Stick the Landing: The Art of the Peroration
9 min read · Technique 12 of 12
Martin Luther King Jr. did not end "I Have a Dream" with a policy recommendation. Winston Churchill did not close his wartime speeches with logistics. The greatest orators in history understood what Mehdi Hasan makes explicit in Chapter 11 of "Win Every Argument": the ending is what people remember, and memory is emotion.
The ancient Greeks had a word for this: peroration. It is the closing section of a speech, where the orator summarizes their case, makes a final appeal to emotion, and sends the audience out with a feeling they will not forget. Mehdi Hasan argues that most modern debaters completely neglect this. They run out of time, they trail off, or they end with a limp "so, yeah" that squanders everything they built.
The Psychology of Last Impressions
Mehdi Hasan explains why endings carry disproportionate weight:
Recency Effect
Humans remember the last thing they heard disproportionately well. Psychologists call this the "recency effect." Your closing words are the words the audience carries with them.
Emotional Peak
The ending is your last chance to make the audience feel something. A debate that ends on logic alone leaves people intellectually convinced but emotionally unmoved. Emotion drives action.
Sense of Completion
A strong ending signals mastery. It tells the audience you knew exactly where you were going and you arrived confidently. A weak ending makes everything before it feel unfinished.
"The conclusion is what audiences remember most... a well-prepared, well-delivered speech without a peroration dribbles off and leaves an audience unsatisfied."- William Safire, quoted by Mehdi Hasan in "Win Every Argument"
Mehdi Hasan's Three-Part Peroration
Mehdi Hasan outlines a specific structure for powerful closings:
Summarize Your Wins
Remind the audience what you proved. Not everything you said, just the highlights. "Today I showed you three things..." Use the Rule of Three to make it memorable.
Make a Call to Action
Tell the audience what to do with what they learned. Vote, donate, share, change their mind, take action. Give them a concrete next step. People want to be told what to do.
End with Emotion
Your final sentence should make them feel something. Hope, urgency, outrage, pride. Return to a story you told earlier. Reference a phrase you used. Close the loop with feeling.
The Closing Toolkit
Mehdi Hasan identifies several types of powerful closings:
The Callback
Return to a story or phrase from your opening. "Remember the teacher I told you about? She is still rationing her insulin tonight. That is why we need to act now." The loop creates narrative satisfaction.
The Vision
Paint a picture of the future you are arguing for. "Imagine a world where..." Make it concrete and desirable. Let them see what they are fighting for.
The Challenge
Issue a direct challenge to the audience. "The question is not whether we can afford to do this. The question is whether we can afford not to. Which side of history will you be on?"
The Quote
End with powerful words from someone respected. Let a greater voice carry your final message. Choose a quote that reinforces your exact thesis.
How DebateClub Trains the Peroration
Most people never practice closings. They run out of time in rehearsal or they improvise and hope for the best. DebateClub makes the peroration a deliberate skill:
Peroration Training Pipeline
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PREP: CLOSING GENERATION │
│ │
│ Your prep materials include 3 │
│ crafted closings: │
│ │
│ • Call to Action type: concrete │
│ next steps for the audience │
│ │
│ • Emotional Appeal type: story │
│ callback with feeling │
│ │
│ • Vision type: picture of the │
│ future you are fighting for │
│ │
│ Each includes delivery guidance: │
│ pacing, pauses, where to modulate │
│ voice for maximum impact │
└──────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DURING DEBATE │
│ │
│ Quick Reference panel keeps your │
│ chosen closing accessible: │
│ │
│ • The exact words to use │
│ • Delivery notes inline │
│ • Backup options if primary does │
│ not fit how debate unfolded │
│ │
│ Your opponent creates clean endings │
│ so you can practice delivering │
│ your peroration without interruption│
└──────────────┬───────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ POST-DEBATE ANALYSIS │
│ │
│ Your coaching evaluates: │
│ │
│ • Did you deliver a clear summary? │
│ • Did you include a call to action? │
│ • Did you end with emotion? │
│ • Did your closing feel prepared │
│ or improvised/weak? │
│ • Did you stick the landing? │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘Why Prepared Closings Sound Better
Mehdi Hasan emphasizes that the best closings are written in advance, even though they must sound spontaneous:
The Prepared Closing Advantage
Word choice is refined: You have time to find exactly the right words, the right rhythm, the right final phrase.
Structure is clean: Summary, call to action, emotion. The three parts flow naturally because you planned them.
Callbacks are set up: You can reference your opening story because you wrote the closing to connect to it.
Delivery is practiced: You know where to pause, where to slow down, where to make eye contact.
Confidence shows: The audience can feel the difference between someone landing exactly where they planned and someone hoping for the best.
The Peroration in Action
Here is the difference between a weak ending and a Mehdi Hasan-style peroration:
"So, yeah, I think we should support this policy because it makes sense economically and also helps people, so... yeah."
No summary, no call to action, no emotion. The debate dribbles off.
"Today I showed you three things: this policy is affordable, it is achievable, and it is morally necessary. [Summary] So when you leave this room, I want you to call your representative. Tell them you support this. Tell them you are watching. [Call to Action] Because remember the teacher I told you about? Maria, who rations her insulin? She is watching too. She is counting on us. Let us not let her down. [Emotion]"
Summary, call to action, callback to opening story, emotional close. The landing is stuck.
What Changes After Practice
After practicing perorations across multiple debates, you will notice:
No More Trailing Off
You never again end with "so, yeah" or run out of things to say. You know exactly where you are going.
Lasting Impressions
People remember your final words. Your closing becomes the thing they quote and recall.
Emotional Resonance
You leave audiences feeling something, not just thinking something. Emotion drives action.
Structural Mastery
The three-part peroration becomes instinct. Summary, call to action, emotion. You can deliver it under any conditions.
The Bottom Line
Martin Luther King Jr. did not improvise "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last." That ending was crafted, refined, and delivered with precision. It is the reason we still quote those words sixty years later.
DebateClub gives you prepared closings for every debate. Three options, each with delivery guidance. Your Quick Reference panel keeps them accessible. Your analysis evaluates whether you stuck the landing or let it dribble off.
They will forget most of what you said. Make sure they remember how you ended.
Ready to Master the Finish?
Get crafted closings for every debate and practice delivering them until the landing becomes instinct.
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