Giving a great retirement speech

So, you've been asked to give a retirement speech, and you have about as confident with retirement speeches as you do climbing Mt. Everest. The three secrets to success in giving a good retirement speech are: (1) know your material. Practice until you do it in your sleep. (2) Know your audience. Chances are, you'll be in a room filled with people you've known for some time. Select or write your material accordingly. Finally, know your room. You can improve your chances of giving a good speech by arriving early and getting familiar with the microphone, the room's layout, the height of the lecturn (if any), and so on.

Giving a great retirement speech

Retirement speeches can be had by the bushel on the internet--for a price. Type "retirement speech" into any search engine and you'll find entire libraries where you can find just the right retirement quote, retirement jokes, and even forms you fill out online that will send you the best retirement quotes for the occasion, or a complete retirement speech you only have to tweak a little beforehand.

Giving a great retirement speech

When giving retirement speeches, it helps to remember that the audience, by and large, want your retirement speech to succeed. You can further enhance that advantage by greeting as many people as you can as the gathering is getting underway. This will also give you a good feel for the audience and help you feel that you're among friends. It might also help you make adjustment to your material if you are still trying to decide whether or not to use a particular retirement quote.

Giving a great retirement speech

When preparing to give a retirement speech, there is no more ruthless--or helpful--critic than an ordinary video camera. As painful as it may sound, have someone record you practicing your speech on camera, then go back and review. One trick is to review it in fast-fowrard; it makes little nervous gestures and ticks stand out more sharply. Many retirement speeches have been improved or even saved by the tutalage of the video camera.

Giving a great retirement speech

Although you can now get retirement speeches ready-made on the internet, you run the risk of giving a retirement speech that is, well, generic. If you really want this speech to fly, you need to call upon your own personal experience, whether the subject of the speech is you or a friend of yours. Go back through old letters, photo albums, journals. Talk to friends and associates to find just the right story that will make a truly personal and unique retirement quote or funny incident that makes the best retirement jokes.