Recency Effect

The final moments of any story decide what people remember. Psychologists call this the recency effect — the close carries disproportionate weight in memory. A mediocre story with a perfect ending beats a brilliant one that fizzles out.

Most speakers ruin their close by rambling past their best line. They hit a perfect ending, then keep talking because silence feels uncomfortable. The audience remembers the fumble, not the message. Knowing when to stop talking is a skill worth practicing.