If you've received an award or been publicly honored, you may be called to give a thank you speech. You will have a chance to express how sincerely you are grateful to the people who have helped you, and maybe tell a funny story to make the audience smile. If you want to learn how to compose a great thank you speech and deliver it convincingly, read on.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Composition
Step 1. Begin by expressing gratitude
Begin by giving thanks for the award or honor you received. The most natural way to start is to recognize why you are talking. Your expression of gratitude will set the style for the rest of the speech. When deciding exactly what to say, consider the following factors:
- The kind of honor you are receiving. To thank you for receiving an award or professional honor, say something like, "I am so honored to be here tonight, and grateful to receive this award."
- The formality of the event. If it's an informal event, like an anniversary party organized by friends and family, you can give thanks more warmly. For example, you might say, "I can't express how grateful I am to have you all here with us tonight."
Step 2. Talk about your esteem for the people who are honoring you
This gives you the opportunity to go a little deeper and make the people responsible for giving you the award feel better. Whether you receive the distinction from your company, another organization, or people you know well, take a few minutes to express your sincere appreciation for them.
- If you receive an honor from your company, talk about the great job the organization has done and how it is a pleasure to work in that environment.
- If you receive an award from an outside body, such as an arts organization that rewards you for directing a film, talk about how honored you feel to be recognized by such an organization.
- If you are giving a speech to thank friends and family who are honoring you, say a few words to celebrate the group of special people you are lucky to have around in life.
Step 3. Tell a funny or brilliant story
In a thank you speech, it's nice to tell an anecdote or two about something that happened on the way to the award. Since speeches are often given at dinners or festive events, saying something to keep the mood light and make people smile will be appreciated.
- You could tell a story about a funny accident that happened during an important project you were working on, or an obstacle you had to overcome to achieve your goal.
- Try to involve other people in the story 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 the speech with this story and gradually get to the thanks.
Step 4. Give the names of the people who have helped you
It's nice to give credit to the people who helped you achieve an honorable goal. Create a short list of colleagues, friends and family without whom you would not have received the award.
- You can introduce the list by saying, "I am especially grateful to some exceptional people who, thanks to their support, have allowed me to be here at this time" and finally list the people who have helped you.
- Take the audience into consideration as well. If you know your boss will be sitting in the front row, be sure to thank him.
- This part can often be boring. Make sure you include all important people on your list, but avoid mentioning everyone you know. Limit the list to the people who really helped you.
- Watch the speeches they make at events like the Oscars or Emmys. This can help you find inspiration to thank more people in an excellent way.
Step 5. Conclude on a positive note
Once you have finished the list of people you want to thank, the speech is almost over. Conclude by saying thank you once again and repeating how sincerely you are grateful. If you want your speech to be particularly memorable, you may want to include an additional element. Eg:
- Say something that can inspire others. If you are receiving an award for goals you have achieved with your pro bono work, you might say, "Our work has only just begun, but the results we have achieved together have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of people. let us continue this journey with renewed dedication. If we have made similar progress in just one year, think about what we can achieve in three ".
- Make a dedication. You can reserve a special appreciation for a loved one or mentor by dedicating the award to that person. Say something like, "And finally, I want to dedicate this award to my mother. When my teachers told her that my dyslexia would prevent me from learning to read, she shrugged and told them that one day I would become a brilliant writer. It's because of her trust in me that I'm here today to accept my first Pulitzer. I love you, Mom."
Part 2 of 3: Rehearsing the Speech
Step 1. Write notes
A thank you speech should be quite short, and you may be able to memorize it. However, preparing a card or a piece of paper with a general description will help you not to forget any important points and to remember all the names to mention.
- Don't write the speech verbatim. If you did, you would be looking at the paper all the time when you say it, instead of looking at the audience. You will give the impression that you are nervous and stiff, rather than genuinely grateful.
- Alternatively, if there is a sentence or feeling that you want to make sure you are not mistaken, write it down in full. Practice on that specific part so that you can express yourself without a hitch.
- Try writing only the first line of each paragraph of what you want to say. In this way, a glance at the sheet will suffice to refresh your memory.
Step 2. Time yourself
If you need to deliver a speech at a formal awards ceremony, there may be a time limit for thank you speeches. Ask the organization responsible for awarding prizes if there are any guidelines you need to take into account. If you are not given a time limit, try to find out how much time other people who received an award spent on their speeches.
- As a general rule, thank you speeches are very short. Oscar acceptance speeches, for example, are limited to 45 seconds or less. Exceeding 2-3 minutes will end up boring people, so whatever you choose to say, try to be direct.
- When practicing your speech, set a stopwatch to check its duration. Try recording yourself so you can listen to the speech and identify the parts that you can delete if the speech is too long. The most important part of the speech is the expression of gratitude; you can delete the rest if necessary.
Step 3. Try in front of a person who makes you nervous
If you don't like public speaking, try giving a speech to a person or group of people that gives you butterflies in your stomach. Try the speech four or five times, or as many times as you need to be able to deliver it without palpitations and shortness of breath. That way, when it's time to deliver it in front of the real audience, you'll endure stage fright much better.
- Ask the people who listen to your speech for their opinion. Ask them where you have gone too far or if you have left out something important.
- Make sure you give the speech to at least one person you trust who can give you an honest comment.
Step 4. Replace the interlayers with rests
Most people naturally fill in awkward moments with "um", "aah" or "that is". Get used to eliminating these words from your speeches. Instead of using an interlayer, pause and be silent for a moment. The speech will sound intense and well rehearsed and not patchy.
To be able to eliminate the interlayers, listen to your own recording. Try to identify where you have a tendency to fill the breaks with "um" or "ah". Practice saying those sentences without interlayers until you can get through the whole speech without saying them
Step 5. Try to look and sound natural
Helping the audience understand how grateful you are is the whole purpose of the thank you speech, and it's very hard to do that if you seem stiff or, worse, arrogant or ungrateful. Practice doing the things you would normally do in a conversation: gesturing a little with your hands, smiling, pausing, and laughing. Make sure your inflection conveys the emotions you are feeling.
Part 3 of 3: Deliver the Speech
Step 1. Relax before speaking
If you have a tendency to get nervous before speaking in public, take the time to calm down. For some people, nervousness always arises, regardless of the number of occasions they have spoken in public. Fortunately, there are some proven methods to prepare you to speak clearly and calmly:
- Try to visualize yourself delivering the speech without imperfections. Say it all without making mistakes. This technique can help you ease the anxiety of real speech.
- Some people feel better if they laugh heartily before a speech. You will feel more relaxed.
- If you have the opportunity to do intense physical activity before the event, this is another great way to release nervous energy.
Step 2. Look audience members in the eye
Remember not to look at your tickets too much; just look at them from time to time to remember what to say. Choose 2-3 different people in the audience, sitting in different areas, and look them in the eye in rotation when you speak.
- Looking people in the eye will help you deliver the speech with more feeling. You can pretend you're talking to a friend, not a crowd of faceless people.
- Rotating between more than one person is important. When you look at more than one point in the audience, everyone will feel more engaged with what you are saying.
Step 3. Remember your sense of gratitude as you speak
You may be so worried about forgetting part of your speech that you forget the reasons why you are giving it. Think about the meaning of the words as you say them and deliver your speech conveying the true emotions you feel. Think of all the hard work you had to do to earn the award and all the people who helped you along the way. If you do, your speech will be sincere.
- If you can look at the people you will thank, do so when you say their name. For example, if you are thanking a colleague who sits in the front row, your gratitude will be more evident if you focus on him when you speak.
- Don't feel embarrassed if you get tears. It always happens during thank you speeches.
Step 4. Use particularly kind words that may move your listener
Remember to be yourself and to express yourself in a genuine way.
Step 5. Leave the stage at the right time
When you have finished the speech, smile at the audience and leave the stage when it is appropriate to do so. Staying longer on stage is a classic move during thank you speeches, but it tends to bore the audience and leave less time for the person who is to receive the next award. When your time is up, gracefully leave the stage and sit back down.
Advice
- Repeat the speech until you can recite it without problems; then, ask a trusted friend to sit in front of you to listen to you. Eventually, he can give you some advice on content, tone, passage from topic to topic, clarity of the message - as well as voice, body language, sincerity, timing, and so on.
- If possible, use some reference cards to keep track of things rather than reading the entire speech. In doing so, you will appear more relaxed and spontaneous.
- Use the standard three-part speech structure. You will need to create an introduction to present yourself and your topic, the body of the speech where you expand the topic, and a conclusion where you summarize and end the speech.
- He also thanked the audience attending the event.
- Explain what the award you receive means to you: Include references to the values / goals / aspirations represented by the event organizer and how they inspire you.
