Whether you are the lucky retiree who now has to write a speech for your final send-off or a speech for a retiring colleague, you might be a little bit nervous. By far the majority of people fear public speaking, and if it’s the first time you’ll ever give one, it’s completely normal even to feel slightly hesitant.
Fortunately, giving a speech is always far easier than you think. With proper preparation and our list of top tips, you’ll soon be wondering why on earth you were even nervous in the first place.
But remember that no one is expecting an Emmy Award-winning performance at the end of the day. If you are the person retiring, see it as a final work project to complete and take the opportunity to thank your colleagues for being part of your journey. So take a deep breath and enjoy every part of crafting your speech.
Things to consider
Before you start writing, there are a couple of things you need to consider. If you think of the speech as the destination, this part is like ensuring you have everything you need to ensure a smooth journey.
Consider the audience
It’s important to remember that the people in your audience will all be at different stages of their lives and career. Some will be right at the start of their work journey, while some colleagues will be nearing the end.
Ideally, a speech will include something for everyone. At the very least it shouldn’t be so specific that whole groups of people don’t get certain jokes or parts of your speech.
Mind the humor
Humor is especially tricky in a retirement speech as not everyone in the audience will have the same familiarity with the retiree. This means that there is a high likelihood that a joke won’t land in the same way for the majority of the group.
You also want to steer clear from cliche jokes like jokes about spending too much time with your spouse. These types of run-of-the-mill jokes are seldom truly funny.
Don’t neglect people and acknowledge the helpers
If there were certain people that were especially influential in your job, don’t forget to give them a special mention. Don’t hold back on sharing the names of coworkers that inspired and helped you on your journey. Do of course be mindful that you never tell a story that is at the expense of someone else.
If you are preparing a speech about a colleague that’s retiring, don’t forget to properly stop to appreciate the person and what they’ve meant to the organization. Although that seems pretty logical, very often, well-wishers have gotten so caught up in trying to deliver an excellent speech that this primary point goes out the window.
Timing the speech
You want to ensure the speech is long enough that you covered the most important points and highlights that you want to address, but you want to be careful not to be a drag. A good rule of thumb is to keep your speech to 10 minutes max. A concise speech will have a much better chance of keeping the audience engaged.
However, it’s also important to consider how the venue and the event’s tone will influence your speech length. For example, if you are speaking at an informal farewell meeting, the speech will be shorter than if it were a more elaborate formal celebration.
To be sure you don’t run over time in these circumstances, check with the event coordinator if there is one, how much time is set aside for your speech. In more informal settings, such as a quick stand-up in a meeting, don’t speak for longer than 3 minutes.
Gather information & important details
This point refers to both technical details and details about the retiring person. In terms of technical details, it might be useful to know what the setup will be. For example, knowing if there’s going to be a podium or not may seem like a minor detail, but if you’re feeling nervous, being able to visualize in detail how you will be delivering the speech can be a very powerful exercise.
If you are preparing a retirement speech for a colleague you want to be sure about details such as any particular big immediate plans like are they planning a round-the-world trip. This will allow you to really personalize and tailor the speech to the honorary guest.
However, you also want to gather enough details about their career. Think about finding out information about:
- How long they’ve been in the industry
- How long they’ve worked for their current company
- Previous positions they held at this company
- Did they receive any special awards over the course of their career
- Any other particular noteworthy details about their career
Writing your speech
Use a framework and write an outline
If you first write an outline your speech will have better focus and feel more coherent overall. There are many different ways to use a framework for your speech, but here is a straightforward option you can use:
- Introduction: Grab your audience’s attention with a great story. The retiree should of course be the story’s main character and it should paint them in a positive light.
- Point 1: Highlight a positive attribute of the person and how this specific attribute was a helpful one to have in the office.
- Point 2: Talk about how the retiree has played an essential role in the organization. You don’t need to go into great depth, but you should be able to illustrate the employee’s important contributions by giving a high-level overview of successes.
- Point 3: Talk about the person’s most important attribute using a short story.
- Extend your thanks to the retiree for the contribution they’ve made over the years. Coming up with the right words can be tough so feel free to consider an impactful quote to assist you in getting this point across.
Make your speech sound conversational
Remember to always write for the ear and not for the eye. In practice, this means reading your speech out loud and pronouncing all the words clearly. This will help you detect any unnatural and awkward-sounding sentences or phrases. You want to sound natural and conversational so this might take a few rounds of revisions.
Practice your speech
An impactful speech is not something you put together in one night. Even if it may be a short one, you never want to leave this to the last minute. You want to give yourself enough time to write, potentially rewrite, and then of course practice your speech. There are a couple of top tips on practicing your speech for a flawless delivery.
In front of the mirror
Practicing in front of a mirror will alert you to any gestures that look weird or feel off. Or perhaps you notice that you aren’t using any gestures making the speech less impactful. If you are a bit nervous about giving the speech, seeing yourself in the mirror like this (although intimidating at first) will greatly aid in building confidence.
Record yourself
This option is even better than a mirror because when practicing in the mirror, your attention is divided into speaking and analyzing how you look and sound. Recording yourself is truly the best way to detect any strange mannerisms you would rather avoid. Remember, you want your audience to focus on your words and not any silly gestures that could be distracting.
Time yourself
You will need someone’s help with this as timing yourself will only distract you. Focus on reading your speech clearly and slowly. Don’t forget to include slight pauses for both emphasis and audience reactions if you are saying something that might elicit laughter. If you find you run over your time limit, start editing your speech to see if there are any bits you can cut out.
Practice In front of someone you trust
It’s always a great idea to practice your speech in front of someone you trust. Not only to help you prepare to deliver the speech, but this person can give you feedback on the content as well. For example, maybe you wanted to include a couple of jokes that you thought were funny, but in actual fact they are the exact opposite. Having someone listen to your speech can help prevent any mishaps.
Also, in terms of how you sound, you want to be sure the person will provide accurate feedback and not tell you that you sound great when you clearly need a bit more practice.
Delivering an awesome speech
Once you have your speech prepared and you have practiced the point where you feel pretty confident that you can deliver it effectively, there are a few final tips that you should remember for the big moment:
- If there’s a podium available – stand tall. Don’t hold onto it or lean onto it. Also, consider coming out from behind the podium as you are delivering the speech.
- Use natural gestures and make sure that the audience can see them.
- Make plenty of eye contact with your audience, and avoid looking down at your notes too often.
- It’s worth learning your speech to know your notes well enough so you can immediately find your spot if you forget anything during your speech.
- It is important that your voice is loud enough to be heard and that it has variety (not monotone). This naturally occurs in conversation with friends—so your speech should sound like that.
Things to avoid
Overusing the word “I”
Don’t use the word “I” too often. This will only make the audience feel like you are only talking about yourself. This is especially important to avoid if you are making a speech for the person retiring.
If you are the person retiring, it’s more acceptable, but don’t overdo it. You also want to use the opportunity to give thanks to your colleagues.
Don’t be tone deaf
You don’t want to be that out-of-touch well-wisher that still makes jokes that belonged in retirement speeches of the previous decade. It’s a fact that these days retirement looks a lot different than it has done for previous generations.
These days retirement often spans twenty to thirty years and many of these years are spent in active retirement.
So outdated jokes and anecdotes about sitting on your porch in your rocking chair simply aren’t fitting in a time where retirees often undertake bold adventures or even start new business ventures.
Don’t belittle the business
If you are the one retiring then this is certainly not the moment to air your grievances. Always keep things positive even if this is your great escape. Remember your colleagues still need to return to the same office the next day.
5 Retirement Speech Examples
A short retirement speech
Every company has its “go-to” person. The person that always just seems to be able to get a job done whatever it may be. The person that can handle the most difficult of clients, but can also turn your bad day into one to remember. This person also knows how to fix every single error on the printing machine.
Maya has been our go-to person for the past 15 years and to be honest – we have no idea what we are going to do without her. Thanks for your years of dedication and for always showing up as the best version of yourself. Cheers to a long and joyous retirement.
A funny retirement speech
I’m sure you are all bracing yourself for a speech dripping with wisdom and profound advice. But if that’s the case – I need to ask – do you even know me?
I’m too happy to deem myself profound, and I’m getting far too old to stand here and thank every single person that’s played a special role in my journey. So please consider yourself thanked.
I want to thank you all for the fun over the years. They say work isn’t supposed to be fun, but here we are. I don’t know if this means we are just a special group of people or if we didn’t really work as hard as we were supposed to?
It’s a strange feeling being up here, knowing I don’t have to clock in for work tomorrow. And knowing you’ll be hard at work at tomorrow’s staff meeting and me? I’ll just be on the golf course. How ever will I survive?
Cheers to the wonderful people that made work more than tolerable!
A grateful retirement speech
Retirement is an incredible milestone that I’m overjoyed to finally be at. However, there’s no chance that I would have made it this far without the ongoing love and support of my nearest and dearest. I first want to thank my partner and my kids for putting up with me when work was rough and I had to put in those extra hours.
But then of course my family at work. We’ve shared many trials and tribulations and some days were tough, but often those days were also my best. We learned from each other, and we motivated each other. I could not ever have dreamed of being fortunate enough to work with such a group of intelligent, thoughtful, and all-around incredible people.
I also want to extend a personal thanks to my manager. Manager is not really the appropriate word I think, because you were more like my mentor pushing me when I needed a push and giving me advice when I needed it most. I always knew that your door was open for me and that no problem was too big to deal with.
And then lastly, to the management team of the company, you are doing an incredible job of leading this group of people to new heights. I’m wishing you many years of success. Thanks for letting me be a part of this journey.
A serious retirement speech
Seventeen years ago, I set foot in this office ready to completely change the way things are done here. Today as I close the door to my office for the last time, I’m finally admitting it was really me who changed.
I gave the best years of my life to this organization, but in return, I’ve been awarded with an abundance of incredible opportunities and challenges, but also the best of friends.
I know without a shred of doubt that my team and this company will continue to accomplish many more great things. It’s a bittersweet moment to leave all of it behind. I look forward to spending time with my family and focusing on my hobbies, but it’s tough knowing I can no longer be part of the incredible things that I know are still on this company’s horizon.
Thanks for all playing a role in my journey. I’m beyond grateful that I got to be part of yours.
A retirement speech for a colleague
I was pretty nervous the first day at the office. But then I met Angela, and in an instant I knew I was at the right place. Immediately my nerves dissipated as she welcomed me and quickly showed me the ropes: How to work the coffee machine, where to grab the best lunch, and how to fill out my PTO.
I thought I was special until I saw her welcoming every new colleague in the same way – even when it wasn’t part of her already heavy workload. That’s when I realized, Angela is one of those super special people that every workplace should have.
She is the ultimate connector. She has the uncanny ability to make people feel welcomed, understood, and appreciated in an instant.
I don’t think we even have time to jump into Angela’s numerous work achievements and the successful projects she’s led. Honestly, I don’t know where this company would have been without her always being able to swoop in when things are rough and turn into a huge success.
I wish that every company is lucky enough to have an Angela! Cheers to an incredible retirement. You deserve every single second of it!
.