualization of the future to depict how society would be, or how individual listeners’ lives would be different, if the speaker’s persuasive attempt worked. For example, if a speaker proposes that a solution to illiteracy is hiring more reading specialists in public schools, the speaker could ask her or his audience to imagine a world without illiteracy. In this use of visualization, the goal is to persuade people to adopt the speaker’s point of view. By showing that the speaker’s vision of the future is a positive one, the conclusion should help to persuade the audience to help create this future.

Conclude with an Appeal for Action

Probably the most common persuasive concluding device is the appeal for action or the call to action. In essence, the appeal for action occurs when a speaker asks her or his audience to engage in a specific behavior or change in thinking. When a speaker concludes by asking the audience “to do” or “to think” in a specific manner, the speaker wants to see an actual change. Whether the speaker appeals for people to eat more fruit, buy a car, vote for a candidate, oppose the death penalty, or sing more in the shower, the speaker is asking the audience to engage in action.

One specific type of appeal for action is the immediate call to action . Whereas some appeals ask for people to engage in behavior in the future, the immediate call to action asks people to engage in behavior right now. If a speaker wants to see a new traffic light placed at a dangerous intersection, he or she may conclude by asking all the audience members to sign a digital petition right then and there, using a computer the speaker has made available ( http://www.petitiononline.com ). Here are some more examples of immediate calls to action:

• In a speech on eating more vegetables, pass out raw veggies and dip at the conclusion of the speech.
• In a speech on petitioning a lawmaker for a new law, provide audience members with a prewritten e-mail they can send to the lawmaker.
• In a speech on the importance of using hand sanitizer, hand out little bottles of hand sanitizer and show audience members how to correctly apply the sanitizer.
• In a speech asking for donations for a charity, send a box around the room asking for donations.

These are just a handful of different examples we’ve actually seen students use in our classrooms to elicit an immediate change in behavior. These immediate calls to action may not lead to long-term change, but they can be very effective at increasing the likelihood that an audience will change behavior in the short term.

Conclude by Inspiration

By definition, the word inspire means to affect or arouse someone. Both affect and arouse have strong emotional connotations. The ultimate goal of an inspiration concluding device is similar to an “appeal for action” but the ultimate goal is more lofty or ambiguous; the goal is to stir someone’s emotions in a specific manner. Maybe a speaker is giving an informative speech on the prevalence of domestic violence in our society today. That speaker could end the speech by reading Paulette Kelly’s powerful poem “I Got Flowers Today.” “I Got Flowers Today” is a poem that evokes strong emotions because it’s about an abuse victim who received flowers from her abuser every time she was victimized. The poem ends by saying, “I got flowers today… / Today was a special day—it was the day of my funeral / Last night he killed me” (Kelly, 1994).

Conclude with Advice

The next concluding device is one that should be used primarily by speakers who are recognized as expert authorities on a given subject. Advice is essentially a speaker’s opinion about what should or should not be done. The problem with opinions is that everyone has one, and one person’s opinion is not necessarily any more correct than another’s. There needs to be a really good reason your opinion—and therefore your advice—should matter to your audience. If, for example, you are an expert in nuclear physics, you might conclude a speech on energy by giving advice about the benefits of nuclear energy.

Conclude by Proposing a Solution

Another way a speaker can conclude a speech powerfully is to offer a solution to the problem discussed within a speech. For example, perhaps a speaker has been discussing the problems associated with the disappearance of art education in the United States. The speaker could then propose a solution of creating more community-based art experiences for school children as a way to fill this gap. Although this can be an effective conclusion, a speaker must ask herself or himself whether the solution should be discussed in more depth as a stand-alone main point within the body of the speech so that audience concerns about the proposed solution may be addressed.

Conclude with a Question

Another way you can end a speech is to ask a rhetorical question that forces the audience to ponder an idea. Maybe you are giving a speech on the importance of the environment, so you end the speech by saying, “Think about your children’s future. What kind of world do you want them raised in? A world that is clean, vibrant, and beautiful—or one that is filled with smog, pollution, filth, and disease?” Notice that you aren’t actually asking the audience to verbally or nonverbally answer the question; the goal of this question is to force the audience into thinking about what kind of world they want for their children.

Conclude with a Reference to Audience

The last concluding device discussed by Miller (1946) was a reference to one’s audience. This concluding device is when a speaker attempts to answer the basic audience question, “What’s in it for me?” The goal of this concluding device is to spell out the direct benefits a behavior or thought change has for audience members. For example, a speaker talking about stress reduction techniques could conclude by clearly listing all the physical health benefits stress reduction offers (e.g., improved reflexes, improved immune system, improved hearing, reduction in blood pressure). In this case, the speaker is clearly spelling out why audience members should care—what’s in it for them!

Informative versus Persuasive Conclusions

As you read through the ten possible ways to conclude a speech, hopefully you noticed that some of the methods are more appropriate for persuasive speeches and others are more appropriate for informative speeches. To help you choose appropriate conclusions for informative, persuasive, or entertaining speeches, we’ve created a table ( Table 11.1 “Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices” ) to help you quickly identify appropriate concluding devices.

Table 11.1 Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices

Key Takeaways

• An effective conclusion contains three basic parts: a restatement of the speech’s thesis; a review of the main points discussed within the speech; and a concluding device that helps create a lasting image in audiences’ minds.
• Miller (1946) found that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices. All of these devices are not appropriate for all speeches, so speakers need to determine which concluding device would have the strongest, most powerful effect for a given audience, purpose, and occasion.
• Take the last speech you gave in class and rework the speech’s conclusion to reflect the three parts of a conclusion. Now do the same thing with the speech you are currently working on for class.
• Think about the speech you are currently working on in class. Write out concluding statements using three of the devices discussed in this chapter. Which of the devices would be most useful for your speech? Why?

Kelly, P. (1994). I got flowers today. In C. J. Palmer & J. Palmer, Fire from within . Painted Post, NY: Creative Arts & Science Enterprises.

King, M. L. (1963, June 23). Speech in Detroit. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.), Bartlett’s familiar quotations (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 760.

Miller, E. (1946). Speech introductions and conclusions. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 , 181–183.

Solzhenitsyn, A. (1964). The first circle. New York: Harper & Row. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.), Bartlett’s familiar quotations (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 746.

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How can I restate a thesis statement effectively?

This is the second of three chapters about Thesis Restatements . To complete this reader, read each chapter carefully and then unlock and complete our materials to check your understanding.   

– Introduce four tips for writing effective thesis restatements

– Explore the four elements of a thesis restatement 

– Provide guidance on restating a thesis restatement using paraphrasing techniques

Chapter 1: Why are concluding thesis restatements important?

Chapter 2: How can I restate a thesis statement effectively?

Chapter 3: Can I see example academic thesis restatements?

Before you begin reading...

• video and audio texts
• knowledge checks and quizzes
• skills practices, tasks and assignments

In Chapter 1 of this short reader we introduced the basic elements of a concluding paragraph and compared the introductory thesis statement   with the concluding thesis restatement . In Chapter 2, we next attempt to deconstruct and reconstruct some example thesis restatements to exemplify how these elements can be written most effectively. This exemplification can be broken down into four tips. Continue reading to learn about how to apply these simple tips to your own writing.

Tip 1: Include the Elements

As was mentioned at the end of Chapter 1, there are four key elements that build a thesis statement – and these same elements can be used to build thesis restatements too. The first is the inclusion of task language. The task language provided in the table below works to inform the reader of both the format of the assignment  ( essay , dissertation , etc) and its type ( discuss , evaluate , etc.). From this information, an experienced reader should then be able to predict the likely structure of the essay based on their experience:

The second and third aspects are usually constructed from the topic of the essay and its key arguments. While the topic is simple as it’s often taken directly from the essay question, the writer’s key arguments are somewhat more complex as they’re drawn from the body-paragraph main ideas – as outlined in the essay’s topic sentences . As can be seen in the following table, however, these aspects are straightforward enough to write once the body section is complete (a thesis restatement should not be written before this stage):

When writing a thesis restatement, students should also remember to provide their main ideas in the same order as presented in the body section of their essay, also including stance (writer opinion) as the fourth element wherever required:

Tip 2: Paraphrase the Thesis Statement

While it’s important that the meaning of the original thesis   is restated by the writer in the concluding paragraph , this doesn’t mean that precisely the same words should be used. In fact, doing so might appear lazy or repetitive to the reader. Instead, writers should use a wide variety of techniques to help them restate their thesis in different words and linguistic structures.

The most helpful techniques are listed for students below:

• alter the grammar
• alter the sentence structure
• change the order of information
• change the word order
• modify the word forms
• use antonyms and synonyms

Students should remember, of course, that it’s not necessary to paraphrase every word. Names, collocates  and subject-specific words should be maintained, as can small grammatical words such as prepositions and determiners .

Tip 3: Be Specific and Concise

An effective thesis restatement should always be specific and concise . Specificity is critical as being vague will only confuse your reader or lead them to believe that you’re as unsure about your topic as they are. Likewise, overwritten text may be tiring for the reader and will use up your limited word count . To see this in action, take a look at the two example thesis restatements below and see why example A has the best balance of specificity and concision:

Tip 4: Edit Carefully

Finally, remember to check every aspect of your essay carefully for grammar and spelling errors before submission, including your concluding thesis restatement. Should a reader spot too many errors in your writing, their confidence in your argumentation will be reduced (and so too may your grade).

To reference this reader:

Academic Marker (2022) Thesis Restatements . Available at: https://academicmarker.com/essay-writing/concluding-paragraphs/thesis-restatements/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

• Harvard University Writing Center
• University of North Carolina Writing Center
• University of New England

Downloadables

Once you’ve completed all three chapters in this short reader about Thesis Restatements , you might then wish to download our Chapter Worksheets to check your progress or print for your students. These professional PDF worksheets can be easily accessed for only a few Academic Marks .

Chapter 1 explores the topic: Why are concluding thesis restatements important? Our Chapter 1 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

Chapter 2 explores the topic: How can I restate a thesis statement effectively? Our Chapter 2 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

Chapter 3 explores the topic: Can I see example academic thesis restatements? Our Chapter 3 Worksheet (containing guidance, activities and answer keys) can be accessed here at the click of a button. 

To save yourself 2 Marks , click on the button below to gain unlimited access to all of our Thesis Restatements Chapter Worksheets. This  All-in-1 Pack includes every chapter, activity and answer key related to this topic in one handy and professional PDF.

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PRDV008: Preparing and Delivering Presentations

Steps for creating a conclusion.

This article explains how the attention-grabbing devices you use in your introduction can help you develop a powerful conclusion.

Restatement of the Thesis

Restating a thesis statement is the first step in a powerful conclusion. A thesis statement is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. When we restate the thesis statement at the conclusion of our speech, we are attempting to reemphasize what the overarching main idea of the speech has been.

Suppose your thesis statement was, "I will analyze Barack Obama's use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, 'A World That Stands as One.'"

You could restate the thesis in this fashion at the conclusion of your speech: "In the past few minutes, I have analyzed Barack Obama's use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, 'A World That Stands as One'".

Notice the shift in tense: the statement has gone from the future tense (this is what I will speak about) to the past tense (this is what I have spoken about). Restating the thesis in your conclusion reminds the audience of the major purpose or goal of your speech, helping them remember it better.

Review of Main Points

After restating the speech's thesis, the second step in a powerful conclusion is to review the main points from your speech. One of the biggest differences between written and oral communication is the necessity of repetition in oral communication. When we preview our main points in the introduction, effectively discuss and make transitions to our main points during the body of the speech, and finally, review the main points in the conclusion, we increase the likelihood that the audience will retain our main points after the speech is over.

In the introduction of a speech, we deliver a  preview  of our main body points, and in the conclusion, we deliver a  review .

Let's look at a sample preview:

In order to understand the field of gender and communication, I will first differentiate between the terms biological sex and gender. I will then explain the history of gender research in communication. Lastly, I will examine a series of important findings related to gender and communication.

In this preview, we have three clear main points. Let's see how we can review them at the conclusion of our speech:

Today, we have differentiated between the terms biological sex and gender, examined the history of gender research in communication, and analyzed a series of research findings on the topic.

In the past few minutes, I have explained the difference between the terms "biological sex" and "gender", discussed the rise of gender research in the field of communication, and examined a series of groundbreaking studies in the field.

Notice that both of these conclusions review the main points originally set forth. Both variations are equally effective reviews of the main points, but you might like the linguistic turn of one over the other. Remember, while there is a lot of science to help us understand public speaking, there is also a lot of art as well, so you are always encouraged to choose the wording that you think will be most effective for your audience.

Concluding Device

The final part of a powerful conclusion is the concluding device. A  concluding device  is essentially the final thought you want your audience members to have when you stop speaking. It also provides a definitive sense of closure to your speech. One of the authors of this text often makes an analogy between a gymnastics dismount and the concluding device in a speech.

Just as a gymnast dismounting the parallel bars or balance beam wants to stick the landing and avoid taking two or three steps, a speaker wants to "stick" the ending of the presentation by ending with a concluding device instead of with, "Well, umm, I guess I am done". Miller observed that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices when ending a speech. Miller, E. (1946). Speech introductions and conclusions.  Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 , 181–183. The rest of this section is going to examine these ten concluding devices.

Conclude with a Challenge

The first way that Miller found that some speakers end their speeches is with a challenge. A  challenge  is a call to engage in some kind of activity that requires a contest or special effort. In a speech on the necessity of fund-raising, a speaker could conclude by challenging the audience to raise 10 percent more than their original projections.

In a speech on eating more vegetables, you could challenge your audience to increase their current intake of vegetables by two portions daily. In both of these challenges, audience members are being asked to go out of their way to do something different that involves effort on their part.

Conclude with a Quotation

A second way you can conclude a speech is by reciting a quotation relevant to the speech topic. When using a quotation, you need to think about whether your goal is to end on a persuasive note or an informative note. Some quotations will have a clear call to action, while other quotations summarize or provoke thought.

For example, let's say you are delivering an informative speech about dissident writers in the former Soviet Union. You could end by citing this quotation from Alexander Solzhenitsyn: "A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers." Solzhenitsyn, A. (1964).  The first circle.  New York: Harper & Row. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.),  Bartlett's familiar quotations  (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 746.

Notice that this quotation underscores the idea of writers as dissidents, but it does not ask listeners to put forth an effort to engage in any specific thought process or behavior. If, on the other hand, you were delivering a persuasive speech urging your audience to participate in a very risky political demonstration, you might use this quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.: "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live". King, M. L. (1963, June 23). Speech in Detroit. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.),  Bartlett's familiar quotations  (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 760.

In this case, the quotation leaves the audience with the message that great risks are worth taking, that they make our lives worthwhile, and that the right thing to do is to go ahead and take that great risk.

Conclude with a Summary

When a speaker ends with a summary, he or she is simply elongating the review of the main points. While this may not be the most exciting concluding device, it can be useful for information that was highly technical or complex or for speeches lasting longer than thirty minutes. Typically, for short speeches (like those in your class), this summary device should be avoided.

Conclude by Visualizing the Future

The purpose of a conclusion that refers to the future is to help your audience imagine the future you believe can occur. If you are giving a speech on the development of video games for learning, you could conclude by depicting the classroom of the future where video games are perceived as true learning tools and how those tools could be utilized.

More often, speakers use visualization of the future to depict how society would be, or how individual listeners' lives would be different if the speaker's persuasive attempt worked. For example, if a speaker proposes that a solution to illiteracy is hiring more reading specialists in public schools, the speaker could ask her or his audience to imagine a world without illiteracy. In this use of visualization, the goal is to persuade people to adopt the speaker's point of view. By showing that the speaker's vision of the future is a positive one, the conclusion should help to persuade the audience to help create this future.

Conclude with an Appeal for Action

Probably the most common persuasive concluding device is the appeal for action or the call to action. In essence, the  appeal for action  occurs when a speaker asks her or his audience to engage in a specific behavior or change in thinking. When a speaker concludes by asking the audience "to do" or "to think" in a specific manner, the speaker wants to see an actual change. Whether the speaker appeals for people to eat more fruit, buy a car, vote for a candidate, oppose the death penalty, or sing more in the shower, the speaker is asking the audience to engage in action.

One specific type of appeal for action is the  immediate call to action . Whereas some appeals ask for people to engage in behavior in the future, the immediate call to action asks people to engage in behavior right now. If a speaker wants to see a new traffic light placed at a dangerous intersection, he or she may conclude by asking all the audience members to sign a digital petition right then and there, using a computer the speaker has made available. Here are some more examples of immediate calls to action:

• In a speech on eating more vegetables, pass out raw veggies, and dip at the conclusion of the speech.
• In a speech on petitioning a lawmaker for a new law, provide audience members with a prewritten e-mail they can send to the lawmaker.
• In a speech on the importance of using hand sanitizer, hand out little bottles of hand sanitizer, and show audience members how to correctly apply the sanitizer.
• In a speech asking for donations for a charity, send a box around the room asking for donations.

These are just a handful of different examples we have actually seen students use in our classrooms to elicit an immediate change in behavior. These immediate calls to action may not lead to long-term change, but they can be very effective at increasing the likelihood that an audience will change behavior in the short term.

Conclude by Inspiration

By definition, the word  inspire  means to affect or arouse someone. Both affect and arouse have strong emotional connotations. The ultimate goal of an inspirational concluding device is similar to an "appeal for action" but the ultimate goal is more lofty or ambiguous; the goal is to stir someone's emotions in a specific manner. Maybe a speaker is giving an informative speech on the prevalence of domestic violence in our society today.

That speaker could end the speech by reading Paulette Kelly's powerful poem "I Got Flowers Today". "I Got Flowers Today" is a poem that evokes strong emotions because it is about an abuse victim who received flowers from her abuser every time she was victimized.

The poem ends by saying, 

I got flowers today… Today was a special day – it was the day of my funeral Last night he killed me.

Kelly, P. (1994). I got flowers today. In C. J. Palmer & J. Palmer,  Fire from within . Painted Post, NY: Creative Arts & Science Enterprises.

Conclude with Advice

The next concluding device is one that should be used primarily by speakers who are recognized as expert authorities on a given subject.  Advice  is essentially a speaker's opinion about what should or should not be done. The problem with opinions is that everyone has one, and one person's opinion is not necessarily any more correct than another's. There needs to be a really good reason your opinion – and therefore your advice – should matter to your audience. If, for example, you are an expert in nuclear physics, you might conclude a speech on energy by giving advice about the benefits of nuclear energy.

Conclude by Proposing a Solution

Another way a speaker can conclude a speech powerfully is to offer a solution to the problem discussed within a speech. For example, perhaps a speaker has been discussing the problems associated with the disappearance of art education in the United States.

The speaker could then propose the solution of creating more community-based art experiences for school children as a way to fill this gap. Although this can be an effective conclusion, a speaker must ask herself or himself whether the solution should be discussed in more depth as a stand-alone main point within the body of the speech so that audience concerns about the proposed solution may be addressed.

Conclude with a Question

Another way you can end a speech is to ask a rhetorical question that forces the audience to ponder an idea. Maybe you are giving a speech on the importance of the environment, so you end the speech by saying, "Think about your children's future. What kind of world do you want them raised in? A world that is clean, vibrant, and beautiful – or one that is filled with smog, pollution, filth, and disease?" Notice that you are not actually asking the audience to verbally or nonverbally answer the question; the goal of this question is to force the audience into thinking about what kind of world they want for their children.

Conclude with a Reference to the Audience

The last concluding device discussed by Miller (1946) was a reference to your audience. This concluding device is when a speaker attempts to answer the basic audience question, "What is in it for me?" The goal of this concluding device is to spell out the direct benefits a behavior or thought change has for audience members.

For example, a speaker talking about stress reduction techniques could conclude by clearly listing all the physical health benefits stress reduction offers (e.g., improved reflexes, improved immune system, improved hearing, reduction in blood pressure). In this case, the speaker is clearly spelling out why audience members should care – what is in it for them!

Informative versus Persuasive Conclusions

As you read through the ten possible ways to conclude a speech, hopefully, you noticed that some of the methods are more appropriate for persuasive speeches and others are more appropriate for informative speeches. To help you choose appropriate conclusions for informative, persuasive, or entertaining speeches, we have created a table (Table 1 "Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices") to help you quickly identify appropriate concluding devices.

Table 1 Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices

Key Takeaways

• An effective conclusion contains three basic parts: a restatement of the speech's thesis; a review of the main points discussed within the speech; and a concluding device that helps create a lasting image in audiences' minds.
• Miller (1946) found that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices. All of these devices are not appropriate for all speeches, so speakers need to determine which concluding device would have the strongest, most powerful effect for a given audience, purpose, and occasion.

Analyzing a Conclusion

So far this chapter has focused on how to go about creating a clear conclusion. We discussed why conclusions are important, the three steps of effective conclusions, and ten different ways to conclude a speech. In this section, we are going to examine an actual conclusion to a speech. Please read the sample conclusion paragraph for the smart dust speech.

Sample Conclusion: Smart Dust

Today, we have explored how smart dust may impact all of our lives in the near future by examining what smart dust is, how smart dust could be utilized by the U.S. military, and how smart dust could impact all of our lives sooner rather than later. While smart dust is quickly transforming from science fiction to science fact, experts agree that the full potential of smart dust will probably not occur until 2025.

While smart dust is definitely coming, swarms of smart dust eating people as was depicted in Michael Crichton's 2002 novel,  Prey , are not reality. However, as with any technological advance, there are definite ethical considerations and worries to consider. Even Dr. Kris Pister's Smart Dust Project website admits that as smart dust becomes more readily available, one of the trade-offs will be privacy. Pister responds to these critiques by saying, "As an engineer, or a scientist, or a hairstylist, everyone needs to evaluate what they do in terms of its positive and negative effect.

If I thought that the negatives of working on this project were larger than or even comparable to the positives, I would not be working on it. As it turns out, I think that the potential benefits of this technology far outweigh the risks to personal privacy".

Now that you have had a chance to read the conclusion to the speech on smart dust, read it a second time and try to find the three parts of an introduction as discussed earlier in this chapter. Once you are finished analyzing this conclusion, take a look at Table 2 Smart Dust Conclusion, which shows you how the speech was broken down into the various parts of a conclusion.

Table 2 Smart Dust Conclusion

Now that you have seen the above analysis of a speech conclusion, we encourage you to do a similar analysis of the conclusions of other speeches. Listen to a speech in your class or online. Does it end with a restatement of the thesis, a review of the main points, and a concluding device? Can you suggest ways to improve the conclusion?

Here is another exercise to try. Consider the specific purpose and three main points of a hypothetical speech. Based on those components, develop a conclusion for that speech.

Chapter 11 Concluding with Power

Steps of a conclusion, learning objectives.

• Examine the three steps of an effective conclusion: restatement of the thesis, review of the main points, and concluding device.
• Differentiate among Miller’s (1946) ten concluding devices.

In Section 11.1 “Why Conclusions Matter”, we discussed the importance a conclusion has on a speech. In this section, we’re going to examine the three steps in building an effective conclusion.

Restatement of the Thesis

Restating a thesis statement is the first step in a powerful conclusion. As we explained in Chapter 9 “Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively”, a thesis statement is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. When we restate the thesis statement at the conclusion of our speech, we’re attempting to reemphasize what the overarching main idea of the speech has been. Suppose your thesis statement was, “I will analyze Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, ‘A World That Stands as One.’” You could restate the thesis in this fashion at the conclusion of your speech: “In the past few minutes, I have analyzed Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his July 2008 speech, ‘A World That Stands as One.’” Notice the shift in tense: the statement has gone from the future tense (this is what I will speak about) to the past tense (this is what I have spoken about). Restating the thesis in your conclusion reminds the audience of the major purpose or goal of your speech, helping them remember it better.

Review of Main Points

After restating the speech’s thesis, the second step in a powerful conclusion is to review the main points from your speech. One of the biggest differences between written and oral communication is the necessity of repetition in oral communication. When we preview our main points in the introduction, effectively discuss and make transitions to our main points during the body of the speech, and finally, review the main points in the conclusion, we increase the likelihood that the audience will retain our main points after the speech is over.

In the introduction of a speech, we deliver a preview of our main body points, and in the conclusion we deliver a review . Let’s look at a sample preview:

In order to understand the field of gender and communication, I will first differentiate between the terms biological sex and gender. I will then explain the history of gender research in communication. Lastly, I will examine a series of important findings related to gender and communication.

In this preview, we have three clear main points. Let’s see how we can review them at the conclusion of our speech:

Today, we have differentiated between the terms biological sex and gender, examined the history of gender research in communication, and analyzed a series of research findings on the topic.

In the past few minutes, I have explained the difference between the terms “biological sex” and “gender,” discussed the rise of gender research in the field of communication, and examined a series of groundbreaking studies in the field.

Notice that both of these conclusions review the main points originally set forth. Both variations are equally effective reviews of the main points, but you might like the linguistic turn of one over the other. Remember, while there is a lot of science to help us understand public speaking, there’s also a lot of art as well, so you are always encouraged to choose the wording that you think will be most effective for your audience.

Concluding Device

The final part of a powerful conclusion is the concluding device. A concluding device is essentially the final thought you want your audience members to have when you stop speaking. It also provides a definitive sense of closure to your speech. One of the authors of this text often makes an analogy between a gymnastics dismount and the concluding device in a speech. Just as a gymnast dismounting the parallel bars or balance beam wants to stick the landing and avoid taking two or three steps, a speaker wants to “stick” the ending of the presentation by ending with a concluding device instead of with, “Well, umm, I guess I’m done.” Miller observed that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices when ending a speech. [1] The rest of this section is going to examine these ten concluding devices.

Conclude with a Challenge

The first way that Miller found that some speakers end their speeches is with a challenge. A challenge is a call to engage in some kind of activity that requires a contest or special effort. In a speech on the necessity of fund-raising, a speaker could conclude by challenging the audience to raise 10 percent more than their original projections. In a speech on eating more vegetables, you could challenge your audience to increase their current intake of vegetables by two portions daily. In both of these challenges, audience members are being asked to go out of their way to do something different that involves effort on their part.

Conclude with a Quotation

A second way you can conclude a speech is by reciting a quotation relevant to the speech topic. When using a quotation, you need to think about whether your goal is to end on a persuasive note or an informative note. Some quotations will have a clear call to action, while other quotations summarize or provoke thought. For example, let’s say you are delivering an informative speech about dissident writers in the former Soviet Union. You could end by citing this quotation from Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers.” [2] Notice that this quotation underscores the idea of writers as dissidents, but it doesn’t ask listeners to put forth effort to engage in any specific thought process or behavior. If, on the other hand, you were delivering a persuasive speech urging your audience to participate in a very risky political demonstration, you might use this quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” [3] In this case, the quotation leaves the audience with the message that great risks are worth taking, that they make our lives worthwhile, and that the right thing to do is to go ahead and take that great risk.

Conclude with a Summary

When a speaker ends with a summary, he or she is simply elongating the review of the main points. While this may not be the most exciting concluding device, it can be useful for information that was highly technical or complex or for speeches lasting longer than thirty minutes. Typically, for short speeches (like those in your class), this summary device should be avoided.

Conclude by Visualizing the Future

The purpose of a conclusion that refers to the future is to help your audience imagine the future you believe can occur. If you are giving a speech on the development of video games for learning, you could conclude by depicting the classroom of the future where video games are perceived as true learning tools and how those tools could be utilized. More often, speakers use visualization of the future to depict how society would be, or how individual listeners’ lives would be different, if the speaker’s persuasive attempt worked. For example, if a speaker proposes that a solution to illiteracy is hiring more reading specialists in public schools, the speaker could ask her or his audience to imagine a world without illiteracy. In this use of visualization, the goal is to persuade people to adopt the speaker’s point of view. By showing that the speaker’s vision of the future is a positive one, the conclusion should help to persuade the audience to help create this future.

Conclude with an Appeal for Action

Probably the most common persuasive concluding device is the appeal for action or the call to action. In essence, the appeal for action occurs when a speaker asks her or his audience to engage in a specific behavior or change in thinking. When a speaker concludes by asking the audience “to do” or “to think” in a specific manner, the speaker wants to see an actual change. Whether the speaker appeals for people to eat more fruit, buy a car, vote for a candidate, oppose the death penalty, or sing more in the shower, the speaker is asking the audience to engage in action.

One specific type of appeal for action is the immediate call to action . Whereas some appeals ask for people to engage in behavior in the future, the immediate call to action asks people to engage in behavior right now. If a speaker wants to see a new traffic light placed at a dangerous intersection, he or she may conclude by asking all the audience members to sign a digital petition right then and there, using a computer the speaker has made available. Here are some more examples of immediate calls to action:

• In a speech on eating more vegetables, pass out raw veggies and dip at the conclusion of the speech.
• In a speech on petitioning a lawmaker for a new law, provide audience members with a prewritten e-mail they can send to the lawmaker.
• In a speech on the importance of using hand sanitizer, hand out little bottles of hand sanitizer and show audience members how to correctly apply the sanitizer.
• In a speech asking for donations for a charity, send a box around the room asking for donations.

These are just a handful of different examples we’ve actually seen students use in our classrooms to elicit an immediate change in behavior. These immediate calls to action may not lead to long-term change, but they can be very effective at increasing the likelihood that an audience will change behavior in the short term.

Conclude by Inspiration

By definition, the word inspire means to affect or arouse someone. Both affect and arouse have strong emotional connotations. The ultimate goal of an inspiration concluding device is similar to an “appeal for action” but the ultimate goal is more lofty or ambiguous; the goal is to stir someone’s emotions in a specific manner. Maybe a speaker is giving an informative speech on the prevalence of domestic violence in our society today. That speaker could end the speech by reading Paulette Kelly’s powerful poem “I Got Flowers Today.” “I Got Flowers Today” is a poem that evokes strong emotions because it’s about an abuse victim who received flowers from her abuser every time she was victimized. The poem ends by saying, “I got flowers today… / Today was a special day—it was the day of my funeral / Last night he killed me.” [4]

Conclude with Advice

The next concluding device is one that should be used primarily by speakers who are recognized as expert authorities on a given subject. Advice is essentially a speaker’s opinion about what should or should not be done. The problem with opinions is that everyone has one, and one person’s opinion is not necessarily any more correct than another’s. There needs to be a really good reason your opinion—and therefore your advice—should matter to your audience. If, for example, you are an expert in nuclear physics, you might conclude a speech on energy by giving advice about the benefits of nuclear energy.

Conclude by Proposing a Solution

Another way a speaker can conclude a speech powerfully is to offer a solution to the problem discussed within a speech. For example, perhaps a speaker has been discussing the problems associated with the disappearance of art education in the United States. The speaker could then propose a solution of creating more community-based art experiences for school children as a way to fill this gap. Although this can be an effective conclusion, a speaker must ask herself or himself whether the solution should be discussed in more depth as a stand-alone main point within the body of the speech so that audience concerns about the proposed solution may be addressed.

Conclude with a Question

Another way you can end a speech is to ask a rhetorical question that forces the audience to ponder an idea. Maybe you are giving a speech on the importance of the environment, so you end the speech by saying, “Think about your children’s future. What kind of world do you want them raised in? A world that is clean, vibrant, and beautiful—or one that is filled with smog, pollution, filth, and disease?” Notice that you aren’t actually asking the audience to verbally or nonverbally answer the question; the goal of this question is to force the audience into thinking about what kind of world they want for their children.

Conclude with a Reference to Audience

The last concluding device discussed by Miller (1946) was a reference to one’s audience. This concluding device is when a speaker attempts to answer the basic audience question, “What’s in it for me?” The goal of this concluding device is to spell out the direct benefits a behavior or thought change has for audience members. For example, a speaker talking about stress reduction techniques could conclude by clearly listing all the physical health benefits stress reduction offers (e.g., improved reflexes, improved immune system, improved hearing, reduction in blood pressure). In this case, the speaker is clearly spelling out why audience members should care—what’s in it for them!

Informative versus Persuasive Conclusions

As you read through the ten possible ways to conclude a speech, hopefully you noticed that some of the methods are more appropriate for persuasive speeches and others are more appropriate for informative speeches. To help you choose appropriate conclusions for informative, persuasive, or entertaining speeches, we’ve created a table (Table 1 “Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices”) to help you quickly identify appropriate concluding devices.

Table 1. Your Speech Purpose and Concluding Devices

Key Takeaways

• An effective conclusion contains three basic parts: a restatement of the speech’s thesis; a review of the main points discussed within the speech; and a concluding device that helps create a lasting image in audiences’ minds.
• Miller (1946) found that speakers tend to use one of ten concluding devices. All of these devices are not appropriate for all speeches, so speakers need to determine which concluding device would have the strongest, most powerful effect for a given audience, purpose, and occasion.
• Take the last speech you gave in class and rework the speech’s conclusion to reflect the three parts of a conclusion. Now do the same thing with the speech you are currently working on for class.
• Think about the speech you are currently working on in class. Write out concluding statements using three of the devices discussed in this chapter. Which of the devices would be most useful for your speech? Why?
• Miller, E. (1946). Speech introductions and conclusions. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 , 181–183. ↵
• Solzhenitsyn, A. (1964). The first circle. New York: Harper & Row. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.), Bartlett’s familiar quotations (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 746. ↵
• King, M. L. (1963, June 23). Speech in Detroit. Cited in Bartlett, J., & Kaplan, J. (Eds.), Bartlett’s familiar quotations (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., p. 760. ↵
• Kelly, P. (1994). I got flowers today. In C. J. Palmer & J. Palmer, Fire from within . Painted Post, NY: Creative Arts & Science Enterprises. ↵
• Public Speaking: Practice and Ethics. Authored by : Anonymous. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/public-speaking-practice-and-ethics/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

How to Restate a Thesis Statement-With Examples

A thesis statement is a sentence that states the main idea of your paper. In many cases, it is not enough to simply state the topic-you must also present an argument for why you believe this topic should be explored in greater depth. You may need to restate your thesis statement at various points throughout your paper so that readers can easily follow what you are writing about and how you are supporting your argument.

Restating a thesis statement is a process that can take several forms. You may have to use different words from your original thesis statement to make it fit better with your subject matter, or you may need to expand on its meaning to include new evidence and support for your argument. You must also be careful not to contradict or argue against yourself while restating your thesis statement.

How to Restate a Thesis Statement

The steps below will help you restate your thesis statement with ease.

STEP 1: Determine the focus of your thesis statement.

The first step is to determine the exact focus of your thesis statement. For example, if you are writing a paper about how certain political practices in the United States have influenced its development as a nation, you might write something like this:

“The political ideology that has shaped the United States’ development as a nation is conservatism.”

STEP 2: Reword the thesis statement.

This part of the process is largely subjective, and you will need to consider your writing style carefully to determine whether or not you feel that your thesis statement is clear enough for your readers. You may choose to use synonyms for certain words, or you may need to rearrange the order of the words in your sentence.

Say, for instance, that you are writing a paper about how certain religious attitudes have shaped society and culture in the United States. You could restate your thesis like this:

“Its political ideologies like conservatism that have largely shaped the development of the United States.”

STEP 3: Expand on keywords in your thesis statement.

Often, certain words within a thesis statement carry significant weight with regards to supporting your argument. You can strengthen your thesis statement by restating these words in a more precise way; you could also add new evidence or support for your claim as you refine your thesis’s focus.

STEP 4: Discuss how you will develop your argument in your paper.

Finally, it is helpful to include a brief statement that indicates the direction you will be taking with regards to developing and supporting your argument. This can act as a “roadmap” for your readers-a sentence or two that tells them what they should expect to find in the rest of the paper.

“In this paper, I will explore how conservatism has influenced various aspects of American history and politics.”

What to Keep in Mind while Restating the Thesis Statement?

It is always a good idea to take careful and thorough notes whenever you write a paper because it will help you save time when you are restating your thesis statement. The following guidelines will also help you avoid common errors in this process.

Stay neutral and objective.

One of the most common mistakes writers make in restating a thesis statement is to slip into judgmental language. You should always stay as neutral as possible when describing your subject matter; avoid words like “obviously” or “clearly.” This could make your paper sound obvious or unclear to your readers.

Be concise.

A good thesis statement should not be too long, and it should not include unnecessary words. Try to reword the idea in the fewest possible number of sentences. You can continuously develop and support this claim more fully as you go along with the rest of your paper. Avoid jargon.

If you use words that are not familiar to your readers or have a specialized meaning within your field, it will make your paper very difficult to understand. You should try to stick with ordinary and simple language whenever possible.

Write from your own perspective.

There is nothing wrong with a personal opinion as long as you are clear that this is your subjective perception and not an objective fact. Keep your readers in mind; they will need to understand where you are coming from to follow your argument’s development.

Stay focused on central ideas.

You should avoid straying from your central idea and focus as much as possible. Your thesis statement should include an action verb (e.g., shaped, influenced) followed by the subject with which it is associated (e.g., development of the U.S.) and a modifier (such as “largely” or “primarily”) if necessary to make your argument more specific.

Make your thesis statement stand out.

You should try to make your thesis statement easy for readers to locate. Using an odd or unusual sentence structure might make it easier for readers to spot.

For example, instead of writing “The conservative movement in the United States has influenced various aspects of American history and politics,”

you could write:

“Because of its influence on the course of U.S. history, the conservative movement is a crucial element in understanding the development of the United States.”

What to Avoid when Restating a Thesis Statement

Do not switch words or phrases.

Switching words around can lead to confusion for your readers. Most thesis statements have a clear subject and verb, which should remain unchanged, or else you will end up confusing your readers and making your argument unclear.

Do not introduce new information.

The initial argument should be maintained while restating the thesis statement. Remember that a thesis statement is not the same as an introduction ; it will need to be supported by evidence rather than introducing new material.

Do not contradict yourself.

If you wrote one sentence about the pros of conservatism and then immediately wrote another sentence negating your previous point, you readers would be left confused on your stand. If you have multiple sources that contradict themselves, it would be best to omit them from your paper.

Avoid using vague language or words with various meanings.

If you use a word with more than one meaning in your thesis statement, you should use a different word when restating this idea, so there is no room for misinterpretation.

Do not link to outside resources.

Links to outside resources should not be included in your thesis statement, and these sources should only be used when you are trying to develop or prove a point outside the scope of your subject matter.

Do not use passive voice when restating a thesis statement.

Passive voice often makes writing unclear and weak. You should avoid it when possible and always use an active voice whenever you restate a thesis statement.

Avoid using incorrect modifiers in a restatement of your thesis statement.

If you incorrectly modify the subject or action when restarting your idea, it could lead to confusion for your readers and weaken the strength of your argument. If you make this error, you should correct the statement immediately or rewrite it to make the meaning clearer.

When and Where to Restate Your Thesis Statement

There are various instances when the need for thesis restatement in the body paragraphs rises. So, when do you exactly decide this is the perfect time and place for you to restate the thesis statement?

1. When you are trying to develop your argument, use a restatement of your thesis statement to back up the evidence you have presented to reinforce your idea or prove its existence.

2. When you want to change direction- if you decide it is necessary, you can use a restatement of your thesis statement to change the direction of your argument, make an additional point, or add extra clarification.

3. When you want to summarize – for a restatement of a thesis statement to be effective when summarizing, it is best to be concise and clear. This version should give readers a small glimpse into what you are trying to argue.

4. When you want to make a transition -restating your thesis statement can help smooth the transition between paragraphs or ideas. This will also clarify a complex concept or idea that your readers are trying to understand.

5. To create cohesion- restating your thesis statement can help guide your paper and give it unity, especially if you are trying to create a paper with several different points.

Examples of Restating Your Thesis Statement

“Initially, the Gilded Age was a time of optimism and positive change where citizens felt that their future was secure due to the industriousness of America’s working class.”

Restated statement- “Many Americans during the 1800s felt that their future was secure due to the industriousness of America’s working class.”

“The idea that immigrants are directly responsible for unemployment is not supported by statistical evidence. Rather, this belief stems from a general fear of foreigners.”

Restated statement- “Although there is no direct evidence that immigrants are responsible for unemployment, this idea stems from a fear of foreigners.”

“Overpopulation is defined as the state in which there exists an excess number of people that live in an area with limited resources. This issue can lead to various economic problems such as poverty and lower life expectancy.”

Restated statement- “Overpopulation is defined as an excess number of people living in an area with limited resources. Because of this, overpopulated areas tend to have lower life expectancies and higher poverty rates.”

“The need to instill a sense of national pride within the population has led governments throughout history to set aside public funds for memorials and monuments.”

Restated statement- “Because governments throughout history have wanted to instill a sense of national pride in their citizens, they have set aside public funds for memorials and monuments.”

“The U.S. government has some inherent limitations which provide for the upholding of civil liberties and human rights by protecting citizens from federal overreach.”

Restated statement- “The U.S. government is limited to protect citizens from federal overreach.”

“People tend to think of the past as a simpler time. However, this view is too simplistic considering all of the changes and advancements that have occurred over time.”

Restated statement- “Although people may view the past as a simpler time, it would be more accurate to say that many advancements and changes have occurred over time.”

“The factor that acts as only a possibility is luck. This is only a possibility because the outcome of only one aspect can lead to good results while another aspect might end in bad results.”

Restated statement- “Luck is the only factor that acts as a possibility because there is no way to predict what will happen due to multiple different possibilities.”

“Although academic writing is often thought of as unnecessarily complex, there are several benefits to this form of writing.”

Restated statement- “Despite the belief that academic writing is overly complex, it has several benefits.”

A restated thesis statement can be used to reinforce your main point, change direction in your argument, summarize, create cohesion or simply answer the so what question in a research paper. The restatement must be concise and clear so that it does not distract from the overall idea being presented.

I ‘m a freelance content and SEO writer with a passion for finding the perfect combination of words to capture attention and express a message . I create catchy, SEO-friendly content for websites, blogs, articles, and social media. My experience spans many industries, including health and wellness, technology, education, business, and lifestyle. My clients appreciate my ability to craft compelling stories that engage their target audience, but also help to improve their website’s search engine rankings. I’m also an avid learner and stay up to date on the latest SEO trends. I enjoy exploring new places and reading up on the latest marketing and SEO strategies in my free time.

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Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to write an excellent thesis conclusion [with examples]

Restate the thesis

Review or reiterate key points of your work, explain why your work is relevant, a take-away for the reader, more resources on writing thesis conclusions, frequently asked questions about writing an excellent thesis conclusion, related articles.

At this point in your writing, you have most likely finished your introduction and the body of your thesis, dissertation, or research paper . While this is a reason to celebrate, you should not underestimate the importance of your conclusion. The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable.

A good conclusion will review the key points of the thesis and explain to the reader why the information is relevant, applicable, or related to the world as a whole. Make sure to dedicate enough of your writing time to the conclusion and do not put it off until the very last minute.

This article provides an effective technique for writing a conclusion adapted from Erika Eby’s The College Student's Guide to Writing a Good Research Paper: 101 Easy Tips & Tricks to Make Your Work Stand Out .

While the thesis introduction starts out with broad statements about the topic, and then narrows it down to the thesis statement , a thesis conclusion does the same in the opposite order.

• Restate the thesis.
• Review or reiterate key points of your work.
• Explain why your work is relevant.
• Include a core take-away message for the reader.

Tip: Don’t just copy and paste your thesis into your conclusion. Restate it in different words.

The best way to start a conclusion is simply by restating the thesis statement. That does not mean just copying and pasting it from the introduction, but putting it into different words.

You will need to change the structure and wording of it to avoid sounding repetitive. Also, be firm in your conclusion just as you were in the introduction. Try to avoid sounding apologetic by using phrases like "This paper has tried to show..."

The conclusion should address all the same parts as the thesis while making it clear that the reader has reached the end. You are telling the reader that your research is finished and what your findings are.

I have argued throughout this work that the point of critical mass for biopolitical immunity occurred during the Romantic period because of that era's unique combination of post-revolutionary politics and innovations in smallpox prevention. In particular, I demonstrated that the French Revolution and the discovery of vaccination in the 1790s triggered a reconsideration of the relationship between bodies and the state.

Tip: Try to reiterate points from your introduction in your thesis conclusion.

The next step is to review the main points of the thesis as a whole. Look back at the body of of your project and make a note of the key ideas. You can reword these ideas the same way you reworded your thesis statement and then incorporate that into the conclusion.

You can also repeat striking quotations or statistics, but do not use more than two. As the conclusion represents your own closing thoughts on the topic , it should mainly consist of your own words.

In addition, conclusions can contain recommendations to the reader or relevant questions that further the thesis. You should ask yourself:

• What you would ideally like to see your readers do in reaction to your paper?
• Do you want them to take a certain action or investigate further?
• Is there a bigger issue that your paper wants to draw attention to?

Also, try to reference your introduction in your conclusion. You have already taken a first step by restating your thesis. Now, check whether there are other key words, phrases or ideas that are mentioned in your introduction that fit into your conclusion. Connecting the introduction to the conclusion in this way will help readers feel satisfied.

I explored how Mary Wollstonecraft, in both her fiction and political writings, envisions an ideal medico-political state, and how other writers like William Wordsworth and Mary Shelley increasingly imagined the body politic literally, as an incorporated political collective made up of bodies whose immunity to political and medical ills was essential to a healthy state.

Tip: Make sure to explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research.

Although you can encourage readers to question their opinions and reflect on your topic, do not leave loose ends. You should provide a sense of resolution and make sure your conclusion wraps up your argument. Make sure you explain why your thesis is relevant to your field of research and how your research intervenes within, or substantially revises, existing scholarly debates.

This project challenged conventional ideas about the relationship among Romanticism, medicine, and politics by reading the unfolding of Romantic literature and biopolitical immunity as mutual, co-productive processes. In doing so, this thesis revises the ways in which biopolitics has been theorized by insisting on the inherent connections between Romantic literature and the forms of biopower that characterize early modernity.

Tip: If you began your thesis with an anecdote or historical example, you may want to return to that in your conclusion.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as:

• a call to action
• a recommendation
• a gesture towards future research
• a brief explanation of how the problem or idea you covered remains relevant

Ultimately, you want readers to feel more informed, or ready to act, as they read your conclusion.

Yet, the Romantic period is only the beginning of modern thought on immunity and biopolitics. Victorian writers, doctors, and politicians upheld the Romantic idea that a "healthy state" was a literal condition that could be achieved by combining politics and medicine, but augmented that idea through legislation and widespread public health measures. While many nineteenth-century efforts to improve citizens' health were successful, the fight against disease ultimately changed course in the twentieth century as global immunological threats such as SARS occupied public consciousness. Indeed, as subsequent public health events make apparent, biopolitical immunity persists as a viable concept for thinking about the relationship between medicine and politics in modernity.

Need more advice? Read our 5 additional tips on how to write a good thesis conclusion.

The conclusion is the last thing that your reader will see, so it should be memorable. To write a great thesis conclusion you should:

The basic content of a conclusion is to review the main points from the paper. This part represents your own closing thoughts on the topic. It should mainly consist of the outcome of the research in your own words.

The length of the conclusion will depend on the length of the whole thesis. Usually, a conclusion should be around 5-7% of the overall word count.

End your conclusion with something memorable, such as a question, warning, or call to action. Depending on the topic, you can also end with a recommendation.

In Open Access: Theses and Dissertations you can find thousands of completed works. Take a look at any of the theses or dissertations for real-life examples of conclusions that were already approved.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Intro and Conclusion

Learning objectives.

• Identify the objectives and components of a speech introduction.
• Identify the objectives and components of a speech conclusion.

Introduction

• A speaker should do the following in the introduction of a speech: get the audience’s attention, introduce the topic, establish credibility and relevance, and preview the main points.

» Watch this video at 1.25x playback speed: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/writing-speeches/writing-the-introduction?u=2212217

We all know that first impressions matter. First impressions are quickly formed, sometimes spontaneous, and involve little to no cognitive effort. Your introduction is only a fraction of your speech, but in that first minute or so, your audience decides whether or not they are interested in listening to the rest of the speech. There are four objectives that you should accomplish in your introduction. They include getting your audience’s attention, introducing your topic, establishing credibility and relevance, and previewing your main points.

Step 1 of Introduction: Getting Your Audience’s Attention

There are several strategies you can use to get your audience’s attention. Ensure your attention-getter is appropriate, meaning that it’s unusual enough to get people interested—but not over the top—and relevant to your speech topic. Here are some common ways to grab the audience’s attention in a persuasive speech.

Cite a Startling Fact or Statistic

As you research your topic, take note of any information that defies your expectations or surprises you. If you have a strong reaction to something you learn, your audience may, too. When using a startling fact or statistic as an attention getter, it’s important to get the most bang for your buck. You can do this by sharing more than one fact or statistic that builds up the audience’s interest. When using numbers, it’s also good to repeat and/or repackage the statistics so they stick in the audience’s mind, which you can see in the following example:

“In 1994, sixteen states reported that 15–19 percent of their population was considered obese. Every other state reported obesity rates less than that. In 2010, every single state had at least a 20 percent obesity rate. In just six years, we went from no states with an obesity rate higher than 19 percent, to fifty.”

Use a Quotation

Some quotations are attention getting and some are boring. Some quotations are relevant and moving and some are abstract and stale. If you choose to open your speech with a quotation, choose one that is attention getting, relevant, and moving. The following example illustrates some tips for using a quote to start a speech: “‘The most important question in the world is ‘Why is the child crying?’’ This quote from author Alice Walker is at the heart of my speech today. Too often, people see children suffering at the hands of bullies and do nothing about it until it’s too late. That’s why I believe that all public schools should adopt a zero-tolerance policy on bullying.”

Notice that the quote is delivered first in the speech, then the source of the quote is cited. Since the quote, like a starting fact or statistic just discussed, is the attention-getting part, it’s better to start with that than the citation. Next, the speaker explains why the quote is relevant to the speech. Just because a quote seems relevant to you doesn’t mean the audience will also pick up on that relevance.

Ask a Question

A rhetorical question is different from a direct question. When a speaker asks a direct question, they actually want a response from their audience. A rhetorical question is designed to elicit a mental response from the audience, not a verbal or nonverbal one. In short, a rhetorical question makes an audience think. Asking a direct question of your audience is warranted only if the speaker plans on doing something with the information they get from the audience. For example, you might ask “By a show of hands, how many people have taken public transportation in the past week?” The speaker will then incorporate the responses into the speech by pointing out that public transportation is important.

A safer bet is to ask a rhetorical question that elicits only a mental response. A good rhetorical question can get the audience primed to think about the content of the speech. The following is a series of rhetorical questions used in a speech against the testing of cosmetics on animals: “Was the toxicity of the shampoo you used this morning tested on the eyes of rabbits? Would you let someone put a cosmetic in your dog’s eye to test its toxicity level? Have you ever thought about how many products that you use every day are tested on animals?” Make sure you pause after your rhetorical question to give the audience time to think.

Tell a Story

When you tell a story, whether in the introduction to your speech or not, you should aim to paint word pictures in the minds of your audience members. You might tell a story from your own life or recount a story you found in your research. You may also use a hypothetical story, which has the advantage of allowing you to use your creativity and help place your audience in unusual situations that neither you nor they have actually experienced. When using a hypothetical story, you should let your audience know it’s not real, and you should present a story that the audience can relate to. Speakers often let the audience know a story is not real by starting with the word imagine . As I noted, a hypothetical example can allow you to speak beyond the experience of you and your audience members by having them imagine themselves in unusual circumstances. For example, “Think of someone you really care about. Visualize that person in your mind. Now, imagine that days and weeks go by and you haven’t heard from that person. Weeks turn into months and years, and you have no idea if they are alive or dead.” The speaker could go on to compare that scenario to the experiences of friends and family of prisoners of war. While we may not be able to imagine being held captive for years, we all know what it’s like to experience uncertainty regarding the safety of a loved one.

Step 2 of Introduction: Introducing the Topic

Introducing the topic  of your speech is the most obvious objective of an introduction, but speakers sometimes forget to do this or do not do it clearly. Sometimes a speech topic doesn’t become obvious until the middle of a speech. By that time, however, it’s easy to lose an audience that didn’t get clearly told the topic of the speech in the introduction.  The following example introduces an argument about childhood obesity: “Childhood obesity is a serious problem facing our country and today I’ll persuade you that childhood obesity is a problem that can no longer be ignored.”

Step 3 of Introduction: Establishing Credibility

The way you write and deliver your introduction makes an important first impression on your audience. But you can also take a moment in your introduction to explicitly set up your credibility in relation to your speech topic. If you have training, expertise, or credentials (e.g., a degree, certificate, etc.) relevant to your topic, you can share that with your audience. It may also be appropriate to mention firsthand experience, previous classes you have taken, or even a personal interest related to your topic.

Step 4 of Introduction: Thesis and Preview of Main Points

Begin by stating your thesis clearly and directly. The preview of main points is usually the last sentence of your introduction and serves as a map of what’s to come in the speech.  Your preview should be one sentence, should include wording that is parallel to the key wording of your main points in the body of your speech, and should preview your main points in the same order you discuss them in your speech. The following example previews the main points for a speech on childhood obesity: “Today I’ll convey the seriousness of the obesity epidemic among children by reviewing common health problems associated with the disease, pinpoint the key cause of obesity, and outline steps we can take to combat this issue.”

Conclusions

How you conclude a speech leaves an impression on your audience. There are three important objectives to accomplish in the conclusion of a persuasive speech. They include restating your thesis, a call-to-action, and closing with a “clincher.”

» Watch this video at 1.25x playback speed: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/writing-speeches/finishing-with-a-strong-ending?u=2212217

Restatement of the Thesis

Restating a thesis statement is the first step in a powerful conclusion. When we restate the thesis statement at the conclusion of our speech, we’re attempting to reemphasize what the overarching main idea of the speech has been. Suppose your thesis statement was, “Childhood obesity is a serious problem and we must regulate the fast food industry to protect our children.’” You could restate the thesis in this fashion at the conclusion of your speech: “In the past few minutes, I have shown that the fast food industry must be regulated in order to protect our children from rising obesity rates.”  Restating the thesis in your conclusion reminds the audience of the major purpose or goal of your speech, helping them remember it better.

Call-to-Action

Probably the most common persuasive concluding device is the appeal for action or the call-to-action. In essence, the appeal for action occurs when a speaker asks the audience to engage in a specific behavior. Whether the speaker appeals for people to eat more fruit, buy a car, vote for a candidate, oppose the death penalty, or sing more in the shower, the speaker is asking the audience to engage in action.

One specific type of appeal for action is the immediate call to action . Whereas some appeals ask for people to engage in behavior in the future, the immediate call to action asks people to engage in behavior right now. If a speaker wants to see a new traffic light placed at a dangerous intersection, he or she may conclude by asking all the audience members to sign a digital petition right then and there. Here are some more examples of immediate calls to action:

• In a speech on petitioning a lawmaker for a new law, provide audience members with a pre-written e-mail they can send to the lawmaker.
• In a speech asking for donations for a charity, send a box around the room asking for donations.

These immediate calls to action may not lead to long-term change, but they can be very effective at increasing the likelihood that an audience will change their behavior.

Closing Your Speech with a “Clincher”

Like the attention-getter, your closing statement is an opportunity for you to exercise your creativity as a speaker. Many students have difficulty wrapping up the speech with a sense of closure and completeness. In terms of closure, a well-written and well-delivered closing line signals to your audience that your speech is over, which cues their applause. The closing line should relate to the overall speech and should provide some “take-away” message that may leave an audience thinking or propel them to action. A sample closing line could be “For your health, for our children’s health, and for our country’s health, we must take steps to address childhood obesity today.” You can also bring your audience full-circle by referring back to the introduction in the closing of your speech. For example, you may finish an illustration or answer a rhetorical question you started in the introduction.

Key Takeaways

• A speaker should do the following in the conclusion of a persuasive speech: restate the thesis, add an urgent call-to-action, and provide closure.
• Draft the opening and closing lines of your speech. Remember to tap into your creativity to try to engage the audience. Is there any way you can tie the introduction and conclusion together to create a “ribbon and bow” for your speech?

Lass-Hennemann, J., Linn K. Kuehl, André Schulz, Melly S. Oitzl, and Hartmut Schachinger, “Stress Strengthens Memory of First Impressions of Others’ Positive Perosnality Traits,” PLoS ONE 6, no. 1 (2011): 1.

Laws, E. L., Jennifer M. Apperson, Stephanie Buchert, and Norman J. Bregman, “Student Evaluations of Instruction: When Are Enduring First Impressions Formed?” North American Journal of Psychology 12, no. 1 (2010): 81.

Monroe, A. H., and Douglas Ehninger, Principles of Speech , 5th brief ed. (Chicago, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1964).

Winans, J. A., Public Speaking (New York: Century, 1917), 411.

Rhetoric and Persuasion Copyright © by cwilliams1 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Conclusion

Published on September 6, 2022 by Tegan George and Shona McCombes. Revised on November 20, 2023.

The conclusion is the very last part of your thesis or dissertation . It should be concise and engaging, leaving your reader with a clear understanding of your main findings, as well as the answer to your research question .

In it, you should:

• Clearly state the answer to your main research question
• Summarize and reflect on your research process
• Make recommendations for future work on your thesis or dissertation topic
• Show what new knowledge you have contributed to your field
• Wrap up your thesis or dissertation

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Table of contents

Discussion vs. conclusion, how long should your conclusion be, step 1: answer your research question, step 2: summarize and reflect on your research, step 3: make future recommendations, step 4: emphasize your contributions to your field, step 5: wrap up your thesis or dissertation, full conclusion example, conclusion checklist, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about conclusion sections.

While your conclusion contains similar elements to your discussion section , they are not the same thing.

Your conclusion should be shorter and more general than your discussion. Instead of repeating literature from your literature review , discussing specific research results , or interpreting your data in detail, concentrate on making broad statements that sum up the most important insights of your research.

As a rule of thumb, your conclusion should not introduce new data, interpretations, or arguments.

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Depending on whether you are writing a thesis or dissertation, your length will vary. Generally, a conclusion should make up around 5–7% of your overall word count.

An empirical scientific study will often have a short conclusion, concisely stating the main findings and recommendations for future research. A humanities dissertation topic or systematic review , on the other hand, might require more space to conclude its analysis, tying all the previous sections together in an overall argument.

Your conclusion should begin with the main question that your thesis or dissertation aimed to address. This is your final chance to show that you’ve done what you set out to do, so make sure to formulate a clear, concise answer.

• Don’t repeat a list of all the results that you already discussed
• Do synthesize them into a final takeaway that the reader will remember.

An empirical thesis or dissertation conclusion may begin like this:

A case study –based thesis or dissertation conclusion may begin like this:

In the second example, the research aim is not directly restated, but rather added implicitly to the statement. To avoid repeating yourself, it is helpful to reformulate your aims and questions into an overall statement of what you did and how you did it.

Your conclusion is an opportunity to remind your reader why you took the approach you did, what you expected to find, and how well the results matched your expectations.

To avoid repetition , consider writing more reflectively here, rather than just writing a summary of each preceding section. Consider mentioning the effectiveness of your methodology , or perhaps any new questions or unexpected insights that arose in the process.

You can also mention any limitations of your research, but only if you haven’t already included these in the discussion. Don’t dwell on them at length, though—focus on the positives of your work.

• While x limits the generalizability of the results, this approach provides new insight into y .
• This research clearly illustrates x , but it also raises the question of y .

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You may already have made a few recommendations for future research in your discussion section, but the conclusion is a good place to elaborate and look ahead, considering the implications of your findings in both theoretical and practical terms.

• Based on these conclusions, practitioners should consider …
• To better understand the implications of these results, future studies could address …
• Further research is needed to determine the causes of/effects of/relationship between …

When making recommendations for further research, be sure not to undermine your own work. Relatedly, while future studies might confirm, build on, or enrich your conclusions, they shouldn’t be required for your argument to feel complete. Your work should stand alone on its own merits.

Just as you should avoid too much self-criticism, you should also avoid exaggerating the applicability of your research. If you’re making recommendations for policy, business, or other practical implementations, it’s generally best to frame them as “shoulds” rather than “musts.” All in all, the purpose of academic research is to inform, explain, and explore—not to demand.

Make sure your reader is left with a strong impression of what your research has contributed to the state of your field.

Some strategies to achieve this include:

• Returning to your problem statement to explain how your research helps solve the problem
• Referring back to the literature review and showing how you have addressed a gap in knowledge
• Discussing how your findings confirm or challenge an existing theory or assumption

Again, avoid simply repeating what you’ve already covered in the discussion in your conclusion. Instead, pick out the most important points and sum them up succinctly, situating your project in a broader context.

The end is near! Once you’ve finished writing your conclusion, it’s time to wrap up your thesis or dissertation with a few final steps:

• It’s a good idea to write your abstract next, while the research is still fresh in your mind.
• Next, make sure your reference list is complete and correctly formatted. To speed up the process, you can use our free APA citation generator .
• Once you’ve added any appendices , you can create a table of contents and title page .
• Finally, read through the whole document again to make sure your thesis is clearly written and free from language errors. You can proofread it yourself , ask a friend, or consider Scribbr’s proofreading and editing service .

Here is an example of how you can write your conclusion section. Notice how it includes everything mentioned above:

V. Conclusion

The current research aimed to identify acoustic speech characteristics which mark the beginning of an exacerbation in COPD patients.

The central questions for this research were as follows: 1. Which acoustic measures extracted from read speech differ between COPD speakers in stable condition and healthy speakers? 2. In what ways does the speech of COPD patients during an exacerbation differ from speech of COPD patients during stable periods?

All recordings were aligned using a script. Subsequently, they were manually annotated to indicate respiratory actions such as inhaling and exhaling. The recordings of 9 stable COPD patients reading aloud were then compared with the recordings of 5 healthy control subjects reading aloud. The results showed a significant effect of condition on the number of in- and exhalations per syllable, the number of non-linguistic in- and exhalations per syllable, and the ratio of voiced and silence intervals. The number of in- and exhalations per syllable and the number of non-linguistic in- and exhalations per syllable were higher for COPD patients than for healthy controls, which confirmed both hypotheses.

However, the higher ratio of voiced and silence intervals for COPD patients compared to healthy controls was not in line with the hypotheses. This unpredicted result might have been caused by the different reading materials or recording procedures for both groups, or by a difference in reading skills. Moreover, there was a trend regarding the effect of condition on the number of syllables per breath group. The number of syllables per breath group was higher for healthy controls than for COPD patients, which was in line with the hypothesis. There was no effect of condition on pitch, intensity, center of gravity, pitch variability, speaking rate, or articulation rate.

This research has shown that the speech of COPD patients in exacerbation differs from the speech of COPD patients in stable condition. This might have potential for the detection of exacerbations. However, sustained vowels rarely occur in spontaneous speech. Therefore, the last two outcome measures might have greater potential for the detection of beginning exacerbations, but further research on the different outcome measures and their potential for the detection of exacerbations is needed due to the limitations of the current study.

Checklist: Conclusion

I have clearly and concisely answered the main research question .

I have summarized my overall argument or key takeaways.

I have mentioned any important limitations of the research.

I have given relevant recommendations .

I have clearly explained what my research has contributed to my field.

I have  not introduced any new data or arguments.

You've written a great conclusion! Use the other checklists to further improve your dissertation.

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In a thesis or dissertation, the discussion is an in-depth exploration of the results, going into detail about the meaning of your findings and citing relevant sources to put them in context.

The conclusion is more shorter and more general: it concisely answers your main research question and makes recommendations based on your overall findings.

While it may be tempting to present new arguments or evidence in your thesis or disseration conclusion , especially if you have a particularly striking argument you’d like to finish your analysis with, you shouldn’t. Theses and dissertations follow a more formal structure than this.

All your findings and arguments should be presented in the body of the text (more specifically in the discussion section and results section .) The conclusion is meant to summarize and reflect on the evidence and arguments you have already presented, not introduce new ones.

For a stronger dissertation conclusion , avoid including:

• Important evidence or analysis that wasn’t mentioned in the discussion section and results section
• Generic concluding phrases (e.g. “In conclusion …”)
• Weak statements that undermine your argument (e.g., “There are good points on both sides of this issue.”)

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a strong, decisive impression of your work.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation shouldn’t take up more than 5–7% of your overall word count.

The conclusion of your thesis or dissertation should include the following:

• A restatement of your research question
• A summary of your key arguments and/or results
• A short discussion of the implications of your research

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