Some hard-line ‘professional speakers’ I know advocate not saying ‘thank you’ at the end of a presentation. They imply that the audience should be thanking us instead. I don’t like that approach, since I strive to practice ‘uncommon courtesy’ in all my business interactions and especially from the platform.
If our last words are ‘thank you’, that can be a rather anti-climatic ending to a well-crafted presentation, just like ending with audience questions. I prefer to thank them for their enthusiastic engagement and sharing what they’re taking away and quickly segue into my brief closing. It usually restates my main point or reconnects to the hook or concept from my intro.
My goal is that the last thing the audience hears is themselves applauding.