As a general rule, the smaller your audience and the more intimately you know its members, the more casual your speech may be.
For instance, if you’re accepting an “Employee of the Year” award at the tech firm you work for, assuming that your audience contains people who don’t know you, you may want to begin with an introduction along these lines: “Hello. Thank you for honoring me this evening. As you’ve just heard, my name is Jane Smith. I joined this company in 2009, and since then, I’ve worked with the marketing, content, and analytics departments in varying capacities. Earlier this year, I had the honor of collaborating with my boss, John Q. Public, on a new data processing system, which is why we’re here today. "
Since you’re presumably accepting some sort of award or honor, a good theme to center your speech around is ‘’gratitude’’. Centering at least part of your speech around thanking those who helped you get to where you are makes you appear humble and deserving of the praise you’re receiving, rather than haughty or conceited. In addition to this, you may also want to consider offering advice to your audience or giving some sort of call to action. Whatever you choose, be sure to briefly make your speech’s purpose clear in the beginning. For instance, you might want to say: “I’m here today to offer my sincerest gratitude to the dozens of people without whom this experience wouldn’t have been possible. I’d also like to briefly discuss the role that the idea of “going the extra mile” has played in setting this company apart from the others in the tech field. "
One good trick is to call attention to the fact that the honor you’re receiving, while important to you, is less meaningful than the continued honor of simply getting to do what you love. This sort of acknowledgement makes you look humble, passionate, and supremely deserving of your honor. For instance, if you’re receiving a lifetime achievement award for your decades of work as a teacher, you might want to say something like: “As much as I appreciate this award and as grateful as I am for it, the greatest reward I’ve ever been given is the simple opportunity to help generations of kids learn how to think critically about the world around them. ”
For instance, in the teacher example above, we might end like this: “As we leave here today, I’d like to ask the members of the audience to take a moment to think about the importance of educating the children of this generation. Tomorrow’s problems demand bright, hard-working individuals to solve them, and the only way we can create these individuals is by acting as a community to support our schools, our teachers, and the countless people that they depend on for their continued strength. "
When you’re thanking people, it’s a wise idea to end with something along the lines of, “and finally, I’d like to thank everyone else who supported me during my work — there are too many people to list, but I want to thank you all personally. " This covers your bases in case you forget anyone who played a minor role in your success.
As a positive example, consider Jimmy Valvano’s phenomenal acceptance speech at the 1993 ESPY awards. Just eight weeks before his premature death from cancer, the famed college basketball coach delivered an immensely moving speech to an ecstatic standing ovation from the crowd. [2] X Research source As an example of what not to do, consider Hilary Swank’s Oscar acceptance speech for “Boys Don’t Cry” in 2000. Swank accepted her award gratefully, doling out thanks to all of her supporters, with the major exception of her husband, whom the cameras famously caught crying tears of joy during Swank’s speech. [3] X Research source As an oddball example, consider Joe Pesci’s Oscar acceptance speech. After taking the podium at the 1991 Oscars for his work in “Goodfellas,” Pesci said simply, “It’s my privilege. Thank you. " Pesci was both praised and lampooned for his five word speech.
Knowing the outline of your speech ahead of time is useful for multiple reasons. For instance, not only will this prevent certain technical snafus (for instance, a breeze carrying your speech away) from derailing your speech, but it can also help you deliver your speech more confidently. After all, if you know basically what you need to say ahead of time, what need is there to worry?
Also, don’t forget that there may be people in the audience who were in the running for the honor you ended up receiving. Because of this, you won’t want to demean the organization that’s honoring you or jokingly imply that you were a bad choice. Maintain respect for yourself, the organization honoring you, and the audience as you accept your award.
As you practice, time yourself. You may be surprised how much longer (or shorter) your speech is than you thought it would be. If you have a hard time limit for your speech, use the results of your timed practice to edit your speech as necessary.
Rapid heartbeat: Breathe deeply and slowly. Concentrate on someone in the room you’re comfortable around, like a friend or family member. Start delivering the words of your speech — you’ll naturally relax once you start talking. Racing, panicked thoughts: Take deep breaths. Look out into the audience and see the humor in their blank, expressionless faces. Alternatively, imagine that the members of the audience are somehow unimportant or laughable (e. g. , that they’re all in their underwear, etc. ) Dry mouth: Bring a bottle of water with you onstage to drink as you need it. Consider also chewing gum before (but not during) your speech. Mimicking the process of eating can have a calming effect on the emotions. In addition, it can stimulate saliva production, preventing a dry mouth. Trembling: Breathe deeply and slowly. If necessary, try slowly tensing and releasing the muscles in the trembling body part to work out the excess energy from your adrenaline high. Above all, relax. You’ve prepared, so you have no reason to worry about how the speech will turn out. Worrying will only make it harder to deliver the great speech that you’re perfectly capable of giving.
Hurrying or rushing through your speech. Mumbling Fidgeting or messing with something in your hands Swaying from side to side. Coughing/sniffling excessively
If you can remember to do so, try to gradually move your gaze from side to side as you look at your audience. Sweeping your eyes back and forth gives the members of the audience the impression that you’re addressing them all individually. If this “sweeping” motion is tricky for you, try randomly picking individuals in the audience to look at for a few seconds at a time as you talk.
