Presentation thank you slide ideas

The purpose of a thank-you slide

Plan your thank-you slide to bring the presentation to a close and show the audience what comes next. That might be a Q&A session, post-presentation contact, or simply the end of the presentation. Base the slide on what will actually happen: don’t invite questions if you won’t take them, and contact details aren’t required if no follow-up is expected. Choosing one main purpose makes the slide’s message clear.

How you close depends on the context of the presentation. For example, the host of a UW Extension online panel thanks the participants and then announces a Q&A session. This is a concrete example of why a question invitation should match the event’s actual format (UW Extension panel recording and transcript). If you’re also working on your opening, see the guide to designing a presentation introduction slide.

Before you start designing

Answer these questions before adding content to the slide:

• Who am I thanking? The audience, a particular person, a team, or supporters?
• What happens after the closing? Will you take questions, share a link, or end the presentation?
• How will the presentation be viewed or shared? A slide shown on a large screen may have different needs from one that will later be read as a file.

Choose content based on your answers. If the file will be shared later, make sure any links and contact details you include are accurate and appropriate to share. Don’t add private information that isn’t necessary, such as a personal phone number. To check your presentation’s aspect ratio, see the guide to presentation aspect ratios.

Choose the content

Use only the items below that suit your presentation:

1. A brief thank-you: A direct closing, such as “Thank you for listening.”
2. An invitation to ask questions: A clear statement such as “I’m happy to take your questions,” if you’ll be taking questions.
3. Contact details: If needed, your name, role, and one preferred way to get in touch.
4. A visual accent: A simple photo, icon, or shape that supports the message.

This list isn’t a required template. For example, if you’ll take questions during an in-person presentation but won’t share contact details, a thank-you and an invitation to ask questions may be enough. For a professional thank-you message, the University of Houston Bauer Career Center recommends that it be timely, specific, sincere, and professional, and include a detail relevant to the recipient (guide to thank-you notes). The guide is about business correspondence; treat it as an adaptable idea for the content of your thanks, not as a direct design rule for a presentation slide.

Set up the visual layout

Place the closing message first, followed by an invitation to ask questions or contact details, if applicable. This keeps the slide’s main message clear. Make the text large enough to read on the screen your audience will use, and create a clear color contrast between the text and the background. Use visuals where they won’t compete with the text, or leave them out if they don’t support the message.

Keeping the colors and typefaces used on earlier slides can create a consistent look, but the closing slide doesn’t have to be a copy of the same layout. These are practical design choices; the right layout can vary with the presentation’s content and viewing conditions. The UCSB Libraries’ slide design guide also focuses on simple content, readable text, and sufficient color contrast between text and background (slide design guide).

Hypothetical example: closing a project presentation

The scenario and the person and project details below are entirely hypothetical. A team is introducing a waste-sorting project on a university campus and will take questions at the end of the presentation:

• Top section: “Thank you for listening.”
• Immediately below: “I’m happy to take your questions.”
• In a lower corner: “Deniz Kaya · Campus Waste-Sorting Project”
• If the presentation file will be shared: the project’s email address or webpage, checked for accuracy and approved for sharing by the team.
• Visual: one simple icon relevant to the topic, also used on earlier slides.

This layout puts the thank-you and invitation to ask questions first, with the project identity as secondary information. If you want the audience to get involved in the project after the presentation, add a single call to action instead of, or alongside, the invitation to ask questions. If you need to include more than one request, make clear which takes priority through the order of the text and the visual layout.

Common problems and fixes

The slide looks crowded: Remove the lengthy summary, speaking notes, and repeated thank-yous. Don’t include items that aren’t needed for the closing purpose.

The contact details are hard to read: Enlarge the text or choose a simpler area. If you’ll share the presentation file, open and check the link; if you won’t, reconsider whether the link is needed.

The visual is distracting: Make it smaller or remove it. Check the slide on the screen or in the format that will be used for the presentation.

The invitation to ask questions doesn’t fit the event: Remove it if you won’t take questions. If you need a separate slide for the Q&A session, use the guide to preparing a presentation Q&A slide. Choose wording that reflects the event’s actual format.

Final checklist

• The slide’s closing purpose is clear.
• The thank-you is brief, natural, and appropriate to the context.
• The invitation to ask questions appears only if questions will actually be taken.
• Contact details are necessary, accurate, and appropriate to share.
• The text is readable on the screen where it will be used, and the visual doesn’t overshadow the message.
• Any link or email address included has been checked for accuracy.
• The slide fits with the rest of the presentation and contains no unnecessary content.

Frequently asked questions

Should I write “Any questions?” on the thank-you slide?

Only if there will be a Q&A session. If you’ll take questions, use a clear invitation; if not, leave it out to avoid giving the audience the wrong expectation.

Should the last slide include contact details?

Include them if people are expected to get in touch after the presentation and it’s appropriate for you to share those details. Otherwise, they aren’t required. Choose one channel that suits your audience and verify the information before publishing it.