- Begin the speech by expressing your gratitude for being honored and your appreciation for the people who are honoring you.
- List a few people by name who played a crucial role in your success. If you have a brief story or highlight from your experience, share it with the audience.
- End the speech with something inspirational or dedicate the award to someone special if you feel moved to do so.
- Write the speech on a note card and bring it with you if you need to. Be sure to practice your speech ahead of time so you feel confident and prepared.
Composing Your Speech
Start with an expression of gratitude. Right off the bat, you can start by saying thank you for the award or honor you're receiving. An acknowledgment of why you're giving the speech is the most natural way to start. Your expression of gratitude will set the tone for the rest of your speech. As you decide exactly what you want to say, take the following factors into account: The type of honor you're receiving. To give thanks for an award or professional honor, say something like "I'm so honored to be here tonight, and grateful to be the recipient of this award." The formality of the event. If it's a more casual event, like an anniversary party thrown by your friends and family, your expression of thanks can be a bit warmer. For example, you could say "I can't express how grateful I am to have all of you here with us tonight."
Express appreciation for the people honoring you. This allows you to go a little deeper and make the people who are responsible for giving you the award feel good. Whether you're being honored by your company, another organization, or people you know well, take a few minutes to express your sincere regard for them. If you're being honored by your company, talk about the great work the organization does, and what a pleasure it is to work there. If you're receiving an award from an outside party, like an arts organization awarding you for a film you directed, talk about how honored you are to be recognized by such a great organization. If you're giving a speech to thank friends and family for honoring you, say a few words about what a special group of people you're lucky to have in your life.
Tell a funny or poignant story. In a thank you speech, it's charming to tell an anecdote or two about something that happened leading up to the honor you're receiving. Since thank you speeches are often given at dinners and festive events, saying something to keep the mood light and bring smiles to people's faces will be appreciated. You could tell a story about a funny mishap that happened during a big project you worked on, or an obstacle you had to overcome to accomplish your goals. Try to bring other people into the story, too, instead of just talking about yourself. Talk about something that involves your coworkers, your boss, your kids, or other people in the audience. If you want, you can start your speech with this story and build up to your thank yous.
Mention the names of people who’ve helped you. It's nice to give credit to the people whose support helped you accomplish something worth honoring. Create a short list of colleagues, friends, and family members without whose help you wouldn't be receiving this honor. You can introduce the list by saying, "I'm especially grateful to a few amazing people whose support is the reason I'm up here right now." Then recite the list of people who helped you. Take the audience into consideration, too. If you know your boss will be sitting in the front row, you might want to make sure you thank them. This part of thank you speeches can often get tedious. Don't leave anyone important off of your list, but don't list everyone you know, either. Keep it limited to people who actually helped you. Watch speeches from award shows like the Oscars or Emmys for inspiration on how to gracefully thank multiple people.
End it on a high note. When you finish listing people you want to thank, the speech is just about over. End it by saying thanks once more, and repeating how sincerely grateful you are. If you want your speech to be especially memorable, you could consider including an additional flourish. For example, Say something inspirational. If you're accepting an award for achievements you made for the nonprofit you work for, you could say, "Our work is far from over, but what we've accomplished together has made a difference in hundreds of people's lives. Let's roll up our sleeves and continue this journey with more dedication than ever. If we've made this much progress in just one year, think what we can do in three." Dedicate the honor. You can give special appreciation to a loved one or mentor by dedicating your award to that person. Say something like, "And lastly, I want to dedicate this award to my mother. When my teachers told her they thought my dyslexia would prevent me from ever learning to read, she scoffed and told them I'd be a brilliant writer one day. It's because of her faith in me that I'm up here today accepting my first Pulitzer. I love you, mom."
Practicing Your Speech
Write out your notes. A thank you speech should be fairly short, and you may be able to memorize it. However, printing note cards will help you make all your main points and remember all the names you want to mention. Don't write out the speech word for word. When you deliver it, you'll be looking down at the paper the whole time instead of addressing the audience. You'll come off as nervous and stiff instead of sincerely grateful. Alternatively, if there is a phrase or sentiment that you want to make sure you get absolutely right, write out that part in full. Practice this part so that you can say it smoothly. Try writing out just the first line of each paragraph you want to say. Then, when you glance down at your card, that first line will jog your memory.
Time yourself to ensure your speech isn’t too long. If you're giving the speech at a formal award ceremony, there may be a designated time limit for the acceptance speeches. Ask the organization responsible for giving the awards whether there are any guidelines you should take into account. If you aren't given a time limit, see if you can find out how long other people who've received awards from the organization took for their speeches. As a general rule acceptance speeches are very short. Acceptance speeches for Academy Awards, for example, are limited to 45 seconds or less. Going over two or three minutes is going to end up boring people, so no matter what, aim to keep it to the point. When you practice your speech, set a timer to see how long it takes. You might want to record yourself so you can listen to the speech and identify parts you can shave off if your speech is too long. The most essential part of the speech is the expression of gratitude; the rest can be lopped if necessary.
Practice in front of someone who makes you nervous. If you're not feeling confident at first, try giving your speech to a person or group of people who make your stomach erupt with butterflies. Practice giving the speech four or five times, or as many times as it takes to be able to deliver it without your heart beating fast and your breath quickening. That way, when it's time to give it to your real audience, you'll be less likely to get stage fright. Solicit feedback from the people listening to your speech. Ask them which parts drag on too long, or if there's anything you didn't say that should be included. Make sure you deliver the speech to at least one person you trust to give you totally honest feedback.
Replace filler words with pauses. Most people naturally fill in awkward moments with "um," "uh" or "like." Train yourself to eliminate these words from your speech. Instead of using a filler word, just pause and be silent for a moment. Your speech will end up sounding poignant and well-rehearsed, rather than thrown together. To help yourself eliminate the filler words, listen to a recording of yourself talking. Try to catch the spots where you tend to fill in the blank with "um" or "uh." Practice saying those lines without filler until you're able to deliver the whole speech that way.
Work on looking and sounding natural. Helping your audience feel the depth of your gratitude is the whole point of a thank you speech, and it's very hard to make that happen if you seem stiff, or worse, arrogant or ungrateful. Practice doing the things you'd normally do during a conversation: gesturing a bit with your hands, smiling, pausing, and laughing. Make sure to inflect your words to convey the emotion you're feeling.
Delivering Your Speech
Calm your nerves right before the speech. If you tend to get the jitters right before you speak in public, take some time beforehand to calm yourself down. For some people, those nerves don't go away no matter how many times they have to speak in public. Luckily, there are some tried and true methods you can use to prepare yourself to speak clearly and calmly: Try visualizing yourself delivering the speech without stumbling. Imagine the room in as much detail as you can. If you know who will be in the audience, pretend that they are there as you practice. Deliver the whole thing in your head without a hiccup. This technique can help you feel less anxious when it comes to the real thing. Some people find it helps to laugh heartily before giving a speech. It puts you in a more relaxed mood. If you have the opportunity to do some vigorous exercise before the event, that's another great way to release nervous energy.
Make eye contact with audience members. Avoid looking down at your note cards too often. Instead, glance at them now and then to remind yourself of what you want to say. Pick two or three different people in the audience, seated in different areas, and make eye contact with them in rotation as you're talking. Making eye contact will help you deliver the speech with more feeling. You can pretend like you're giving it to a friend, rather than a faceless crowd of people. Rotating between more than one person is important. When you look at more than one spot in the audience, the whole group will feel more included in what you're saying.
Keep your speech focused on gratitude. You might be so worried about forgetting part of your speech that you forget the reason why you're up there giving it. Think about the meaning behind your words as you say them, and deliver your speech with the true emotions you feel about the honor you're receiving. Think about the hard work you did to earn the award, and all the people who helped you along the way. If you do this, your speech will come off as sincere. If it's possible to look at the people you're thanking as you say their names, try to do so. For example, if you're thanking a colleague who's sitting in the first row, your gratitude will be more apparent if you're able to focus on her while you're talking. Don't be embarrassed if you tear up a little. It happens all the time during thank you speeches.
End your speech with one last “Thank you.” Thank the audience and the organizers of the event. Then smile and graciously leave the podium. If the emcee or another speaker approaches the podium, thank them and shake their hand before leaving the stage. When the event is over, people may approach you to say positive things about your speech. Be sure to thank them and give them a few moments of your time.
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