How Do You Give A Retirement Speech?
When speaking at a friend’s or colleague’s retirement party, or your own, giving a retirement speech is both an honor and an obligation. Even if you’re not a seasoned public speaker, you can give a retirement speech that will be admired. Set a time limit for your speech. You don’t want to drag out a retirement speech, boring your audience, but you also don’t want to say just a few words, leaving everyone hanging. Know your material. Plan ahead and think about your own career, or that of the person you’re speaking about. Think about other individuals who were important to the development of this career such as family members and friends. Plan out what you’ll say, either in note form or an actual draft, to get an idea of what direction you’d like the speech to go. Personalize the speech. Be sure the speech is about the person’s career and not a political or rah rah speech on your part. Tell stories about their successes and their journey up the ranks. Rehearse. Even if you’re doing a lot