You’ve chosen the venue, organised the guest list, hired performers and now it’s time to create your speech!
For many people, speaking in front of a large audience doesn’t come naturally. However, if you prepare for your social event and don’t wait until the last minute, you can be confident in your speech and any nerves will disappear.
Consider what you are going to say, whether it is a welcome speech, presentation or a closing address.
To begin, let’s start with the welcome speech. It’s important to make your guests see that you care for them as this will leave a positive impact.
Here are some tips and structures to help you write the perfect speech for your next social event.
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Think about your audience
Think about the occasion you are delivering your speech at. Is it a fundraiser, business meeting or holiday party? Learn your audience based on the event you are holding, so you can tailor your speech to match them.
When thinking of your audience, consider the people who organised the event. You should acknowledge the people who contributed to the event so that the audience knows who was involved and the teams feel appreciated. Express your appreciation by naming the particular company or department area.
You could use the following phrases for your acknowledgements:
- “We couldn’t have done it without…”
- “Special thanks goes to…”
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Think about your social event goal
The purpose of this section is to describe what is happening at the event. People tend to make the mistake of oversharing everything. So you don’t need to clarify the whole goals of this event, you want people to be able to experience them themselves. So, we advise you to focus on 1 to 2 main objectives that define the mission of your event.
Have you thought about the venue of your event? You need to decide what is an appropriate venue for guests. For example, if you’re giving a speech about your art show you should properly host this at an arts centre or exhibition centre. And if you’re making a speech towards new clients or for any other business matters, then holding it at a conference centre makes sense.
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Think about the structure
Think of it as a journey. Consider the start, middle and end goals but avoid giving too much away. Make the audience want to know more by leaving a little mystery so they can find the answers using the event services you offer.
For the introduction, the tone is important to set the mood in the room. For your opening speech you may want to consider:
- A greeting: A formal greeting “Ladies and gentlemen” or an informal greeting “Hello, my dear friends.”
- A thank-you: Demonstrate your appreciation to the people who made this social event happen, from the team to the audience
There are different types of speeches, such as welcoming, presentation, and closing. For a welcome or closing speech, we suggest you keep it short, lasting around 3 to 5 minutes. In general, people speak between 125 to 150 words per minute, so a 5-minute speech would be 625 to 750 words long. But if you are looking for more of a presentation speech at an event we would suggest around 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the event function. However, our most valuable advice is to keep it short and sweet in order to make it memorable.
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Think about the content
Depending on what you wish to accomplish, you may choose to use visual tools like videos or a presentation to add to your speech. Use visuals that are welcoming, fun and light, instead of text-heavy content. Text-heavy slides can often become boring to attendees. Keep in mind that a boring speech can ruin the anticipation, whereas an exciting speech will engage your attendees.
Apple uses visuals in their speeches to draw their audiences in, click here to find out more!
Towards the end of your speech, wrap it up with:- An informal touch by saying how you personally feel about the event
- A thank-you: Demonstrate your appreciation to the people who made this social event happen, from the team to the audience
- A joke to lighten the mood
- Wishing everyone an exciting time at the event
- An introduction to any performers following your speech
- Helpful information such as where to find event leaflets
Samsung uses great techniques to end their speech, click here to find out more!
It takes a lot of dedication to create an amazing social event for any business, awards show, or live performance. After the planning stage of your event has been successfully completed, you should apply the same strategy throughout your entire event, to ensure its success. So, make sure you stick to these simple tips to write a speech that will make the perfect first impression.