how to end an award presentation speech

How to Give an Award Presentation Speech (Example Included!)

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Congratulations! Chances are that if you're reading this article, you have been named an award recipient for an accomplishment or are involved with bestowing an award to others. Either way, in the work context, you should aim for a professional yet enjoyable speech.

People often focus on whatever the person getting the award is going to say about it. Less mentioned is the speech given beforehand by the award presenter. However, this is also a very important and prestigious job. 

After all, the presenter is tasked with setting the mood of the event, giving context to the honor being awarded and introducing them in an engaging way. Writing and delivering a killer presentation speech takes time, thought, and preparation. It's no small feat!

Feeling nervous about it? Here's how to write and deliver a speech presenting an award—or receiving one.

How to write an award presentation speech

When writing your speech, try to strike a balance between covering the necessary information—like the details of the award and the accomplishments of the person being honored—and keeping your audience interested. 

Break down the components of the speech in an outline at first to make sure you hit everything you want to say. 

1. Begin with a captivating opener

This is an opportunity to put some personal flair into your speech. Know your audience. Start with a joke or a funny anecdote, if it's appropriate. If not, you might start with a personal memory or connection to the person being awarded. The opening of a presentation award speech is your moment to set the tone and grab the audience's attention.

2. Give some background

Give some context to the award you're presenting. How much or how little is up to you, your organization and the setting, but it's important to ground the speech in why the event is happening. Did someone specific fund this award? When and for what reason? What does it represent? What kind of qualities does it recognize in the person who receives it? 

If you have a personal connection to the award or the person receiving it, you may mention it here. Are you a past winner of this same award? Is the person receiving it one of your employees or close friends? You can use this as an opportunity to transition into introducing the person and their work. 

4. Talk about the awardee's work

Next, introduce the work or qualifications of the person being awarded. Talk about the work that stood out to the organization or committee presenting this honor to them. How does their work relate or contribute to the wider cause? 

You could mention other awards they have won in the past or a memory or anecdote about the person being honored if you have a personal connection with them. You may also have a bio of theirs to read, if they specified how they wanted to be introduced. 

Either way, put a good portion of your time and thought into this part of your speech. Your job is to present this award to this specific person, so put intention and energy into representing them and their accomplishments well. Though they may have a long and prestigious resume , try to keep it relatively short. Hit the highlights and the most relevant information to the occasion.

5. Keep it on the short side

You have a good bit of information to cover in order to give a heartfelt, personalized speech, but try your best to keep it fairly brief. You don't want to overshadow the person getting the award by taking too much time away from their acceptance speech or lose your audience halfway through. 

Practice your speech, and time yourself when you do. This will ensure you're keeping things concise and including everything you wanted to say. Decide whether you're going to memorize your speech or if you're going to have notecards or a written copy. Practice however you're going to deliver it to make sure you've got it down.

Presenting an award: Speech template

Now let's put all these tips into practice. To start, here's a template of an award presentation speech that is pretty standard and can be used in many different types of recognizations.

[Good morning/evening/night] folks, 

It is with great pleasure that I join you here today to present the [title of award] on behalf of [your company]. This is the [number] year this award has been presented, and it remains one of the highest honors in this field, recognizing the person in our community whose work has had a truly outstanding [type of outcome or impact the award winner's work caused]. 

As a committee member, I can tell you that the nominees this year were some of the most [qualities of the nominees] people I've had the pleasure of knowing. However, one person stood out for their remarkable career in this field. 

They have made an inestimable contribution to our community over their [time the award winner works for the company] of work in our [your work field], working to [their goals, passion/goals or what they work for]. They have gone on to become an example in [what this person does in their field + achievements].

I have had the absolute honor of working closely with this person throughout their career, and I cannot be happier to see them honored here tonight. Without further ado, the [title of award] goes to [name of the winner]. Please join me in welcoming them to the stage. 

Presenting an award: Speech example

Want to see the template come to life? This example of an award presentation speech shows you how to fill in the blanks and serves as a guide for writing your own.

Good evening folks, 

It is with great pleasure that I join you here today to present the Outstanding Achievement Award for Social Service on behalf of The Zyx Company. This is the 25th year this award has been presented, and it remains one of the highest honors in this field, recognizing the person in our community whose work has had a truly outstanding impact in the lives of many. 

As a committee member, I can tell you that the nominees this year were some of the most incredible, hardworking and compassionate people I've had the pleasure of knowing. However, one person stood out for their remarkable career in this field. 

They have made an inestimable contribution to our community over their 20 years of work in our public school systems, working to improve the lives of our students and future leaders. They have gone on to become an example in social work and innovation in combating homelessness and worked tirelessly to obtain greater resources for people in marginalized communities.

I have had the absolute honor of working closely with this person throughout their career, and I cannot be happier to see them honored here tonight. Without further ado, the Outstanding Achievement Award for Social Service goes to Jill Smith. Please join me in welcoming them to the stage.

How do you give a speech after receiving an award?

What about if you're on the other side of the award presentation? Writing an award acceptance speech is also an art. Similarly, you want to plan ahead and make sure you hit certain points within your speech. 

Receiving an award is an incredible honor and can be exciting or overwhelming, so you want to do the preparation beforehand in order to say what you want to say. 

"Thank the Academy" and others 

You want to be sure to thank the people involved in giving you this award. This list includes the organization or committee presenting it to you and the presenter, as well as anyone who you feel helped to get you where you are today. We've all seen heartfelt, lengthy thank you lists delivered over Academy Awards and Emmys. 

This is a common factor in awards speeches for a reason. No one achieves their success without help from people who believe in them. Identify who you want to shout out during your speech, and if you need to, make a physical list so you don't leave anyone out. 

Share a bit about your work 

Share a bit of your work and why you're proud of it. Are there any lessons your road to this award has taught you? What aspect of what you do are you most excited to share with the world, and why do you think it's important?

Make a statement

If you feel compelled to do so, use the platform you have during your acceptance speech to make a statement about a larger social or political issue pertaining to your work. Is there a cause you're particularly passionate about? What do you want to say and promote through this moment?

Watch the time

There might be time constraints on your speech as well. Either way, try not to make it too lengthy. Have a plan, rehearse and be ready to say what you planned to say. 

Final thoughts

Whether you're presenting an award or receiving one, preparation is essential in order to deliver a thoughtful speech. Make sure you do your research, know what you want to say and practice ahead of time so that, when the day comes, you're ready to go. 

Awards ceremonies can be exciting and moving events, and often it's the speeches that make or break them. Take on this responsibility with excitement, and put time and thought into your presentation.

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50 Speech Closing Lines (& How to Create Your Own) | The Ultimate Guide

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• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

While speech openings are definitely one of the most important components of a speech, something that is equally as important is the way you conclude your speech.

There are few worse ways to end your speech than with a terse ‘thank you’–no elaboration or addition whatsoever.

Speech endings are just as crucial to the success of your speech as speech openings, and you must spend just as much time picking the perfect ending as you do to determine your best possible speech opening.

The words you speak at the beginning and end of your speech are words that your audience will pay the most attention to, and remember longer than any other part of your speech.

Speech endings can put even the most experienced speaker in flux, and increase their anxiousness manifold as they sit there attempting to figure out the perfect way to end your speech.

If you’re someone who’s in flux about your speech ending too, don’t worry. We’ve got some amazing ways to conclude your speech with a bang!

1. Circling Back To The Beginning

The idea behind circling back to the beginning of your speech is to reinforce the idea of your speech being a complete whole. By circling back to the beginning and connecting it to your ending, you let the audience understand that the idea of your speech is complete & standalone.

Circling back to the beginning of your speech also acts as an excellent way of reinforcing the central idea of your speech in the audience’s mind, and makes it more likely that they will remember it after the speech ends.

Need more inspiration for speech opening lines? Check out our article on 15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines & Tips To Create Your Own.

How To Circle Back To The Beginning

The easiest way to do this is to set up your beginning for the conclusion of your speech. That is, if you’re saying something like, say, a story or joke in the beginning, then you can leave your audience in a cliffhanger until the ending arrives.

Another great way to circle back to the beginning is by simply restating something you said at the start. The added knowledge from attending the rest of your speech will help the audience see this piece of information in a new–and better–light.

1. Will Stephen

Ending Line: “I’d like you to think about what you heard in the beginning, and I want you to think about what you hear now. Because it was nothing & it’s still nothing.”

2. Canwen Xu

Speech Ending: My name is Canwen, my favorite color is purple and I play the piano but not so much the violin…

Think of a memorable moment from your life, and chances are you’ll realize that it involved a feeling of happiness–something that we can associate with smiling or laughter. And what better way to generate laughter than by incorporating the age-old strategy of good humor.

The happy and lighthearted feeling you associate with good memories is the kind of emotional reaction you want to create in your audience too. That’s what will make your speech stick in their memory.

Done incorrectly, humor can be a disaster. Done right, however, it can entirely transform a speech.

Humor doesn’t only mean slapstick comedy (although there’s nothing wrong with slapstick, either). Humor can come in many forms, including puns, jokes, a funny story…the list is endless.

How To Incorporate Humor In Your Speech Ending

The simplest way to incorporate humor into your speech ending is by telling a plain old joke–something that’s relevant to your topic, of course.

You can also tell them a short, funny anecdote–may be an unexpected conclusion to a story you set up in the beginning.

Another way would be by employing the power of repetition. You can do this by associating something funny with a word, and then repeating the word throughout your speech. During the end, simply say the word or phrase one last time, and it’s likely you’ll leave off your audience with a good chuckle.

1. Woody Roseland

Ending Line: “Why are balloons so expensive? Inflation.”

2. Andras Arato

Ending Line: “There are three rules to becoming famous. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.”

3. Hasan Minhaj

Ending Line: “And you want to know the scariest part? Pretty soon every country on the earth is going to have its own TLC show.”

4. Sophie Scott

Speech Ending: In other words, when it comes to laughter, you and me baby, ain’t nothing but mammals.

5. Tim Urban

Speech Ending: We need to stay away from the Instant Gratification Monkey. That’s a job for all of us. And because there’s not that many boxes on there. It’s a job that should probably start today. Well, maybe not today, but, you know, sometime soon.

6. Hasan Minhaj

Speech Ending: Showing my legs on TV is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done. And keep in mind last week I went after the Prince of Saudi Arabia.

3. Question

The idea behind posing a question at the end of your speech is to get the wheels in your audience’s minds turning and to get them thinking of your speech long after it has ended. A question, if posed correctly, will make your audience re-think about crucial aspects of your speech, and is a great way to prompt discussion after your speech has ended.

How To Add Questions To Your Speech Ending

The best type of questions to add to your speech ending is rhetorical questions. That’s because, unlike a literal question, a rhetorical question will get the audience thinking and make them delve deeper into the topic at hand.

Make sure your question is central to the idea of your speech, and not something frivolous or extra. After all, the point of a question is to reinforce the central idea of your topic.

1. Lexie Alford

Speech Ending: Ask yourself: How uncomfortable are you willing to become in order to reach your fullest potential?

2. Apollo Robbins

Speech Ending: If you could control somebody’s attention, what would you do with it?

Quotes are concise, catchy phrases or sentences that are generally easy to remember and repeat.

Quotes are an age-old way to start–and conclude–a speech. And for good reason.

Quotes can reinforce your own ideas by providing a second voice to back them up. They can also provoke an audience’s mind & get them thinking. So, if you add your quote to the end of your speech, the audience will most likely be thinking about it for long after you have finished speaking.

How To Use Quotes In Your Speech Ending

While adding quotes to your speech ending, make sure that it’s relevant to your topic. Preferably, you want to pick a quote that summarizes your entire idea in a concise & memorable manner.

Make sure that your quote isn’t too long or complicated. Your audience should be able to repeat it as well as feel its impact themselves. They shouldn’t be puzzling over the semantics of your quote, but its intended meaning.

1. Edouard Jacqmin

Speech Ending: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

2. Chris Crowe

Speech Ending: “It’s more certain than death and taxes.”

3. Olivia Remes

Speech Ending: I’d like to leave you with a quote by Martin Luther King: “You don’ have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

4. Tomislav Perko

Speech Ending: Like that famous quote says, “In twenty years from now on, you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do.

5. Diana Nyad

Speech Ending: To paraphrase the poet, Mary Oliver, she says, “So, what is it? What is it you’re doing with this one wild and precious life of yours?”

5. Piece Of Advice

The point of giving a piece of advice at the end of your speech is not to pull your audience down or to make them feel bad/inferior about themselves. Rather, the advice is added to motivate your audience to take steps to do something–something related to the topic at hand.

The key point to remember is that your advice is included to help your audience, not to discourage them.

How To Add Piece Of Advice To Your Speech Ending

To truly make your audience follow the advice you’re sharing, you must make sure it resonates with them. To do so, you need to inject emotions into your advice, and to present it in such a manner that your audience’s emotions are aroused when they hear it.

Your advice shouldn’t be something extra-complicated or seemingly impossible to achieve. This will act as a counter-agent. Remember that you want your audience to follow your advice, not to chuck it away as something impossible.

Our article, 15 Powerful Speech Ending Lines And Tips To Create Your Own , is another great repository for some inspiration.

1. Ricardo Lieuw On

Speech Ending: “Learn something new, or a new way of approaching something old because there are a few skills are valuable as the art of learning.”

2. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Speech Ending: “If we want to improve the competence level of our leaders, then we should first improve our own competence for judging and selecting leaders.”

3. Sharique Samsudheen

Speech Ending: “Some people love money, some people hate money, some people crave money, some people even kill for money. But what they miss is they just need to learn how to manage money well, and that will give them financial freedom.”

4. Kate Simonds

Speech Ending: Teens, you need to believe in your voices and adults, you need to listen.

5. Melissa Butler

Speech Ending: When you go home today, see yourself in the mirror, see all of you, look at all your greatness that you embody, accept it, love it and finally, when you leave the house tomorrow, try to extend that same love and acceptance to someone who doesn’t look like you.

6. Iskra Lawrence

Speech Ending: Speak to your body in a loving way. It’s the only one you got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect. If you see anyone tearing themselves down, build them back up And watch your life positively grow when you give up the pursuit of perfection.

6. Contemplative Remark

As the name itself suggests, contemplative remarks are intended to make your audience contemplate or mull over something. The ‘something’ in question should be the idea central to your speech, or a key takeaway that you want them to return home with.

The idea is to get your audience thinking and to keep them thinking for a long, long time.

How To Add A Contemplative Remark To Your Speech Ending

To add a contemplative remark to your speech ending, you first need to figure out your key takeaway or main theme. Then, you want to arrange that as a question, and propose it to your audience at the end of your speech.

Remember that your question shouldn’t be something too wordy or complicated to understand. As with the quotes, you don’t want your audience stuck on the semantics. Rather, you want them to focus on the matter at hand.

1. Lisa Penney

Speech Ending: “So I invite you to pay more attention to your thoughts & consider the legacy you leave behind.”

2. Grant Sanderson

Speech Ending: “Some of the most useful math that you can find or teach has its origin in someone who was just looking for a good story.”

3. Greta Thunberg

Speech Ending: “We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up & change is coming whether you like it or not.”

4. Bill Eckstrom

Speech Ending: Now, think about this: it’s not the complexity-triggering individuals or events you should fear the most, but it’s your own willingness to accept or seek discomfort that will dictate the growth of not just you, but our entire world.

5. Robert Hoge

Speech Ending: Choose to accept your face, choose to appreciate your face, don’t look away from the mirror so quickly; understand all the love, and the life, and the pain that is the part of your face, that is the art of your face. Tomorrow when you wake up, what will your choice be?

7. Personal Anecdote

Personal anecdotes, as the name suggests, are anecdotes that are personal to the speaker or instances from their life. Personal anecdotes are a great way to incorporate the magical powers of storytelling in your speech, as well as to make a personal connection with the audience. Using personal anecdotes, you can hit two birds with one stone!

How To Add Personal Anecdotes To Your Speech Ending

To add personal anecdotes to your speech ending, you need to filter through your life experiences to find out ones that directly relate to your topic at hand. You don’t want to include an anecdote, no matter how compelling it is, if it doesn’t relate to your topic.

Remember to not keep your anecdote too long. Your audience will most likely lose their attention if you do so.

1. Sheila Humphries

Speech Ending: “Why do you go work for these people?” My answer to them was, “If I could help one child make it in this world, it’ll be worth it all.”

8. Call To Action

A call-to-action is one of the absolute best ways to conclude a speech with a bang. A well-written speech should aim to alter the audience’s mind or belief system in some way and to make them take an action in that direction. One crucial way to assure your audience does this is by using a call to action.

How To Add A Call To Action To Your Speech Ending

A call to action comes right before the ending of your speech to provide your audience with a clear idea or set of instructions about what they’re supposed to do after your talk ends.

A call to action should provide a roadmap to the audience for their future steps, and to outline clearly what those future steps are going to be.

1. Armin Hamrah

Speech Ending: “So tonight, after you finish your Math homework & before you lay your head down on that fluffy pillow, bring a piece of paper and pen by your bedside…”

2. Graham Shaw

Speech Ending: “So I invite you to get your drawings out there & spread the word that when we draw, we remember more!”

3. Andy Puddicombe

Speech Ending: You don’t have to burn any incense, and you definitely don’t have to sit on the floor. All you need to do is to take out 10 minutes out a day to step back, familiarize yourself with the present moment so that you get to experience a greater sense of focus, calm, and clarity in your life.

4. Amy Cuddy

Speech Ending: Before you go into the next stressful evaluative situation, for two minutes, try doing this in the elevator…

5. Jia Jiang

Speech Ending: When you are facing the next obstacle or the next failure, consider the possibilities. Don’t run! If you just embrace them, they might become your gifts as well.

9. Motivational Remark

As the name clearly explains, a motivational remark motivates your audience to carry out a plan of action. It ruffles the audience’s mind and emotions and has a powerful impact on the steps that your audience will take after you’ve finished speaking.

How To Add A Motivational Remark To Your Speech Ending

The key to a good motivational remark is to inspire your audience. Your motivational remark should act as a ray of hope to your audience and positively inspire them to take a desired course of action.

Your motivational remark should not be negative in any way. You don’t want to guilt or coerce your audience into doing something or feeling a certain way. You want to leave them on a positive note to move forward with their life.

1. Khanh Vy Tran

Speech Ending: “No matter what you’re going through right now & no matter what the future holds for you, please don’t change yourself. Love yourself, accept yourself & then transform yourself.”

2. Mithila Palkar

Speech Ending: “Get a job, leave a job, dance, sing, fall in love. Carve your own niche. But most importantly: learn to love your own randomness.”

3. Andrew Tarvin

Speech Ending: “Anyone can learn to be funnier. And it all starts with a choice. A choice to try to find ways to use humor. A choice to be like my grandmother, to look at the world around you and say WTF–wow, that’s fun.”

4. Laura Vanderkam

Speech Ending: There is time. Even if we are busy, we have time for what matters. And when we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we’ve got.

5. Julian Treasure

Speech Ending: Let’s get listening taught in schools, and transform the world in one generation into a conscious listening world, a world of connection, a world of understanding, and a world of peace.

6. Mariana Atencio

Speech Ending: Let’s celebrate those imperfections that make us special. I hope that it teaches you that nobody has a claim on the word ‘normal’. We are all different. We are all quirky and unique and that is what makes us wonderfully human.

10. Challenge

Much like a call to action, the aim of proposing a challenge at the end of your speech is to instigate your audience to take some desired course of action. A challenge should make an appeal to your audience’s emotion, and motivate them to meet it.

How To Add A Challenge To Your Speech Ending

To apply a challenge effectively to your speech ending, you need to make sure that it’s something relevant to your topic. Your challenge should drive the central topic of your speech forward, and make your audience engage in real-life steps to apply your idea in the real world.

While its always a good idea to set a high bar for your challenge, make sure its an achievable one too.

1. Jamak Golshani

Speech Ending: “I challenge you to open your heart to new possibilities, choose a career path that excites you & one that’s aligned to who you truly are.”

2. Ashley Clift-Jennings

Speech Ending: So, my challenge to you today is, “Do you know, would you even know how to recognize your soulmate?” If you are going out in the world right now, would you know what you are looking for?

11. Metaphor

Metaphors are commonly used as a short phrase that draws a comparison between two ideas in a non-literal sense. People use metaphors quite commonly in daily life to explain ideas that might be too difficult or confusing to understand otherwise. Metaphors are also great tools to be used in speech, as they can present your main idea in a simple and memorable way.

How To Add Metaphors To Your Speech Ending

To add a metaphor to your speech ending, you need to first decide on the main idea or takeaway of your speech. Your metaphor should then be organized in such a way that it simplifies your main idea and makes it easier for your audience to understand & remember it.

The key is to not make your metaphor overly complicated or difficult to retain and share. Remember that you’re trying to simplify your idea for the audience–not make them even more confused.

1. Ramona J. Smith

Speech Ending: “Stay in that ring. And even after you take a few hits, use what you learned from those previous fights, and at the end of the round, you’ll still remain standing.”

2. Shi Heng YI

Speech Ending: “If any of you chooses to climb that path to clarity, I will be very happy to meet you at the peak.”

3. Zifang “Sherrie” Su

Speech Ending: “Are you turning your back on your fear? Our life is like this stage, but what scares are now may bring you the most beautiful thing. Give it a chance.”

12. Storytelling

The idea behind using stories to end your speech is to leave your audience with a good memory to take away with them.

Stories are catchy, resonating & memorable ways to end any speech.

Human beings can easily relate to stories. This is because most people have grown up listening to stories of some kind or another, and thus a good story tends to evoke fond feelings in us.

How To Incorporate Stories In Your Speech Ending

A great way to incorporate stories in your speech ending is by setting up a story in the beginning and then concluding it during the end of your speech.

Another great way would be to tell a short & funny anecdote related to a personal experience or simply something related to the topic at hand.

However, remember that it’s the ending of your speech. Your audience is most likely at the end of their attention span. So, keep your story short & sweet.

1. Sameer Al Jaberi

Speech Ending: “I can still see that day when I came back from my honeymoon…”

2. Josephine Lee

Speech Ending: “At the end of dinner, Jenna turned to me and said…”

Facts are another excellent speech ending, and they are used quite often as openings as well. The point of adding a fact as your speech ending is to add shock value to your speech, and to get your audience thinking & discussing the fact even after your speech has ended.

How To Add Facts To Your Speech Ending

The key to adding facts to your speech ending is to pick a fact that thrusts forward your main idea in the most concise form possible. Your fact should also be something that adds shock value to the speech, and it should ideally be something that the audience hasn’t heard before.

Make sure that your fact is relevant to the topic at hand. No matter how interesting, a fact that doesn’t relate to your topic is going to be redundant.

1. David JP Phillips

Speech Ending: 3500 years ago, we started transfering knowledge from generation to generation through text. 28 years ago, PowerPoint was born. Which one do you think our brain is mostly adapted to?

14. Rhethoric Remark

Rhetoric remarks are another excellent way to get the wheels of your audience’s minds turning. Rhetoric remarks make your audience think of an imagined scenario, and to delve deeper into your topic. Rhetoric remarks or questioned don’t necessarily need to have a ‘right’ or one-shot answer, which means you can be as creative with them as possible!

How To Add Rhethoric Remarks To Your Speech Ending

Since rhetorical questions don’t need to have a definite answer, you have much freedom in determining the type of question or statement you wish to make. However, as with all other speech endings, a rhetorical question shouldn’t be asked just for the sake of it.

A rhetorical question should make your audience think about your topic in a new or more creative manner. It should get them thinking about the topic and maybe see it from an angle that they hadn’t before.

Rhetorical questions shouldn’t be too confusing. Use simple language & make sure it’s something that the audience can easily comprehend.

1. Mona Patel

Speech Ending: Pick your problem, ask “What if?” Come up with ideas. Bring them down. Then execute on them. Maybe you’re thinking, “What if we can’t?” I say to you, “What if we don’t?”

2. Lizzie Velasquez

Speech Ending: I want you to leave here and ask yourself what defines you. But remember: Brave starts here.

Another great way to end your speech with a literal bang is by using music! After all, if there’s something that can impact the human mind with just as much force as a few well-placed words, it’s the correct music.

How To Add Music To Your Speech Ending

To add music to your speech ending, you must make sure that the music has something to do with your speech theme. Remember that you’re not playing music in your concert. The piece of music that you choose must be relevant to your topic & work to have a contribution in your overall speech.

1. Tom Thum

Speech Ending: *ends the TED Talk with beat boxing*

16. Reitirate The Title

The title of your speech is its most important component. That’s why you need to pay careful attention to how you pick it, as it is something that your viewers will most likely remember the longest about your speech.

Your title will also act as a guiding hand towards how your audience forms an initial idea about your speech and is what they will associate your entire speech with.

By repeating your title at the end of your speech, you increase the chances that your audience will remember it–and your speech–for a long time.

How To Retierate The Title In Your Speech Ending

Your title is something that your audience associates your entire speech with. However, you don’t want to simply add the title in your speech end for the sake of adding it. Instead, make it flow naturally into your speech ending. This will make it seem less forced, and will also increase the chances of your audience remembering your entire speech ending and not just the title of your speech.

1. Ruairi Robertson

Speech Ending: I feel we can all contribute to this fight worth fighting for our own health, but more importantly, our future generations’ health by restoring the relationship between microbe and man. There is SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Need more inspiration for speech closing lines? Check out our article on 10 Of The Best Things To Say In Closing Remarks.

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To sum up, speech endings are just as imperative to the success of your speech as speech openings, and you must spend just as much time picking the perfect ending as you do to determine your best possible speech opening. The words you speak at the beginning and end of your speech are words that your audience will pay the most attention to, and remember longer than any other part of your speech.

Still looking for inspiration? Check out this video we made on closing remarks:

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30 Examples: How to Conclude a Presentation (Effective Closing Techniques)

By Status.net Editorial Team on March 4, 2024 — 9 minutes to read

Ending a presentation on a high note is a skill that can set you apart from the rest. It’s the final chance to leave an impact on your audience, ensuring they walk away with the key messages embedded in their minds. This moment is about driving your points home and making sure they resonate. Crafting a memorable closing isn’t just about summarizing key points, though that’s part of it, but also about providing value that sticks with your listeners long after they’ve left the room.

Crafting Your Core Message

To leave a lasting impression, your presentation’s conclusion should clearly reflect your core message. This is your chance to reinforce the takeaways and leave the audience thinking about your presentation long after it ends.

Identifying Key Points

Start by recognizing what you want your audience to remember. Think about the main ideas that shaped your talk. Make a list like this:

• The problem your presentation addresses.
• The evidence that supports your argument.
• The solution you propose or the action you want the audience to take.

These key points become the pillars of your core message.

Contextualizing the Presentation

Provide context by briefly relating back to the content of the whole presentation. For example:

• Reference a statistic you shared in the opening, and how it ties into the conclusion.
• Mention a case study that underlines the importance of your message.

Connecting these elements gives your message cohesion and makes your conclusion resonate with the framework of your presentation.

30 Example Phrases: How to Conclude a Presentation

• 1. “In summary, let’s revisit the key takeaways from today’s presentation.”
• 2. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s move forward together.”
• 3. “That brings us to the end. I’m open to any questions you may have.”
• 4. “I’ll leave you with this final thought to ponder as we conclude.”
• 5. “Let’s recap the main points before we wrap up.”
• 6. “I appreciate your engagement. Now, let’s turn these ideas into action.”
• 7. “We’ve covered a lot today. To conclude, remember these crucial points.”
• 8. “As we reach the end, I’d like to emphasize our call to action.”
• 9. “Before we close, let’s quickly review what we’ve learned.”
• 10. “Thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to our next steps.”
• 11. “In closing, I’d like to thank everyone for their participation.”
• 12. “Let’s conclude with a reminder of the impact we can make together.”
• 13. “To wrap up our session, here’s a brief summary of our discussion.”
• 14. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to present to you. Any final thoughts?”
• 15. “And that’s a wrap. I welcome any final questions or comments.”
• 16. “As we conclude, let’s remember the objectives we’ve set today.”
• 17. “Thank you for your time. Let’s apply these insights to achieve success.”
• 18. “In conclusion, your feedback is valuable, and I’m here to listen.”
• 19. “Before we part, let’s take a moment to reflect on our key messages.”
• 20. “I’ll end with an invitation for all of us to take the next step.”
• 21. “As we close, let’s commit to the goals we’ve outlined today.”
• 22. “Thank you for your attention. Let’s keep the conversation going.”
• 23. “In conclusion, let’s make a difference, starting now.”
• 24. “I’ll leave you with these final words to consider as we end our time together.”
• 25. “Before we conclude, remember that change starts with our actions today.”
• 26. “Thank you for the lively discussion. Let’s continue to build on these ideas.”
• 27. “As we wrap up, I encourage you to reach out with any further questions.”
• 28. “In closing, I’d like to express my gratitude for your valuable input.”
• 29. “Let’s conclude on a high note and take these learnings forward.”
• 30. “Thank you for your time today. Let’s end with a commitment to progress.”

Summarizing the Main Points

When you reach the end of your presentation, summarizing the main points helps your audience retain the important information you’ve shared. Crafting a memorable summary enables your listeners to walk away with a clear understanding of your message.

Effective Methods of Summarization

To effectively summarize your presentation, you need to distill complex information into concise, digestible pieces. Start by revisiting the overarching theme of your talk and then narrow down to the core messages. Use plain language and imagery to make the enduring ideas stick. Here are some examples of how to do this:

• Use analogies that relate to common experiences to recap complex concepts.
• Incorporate visuals or gestures that reinforce your main arguments.

The Rule of Three

The Rule of Three is a classic writing and communication principle. It means presenting ideas in a trio, which is a pattern that’s easy for people to understand and remember. For instance, you might say, “Our plan will save time, cut costs, and improve quality.” This structure has a pleasing rhythm and makes the content more memorable. Some examples include:

• “This software is fast, user-friendly, and secure.”
• Pointing out a product’s “durability, affordability, and eco-friendliness.”

Reiterating the Main Points

Finally, you want to circle back to the key takeaways of your presentation. Rephrase your main points without introducing new information. This reinforcement supports your audience’s memory and understanding of the material. You might summarize key takeaways like this:

• Mention the problem you addressed, the solution you propose, and the benefits of this solution.
• Highlighting the outcomes of adopting your strategy: higher efficiency, greater satisfaction, and increased revenue.

Creating a Strong Conclusion

The final moments of your presentation are your chance to leave your audience with a powerful lasting impression. A strong conclusion is more than just summarizing—it’s your opportunity to invoke thought, inspire action, and make your message memorable.

Incorporating a Call to Action

A call to action is your parting request to your audience. You want to inspire them to take a specific action or think differently as a result of what they’ve heard. To do this effectively:

• Be clear about what you’re asking.
• Explain why their action is needed.
• Make it as simple as possible for them to take the next steps.

Example Phrases:

• “Start making a difference today by…”
• “Join us in this effort by…”
• “Take the leap and commit to…”

Leaving a Lasting Impression

End your presentation with something memorable. This can be a powerful quote, an inspirational statement, or a compelling story that underscores your main points. The goal here is to resonate with your audience on an emotional level so that your message sticks with them long after they leave.

• “In the words of [Influential Person], ‘…'”
• “Imagine a world where…”
• “This is more than just [Topic]; it’s about…”

Enhancing Audience Engagement

To hold your audience’s attention and ensure they leave with a lasting impression of your presentation, fostering interaction is key.

Q&A Sessions

It’s important to integrate a Q&A session because it allows for direct communication between you and your audience. This interactive segment helps clarify any uncertainties and encourages active participation. Plan for this by designating a time slot towards the end of your presentation and invite questions that promote discussion.

• “I’d love to hear your thoughts; what questions do you have?”
• “Let’s dive into any questions you might have. Who would like to start?”
• “Feel free to ask any questions, whether they’re clarifications or deeper inquiries about the topic.”

Encouraging Audience Participation

Getting your audience involved can transform a good presentation into a great one. Use open-ended questions that provoke thought and allow audience members to reflect on how your content relates to them. Additionally, inviting volunteers to participate in a demonstration or share their experiences keeps everyone engaged and adds a personal touch to your talk.

• “Could someone give me an example of how you’ve encountered this in your work?”
• “I’d appreciate a volunteer to help demonstrate this concept. Who’s interested?”
• “How do you see this information impacting your daily tasks? Let’s discuss!”

Delivering a Persuasive Ending

At the end of your presentation, you have the power to leave a lasting impact on your audience. A persuasive ending can drive home your key message and encourage action.

Sales and Persuasion Tactics

When you’re concluding a presentation with the goal of selling a product or idea, employ carefully chosen sales and persuasion tactics. One method is to summarize the key benefits of your offering, reminding your audience why it’s important to act. For example, if you’ve just presented a new software tool, recap how it will save time and increase productivity. Another tactic is the ‘call to action’, which should be clear and direct, such as “Start your free trial today to experience the benefits first-hand!” Furthermore, using a touch of urgency, like “Offer expires soon!”, can nudge your audience to act promptly.

Final Impressions and Professionalism

Your closing statement is a chance to solidify your professional image and leave a positive impression. It’s important to display confidence and poise. Consider thanking your audience for their time and offering to answer any questions. Make sure to end on a high note by summarizing your message in a concise and memorable way. If your topic was on renewable energy, you might conclude by saying, “Let’s take a leap towards a greener future by adopting these solutions today.” This reinforces your main points and encourages your listeners to think or act differently when they leave.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some creative strategies for ending a presentation memorably.

To end your presentation in a memorable way, consider incorporating a call to action that engages your audience to take the next step. Another strategy is to finish with a thought-provoking question or a surprising fact that resonates with your listeners.

Can you suggest some powerful quotes suitable for concluding a presentation?

Yes, using a quote can be very effective. For example, Maya Angelou’s “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” can reinforce the emotional impact of your presentation.

What is an effective way to write a conclusion that summarizes a presentation?

An effective conclusion should recap the main points succinctly, highlighting what you want your audience to remember. A good way to conclude is by restating your thesis and then briefly summarizing the supporting points you made.

As a student, how can I leave a strong impression with my presentation’s closing remarks?

To leave a strong impression, consider sharing a personal anecdote related to your topic that demonstrates passion and conviction. This helps humanize your content and makes the message more relatable to your audience.

How can I appropriately thank my audience at the close of my presentation?

A simple and sincere expression of gratitude is always appropriate. You might say, “Thank you for your attention and engagement today,” to convey appreciation while also acknowledging their participation.

What are some examples of a compelling closing sentence in a presentation?

A compelling closing sentence could be something like, “Together, let’s take the leap towards a greener future,” if you’re presenting on sustainability. This sentence is impactful, calls for united action, and leaves your audience with a clear message.

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Mastering presenter speech for award ceremonies, ace your presenter speech for award ceremonies.

Have you ever been to an award ceremony and felt that the presenter’s speech was a bit lackluster? If so, you know how important it is for the presenter to deliver a captivating speech that engages the audience and honors the awardee. An award presentation speech should be well-crafted, informative, and inspiring, leaving the audience with a sense of awe. In this blog post, we will cover all the key elements of an effective award presentation speech, including how to craft a captivating opener, provide background on the award and its significance, highlight the awardee’s accomplishments, and maintain brevity and engagement throughout. We’ll also share some tips on how to write an impressive presentation speech by knowing your audience, gathering relevant information about the awardee, and practicing your delivery. Finally, we’ll share examples of award presentation speeches gone right (and wrong) so that you can learn from others’ experiences.

Understanding the Purpose of an Award Presentation Speech

Honoring the recipient’s achievements is pivotal in an award presentation speech, capturing the audience’s attention from the onset. The speech should emphasize the honor and purpose of the award while expressing gratitude to the recipient, audience, and organizers. Additionally, it should inspire both the audience and the recipient, making it a momentous occasion. Incorporating these elements will make the award speech a memorable highlight of the ceremony.

The Role of a Presenter in an Award Ceremony

The presenter’s speech at an award ceremony plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for the event, demanding a high level of public speaking finesse. It serves as an introduction to the award recipient, encapsulating their name, achievements, and the purpose of the award. The speech also acts as a means of honoring the award recipient, encompassing elements of a speech giving an award to someone, an acceptance speech, and an award acceptance speech , all combined into one. Additionally, it presents an opportunity to underline the award’s purpose, the kinds of achievements it celebrates, and the individual’s significant contributions. The presentation speech template should be designed to captivate the audience, culminating in a high note, similar to giving an award to someone speech, introduction speech for award recipient, and award presentation speech, ending with a bang.

The Importance of a Well-Crafted Presentation Speech

Crafting an award presentation speech demands the emcee’s skill to sustain audience engagement within the time limit, ensuring a captivating speech until the end. The speech sets the stage for the award recipient’s heartfelt acceptance speech, requiring the emcee’s finesse in captivating the audience’s attention. Utilizing a presentation speech pdf, YouTube, or an anecdote can enhance the speech’s impact, expressing gratitude, honor, and the award’s purpose.

Key Elements of an Effective Award Presentation Speech

Crafting an effective award presentation speech involves seamlessly integrating key elements to engage the audience. The speech should include an award presentation, acceptance speech, and introduction of the award recipient in a concise yet impactful manner. It is essential to honor the recipient’s achievements and the purpose of the award while maintaining the audience’s attention. Incorporating gratitude and a thoughtful ending further enriches the overall presentation. Utilizing a well-crafted presentation speech template with NLP terms such as award speech, certificate, and trophies can enhance its effectiveness.

Crafting a Captivating Opener

Crafting the opening of an award presentation speech sets the stage for honoring the recipient’s achievements and the award’s purpose. The emcee’s introduction must capture the audience’s attention and engage them to honor the recipient. It should establish the purpose of the award and the achievements of the recipient. Crafting this opener is crucial for laying the groundwork for the award presentation and acceptance speech, ensuring lasting impact.

Providing Background on the Award and its Significance

Crafting an award presentation speech’s background involves expressing gratitude and outlining the purpose of the award, the recipient’s achievements, and the award’s scope. The emcee’s speech’s background should offer insight into the award’s purpose, the recipient’s achievements, and the award’s scope. It should also honor the recipient and express gratitude. This sets the stage for a memorable presentation that encapsulates the significance of the award and the accomplishments of the recipient.

Highlighting the Awardee’s Accomplishments

Focusing on the recipient’s achievements, name, award purpose, and scope is crucial in the award presentation speech. The emcee’s task is to honor the award recipient by delivering a speech that highlights the individual’s accomplishments. This involves addressing the audience and emphasizing the significance of the award, ensuring engagement and recognition. A well-crafted presentation speech effectively conveys the awardee’s achievements, sparking audience interest and involvement.

Maintaining Brevity and Engagement

In crafting an award presentation speech, it’s essential to maintain brevity while ensuring audience engagement. Focus on expressing gratitude, outlining the award’s purpose, and highlighting the recipient’s achievements. Emphasize the significance of the award and the individual’s contributions. Practicing the speech is crucial for a polished delivery, allowing you to connect with the audience effectively. This ensures that your award speech remains concise yet impactful, leaving a lasting impression.

Steps to Writing an Impressive Award Presentation Speech

Crafting an award speech involves understanding the audience, gathering pertinent details about the recipient, and rehearsing for effective delivery. Knowing the audience helps tailor the speech, while collecting information about the awardee ensures a personalized and meaningful presentation. Practice is key to refining the speech and exuding confidence during delivery. Incorporating these steps will result in a memorable and impactful award presentation speech. Emphasizing the significance of the award and the accomplishments of the recipient will resonate with the audience.

Knowing Your Audience

Understanding the interests and preferences of your audience is crucial for delivering an impactful award speech. Tailoring your content to resonate with the audience enhances engagement and connection. Consider their expectations, knowledge about the awardee, and the tone they would appreciate. Adapting the speech to appeal to the specific audience further elevates the impact of the presenter’s message. Acknowledging the audience’s presence through personalized references and relevant anecdotes fosters a deeper connection.

Gathering Relevant Information about the Awardee

Personalizing the award speech involves gathering pertinent information about the awardee’s achievements, contributions, and impact. Tailoring the speech to the recipient’s professional journey and accolades adds a special touch. Emphasizing the recipient’s unique accomplishments and extra mile efforts creates a memorable experience. Highlighting their first-time achievements and significant contributions to the field captures the audience’s attention. This personalized approach ensures that the award speech resonates with the recipient and the audience.

Practicing the Speech for Better Delivery

Practice makes perfect when delivering an award speech. Rehearsing ensures confidence and fluency, maintaining an engaging pace and incorporating pauses for emphasis. It’s crucial to adjust the speech to the time limit, keeping it impactful. Seeking feedback refines the delivery for a polished presentation, ensuring the speech resonates with the audience. Practicing the speech is the key to delivering an award-winning presentation.

Examples of Award Presentation Speeches

Crafting an introduction that honors the award recipient’s achievements is key to engaging the audience. Express gratitude and enthusiasm in delivering the award presentation speech, structuring the acceptance speech to honor the significance of the award. Engage the audience by sharing a personalized anecdote, and conclude with an uplifting ending to inspire both the recipient and the audience.

What Can Go Wrong in a Presentation Speech and How to Avoid It?

Common pitfalls to avoid in a presentation speech include overshadowing the recipient’s achievements, rushing through the speech, using generic content, employing excessive jargon, and neglecting to plan for technical issues. By being mindful of these challenges, you can deliver a polished and impactful presentation speech.

In conclusion, delivering an award-winning presenter speech requires understanding the purpose of the speech and the role of the presenter in an award ceremony. It is important to craft a well-written speech that includes a captivating opener, provides background on the award and its significance, highlights the awardee’s accomplishments, and maintains brevity and engagement. To write an impressive speech, it is essential to know your audience, gather relevant information about the awardee, and practice the speech for better delivery. By following these steps and avoiding common mistakes, you can deliver a memorable and impactful award presentation speech. Remember, your words have the power to inspire, celebrate achievements, and leave a lasting impression on the audience.

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How to Give an Award Acceptance Speech (With Examples)

• The Speaker Lab
• May 9, 2024

Table of Contents

If you’ve recently won an award — congratulations! There’s a good chance that a lot of hard work and blood, sweat, and tears went into the recognition you’re about to receive. Now, your biggest task is nailing the perfect award acceptance speed. After all, it’s important to show gratitude for the honor while also ensuring that your words will touch hearts and minds and hopefully inspire others to follow in your footsteps. But have no fear — we’re here to help.

From heartfelt gratitude to powerful storytelling, these examples showcase the key elements that make an acceptance speech unforgettable. No matter whether you’re leading a company, launching startups, writing books, teaching students, coaching teams, or giving advice as a consultant—there’s plenty for you to learn when it comes to crafting the perfect acceptance speech.

How to Give A Pitch-Perfect Award Acceptance Speech

Your award is a huge accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated. But before you start popping the champagne, there’s one more thing you need to do: prepare your acceptance speech.

While you could just say thanks and be done with it, doing so is a disservice to those who helped you get where you are. After all, an acceptance speech is so much more than just a simple thank you. It’s an opportunity to not just express your genuine gratitude, but also to acknowledge why the award is important and share the glory with those who helped you along the way.

Express Genuine Gratitude and Emotion

First and foremost, an acceptance speech is a chance to express your heartfelt appreciation for the honor you’ve received. This isn’t the time to be modest or downplay your achievements. Let your emotions shine through and show how much the award means to you.

Take a cue from Sandra Bullock’s acceptance speech at the 2010 Oscars. She was visibly moved as she thanked her mother, Helga B., along with all “the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from.”

Acknowledge Why It Is Important

Beyond expressing gratitude, your acceptance speech should also acknowledge why the award is significant. What does it represent? Explain how the award is a reflection of your personal principles or highlights where you would like make changes professionally.

For example, when Malala Yousafzai accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, she used her acceptance speech to highlight the importance of education and the ongoing fight for women’s rights. “This award is not just for me,” she said. “It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change.”

Share the Glory

Finally, a great acceptance speech shares the spotlight with those who helped make your success possible. This could be your family, your team, your mentors, or even your fans.

When Taylor Swift won Album of the Year at the 2016 Grammys, she made sure to thank her collaborators and supporters. “I want to thank the fans for the last ten years and the recording academy for giving us this unbelievable honor,” she said. “I want to thank all of my collaborators that you see on this stage.”

So as you’re crafting your own award acceptance speech, remember to express genuine gratitude, acknowledge the significance of the honor, and share the glory with those who helped you along the way. With these elements in place, you’ll deliver a speech that not only thanks the right people but inspires and uplifts your audience as well.

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Writing Your Acceptance Speech

You’ve just been honored with a prestigious award and now it’s time to give your acceptance speech. It’s crunch time to create a moment that sticks and sparks motivation in everyone. But where do you even begin?

Crafting an excellent award acceptance speech takes some planning and preparation. You want to strike the right tone, share a meaningful message, and of course, express your heartfelt gratitude. Let’s walk through crafting an acceptance speech that’ll definitely make a mark.

Brainstorm Ideas

Before you start jotting down your speech, take some time to reflect on what this award means to you. Why is it significant? What does it represent in terms of your journey, your values, or your aspirations? Brainstorm some key themes or stories you might want to touch on.

In addition, ask yourself: “What challenges did you overcome? Who helped you along the way? What lessons did you learn? What impact do you hope to make with this recognition?” Your answers to these questions will form the bulk of your acceptance speech.

Write Your Speech

With your brainstorming done, it’s time to start putting pen to paper. Begin with a strong opening line that will grab your audience’s attention. You might share a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or even a touch of humor.

As you write the body of your speech, keep in mind the time constraint you’re working with. Most acceptance speeches are fairly short, so you’ll need to be selective about what you include. Focus on a few key points or anecdotes that support your central theme.

Be Specific in Your Speech

When it comes to expressing your gratitude, it’s important to be specific. Don’t just rattle off a generic list of thank-yous. Take the time to acknowledge the individuals or organizations that have played a significant role in your success.

For example, in her Golden Globes acceptance speech , Oprah Winfrey specifically thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as well as several other key individuals by name.

The Power of Storytelling in Your Acceptance Speech

One of the most effective ways to make your acceptance speech memorable is by incorporating storytelling. Share a personal anecdote or experience that relates to your journey or the significance of the award.

Again, consider Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globes acceptance speech. In it, she opens with a story from her childhood, when she sat on the floor watching Sidney Poitier become the first African American to ever win a Golden Globe. As she states in her speech, “I have tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl…and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award.” With the power of storytelling, Winfrey highlights the men and women who have sought truth and justice no matter the personal cost.

As you craft your award acceptance speech, remember to brainstorm ideas, be specific in your gratitude, and harness the power of storytelling. Remember, just like the acceptance speech examples we’ve looked at, your words have the power to touch hearts and spark change in those listening.

Preparing to Deliver Your Speech

You’ve written a fantastic award acceptance speech, filled with heartfelt gratitude and inspiring stories. Now, it’s showtime. However, public speaking can be nerve-wracking, even for the most seasoned professionals. That’s why the key to a successful speech delivery is preparation. You want to be confident, polished, and engaging when you step up to the podium. Here are some tips to help you get ready for your big moment.

Rehearsing Your Speech

One of the best ways to calm your nerves and boost your confidence is by practicing your speech beforehand. Read it out loud several times, paying attention to your pacing, tone, body language , and emphasis. Consider practicing in front of a mirror or recording yourself so you can see and hear how you come across. In addition, grabbing a buddy or work pal to listen in can provide you feedback for improvement. Remember, the more familiar you are with your speech, the more natural and effortless it will feel when you deliver it for real.

Making Your Speech Memorable

When it comes to making your speech memorable, it’s all about connecting with your audience. Use eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures to engage them and convey your emotions.

You might also consider incorporating a memorable phrase or tagline that encapsulates your message. For example, in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. repeated the phrase “I have a dream” eight times, driving home his vision for a more just and equal society.

Respecting the Audience and the Clock

When delivering your acceptance speech, it’s important to be mindful of your audience and the time allotted. Express your gratitude sincerely, but avoid gushing or going overboard with your thank-yous. Similarly, respect the time limit you’ve been given. A short award acceptance speech is often more impactful than a long, rambling one. Aim to deliver your message concisely and powerfully, leaving your audience wanting more.

As you prepare to deliver your award acceptance speech, remember to rehearse thoroughly, focus on making it memorable, and respect your audience and the clock. With this game plan ready, stepping up to speak will feel a lot less daunting.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls in an Acceptance Speech

As you’ve seen from the examples above, a great award acceptance speech has the power to move and inspire an audience. But what goes into crafting and delivering a truly impactful speech? Here are a few final tips to keep in mind as you prepare for your big moment.

General Guidelines

While it’s important to express your gratitude and share your story, there are a few common pitfalls to avoid in your acceptance speech:

• Don’t ramble or go off-topic. Stay focused on your central message.
• Avoid clichés or generic platitudes. Be specific and authentic in your language.
• Don’t forget to thank the important people, but keep your list of thank-yous concise.
• Avoid inside jokes or references that may not resonate with your entire audience.

By steering clear of these pitfalls, you’ll ensure that your speech is clear, meaningful, and memorable.

Avoid Going Overboard with Emotions in Your Speech

When that award is finally in your hands, feeling a rush of emotions isn’t just common; it’s expected. This is particularly true if the honor marks a major highlight in either your work or personal journey. However, it’s important to strike a balance between showing genuine emotion and maintaining your composure.

While a few tears or a quavering voice can be powerful, going overboard with your emotions may distract from your message or make your audience uncomfortable. Aim to express your feelings in a way that is authentic but still allows you to deliver your speech effectively.

Remember, your award acceptance speech is an opportunity to share your gratitude, your story, and your vision with the world. By avoiding common pitfalls and finding the right emotional balance, you’ll be able to deliver a speech that truly resonates with your audience and leaves a lasting impact.

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Examples of Inspiring Award Acceptance Speeches

Need some inspiration as you craft your own award acceptance speech? Look no further than these powerful examples from some of the world’s most influential figures.

Literature Award Acceptance Speech Example

In his 1962 Nobel Prize acceptance speech , writer John Steinbeck used the opportunity to discuss the purpose of literature. He says, “[A writer] is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement.”

Best Actress Award Acceptance Speech Example

When Emma Stone won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2024 ,  she used her speech to pay tribute to her fellow actors and the power of cinema. “It’s not about me,” she said. “It’s about a team that came together to make something better than the sum of its parts. And that’s the best part about making movies.”

Distinguished Service Award Acceptance Speech Example

In her acceptance speech for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award , Angelina Jolie spoke about the importance of giving back and making a difference in the world. “I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had,” she said, “to have this path in life and why across the world, there’s a woman just like me, the same abilities, the same desires, same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and better speeches—only she sits in a refugee camp.”

These are just a few examples of the many inspiring award acceptance speeches out there. When the spotlight hits you for advancing science, creating art masterpieces, or bettering lives, that moment is more than just applause—it’s a platform. Use it wisely; light a fire under others to follow suit and make waves of their own.

FAQs on Award Acceptance Speeches

What do you say in an acceptance speech.

Start by thanking the giver, mention key people who helped along the way, and highlight what this award means to you.

What is an example short award acceptance speech?

“Thank you to everyone who played a part in this award. This honor isn’t just mine; it belongs to all who stood by me. Let’s keep pushing forward.”

How do you format an acceptance speech?

Kick off with thanks, weave in personal stories or a nod to your team, then wrap up on a hopeful note.

What do you say when accepting an award at work?

Acknowledge the recognition with gratitude, shout out those who supported you, and express excitement for future challenges and opportunities.

Crafting an impactful acceptance speech is an art that requires genuine emotion, storytelling, and a touch of inspiration. Through these examples of amazing award acceptance speeches, we’ve shared some great tips on how to say thanks, share your story, and make an impact on your audience.

Remember, your big moment with that microphone isn’t just for saying thanks for the trophy. It’s also about shouting out those that helped you get there and inspiring anyone listening to follow their own path towards success. So, when it’s your turn to shine, make sure you give a speech that’ll stick in people’s minds for years.

• Last Updated: May 8, 2024

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

Award Presentation Speech

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Presentation Speech Topics For Award Ceremonies

Presentation speech template including eleven speech topics for presenting an award, prize or gift to a happy recipient leading to a brief photo opportunity in the end. Bear in mind that you have to be short and sweet epitomizing. Each of the public speaking speech topics take two or three sentences maximally. The layout in this tutorial helps an enchanted public speaker to set up a good and aesthetically ceremonial award presentation.

• The first remark you have to make is a commenting to the occasion. Refer why you are here together, refresh their memories a bit by stipulating why this is such a special day. Enforce the power of the delightful purpose of this meeting, and the happy recipient.
• Explain in your presentation speech what the award represents. Be brief, since the audience has read the invitation and publicity material. Describe these underlying elemental public speaking power factors:

• Describe the organization you are representing. Tell why you are privileged to present. Make your speech personal, offer personal thoughts, experiences and feelings.
• Praise the recipient. Present outstanding contributions, achievements or records that are relevant. Adapt them to the goals and meaning of the ceremonial special occasion .

Explain why the contributions are outstanding or unique. What offers did it take the winner? Refer to special qualifications and to similarities with other recipients.

Again: keep it short – 3 minutes for your award speech will do most of the time. Although it even can be somewhat shorter.

• Mention the reasons for choosing her or him as recipient. Link the contributions to the meaning of the honor.
• Make a concluding characterization by telling a compelling story or anecdote in the presentation speech text.
• Ask if the receiver will come forward and declare her or him the winner.
• Link the previous speech topics to what the prize gift stands for. Tip: read the inscription out loud and show the golden medal, the engraved plaque, the recognition trophy cup, or the certificate words.
• At the end of your address congratulate her or him.
• Hand over the award, prize, diploma, certificate or gift card.
• Shake hands with the person or group being honored. Schedule a brief photo opportunity and smile to the camera! After the ceremony you could allow a small interview to invited journalists.

Finally, of course give the winner the opportunity to speak after your award presentation speech address. And start clapping your hands to express your honest approval after she or he has completed the thank you phrases.

Keep smiling all the time.

Epideictic Speech [Topics and Examples]

Birthday Speech [From Celebrant or For a Guest]

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9 Closing a Speech: End with Power and Let Them Know It is Time to Clap

Open Your Speech With a Bang Close It With a Slam-Dunk Westside Toastmasters

“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending,” according to poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The first few words of your speech make the audience want to listen and the last few sentences help them decide what they feel about you and your topic. In this chapter, I will explain the function of a conclusion, the format of a conclusion, and I will give you numerous examples of ways to end your speech. Most of this chapter is dedicated to showing you good examples of different types of speech closings. Let’s get started by talking about the purpose of the closing.

A Strong Closing Does Many Things

• Summarizes the points. By restating your points your audience is more likely to remember them.
• Tells the audience when to clap. Let’s face it, it is so awkward when you are done with your speech, and no one claps. Being clear the end is near, relieves the audience of the pressure of wondering if they are clapping at the right time.
• Provides resolution. Your speech should give the audience a sense of resolve or a sense of being challenged.

The Formula for Closing Most Speeches

• Transition statement to ending.
• Review the main points–repeat the thesis.
• If it is a persuasive speech, tell the audience what you want them to do or think.
• Provide a closing statement.

Restate the Thesis

Tell them what you are going to say, say it, tell them what you have said. This speech pattern is useful in most types of speeches because it helps the speaker to remember your key points. As you build your closing, make sure you restate the thesis. A good rule of thumb is to write it in such a way that if the audience were asked to restate the main points, their answer would match closely with your thesis.

EXAMPLE Watch as Stella Young gives her thesis and then restates her thesis at the end of the speech as she wraps up. The thesis of the talk in the introduction: We’ve been sold the lie that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T. It’s a bad thing, and to live with a disability makes you exceptional. It’s not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make you exceptional. Restates the thesis of the talk at the closing: Disability doesn’t make you exceptional but questioning what you think you know about it does.

Stella Young, I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk

This next example is from a student’s speech. It is easy to pull out one sentence that clearly summarizes the main points of her speech. Following her summary, she winds the speech down into a thoughtful conclusion and ends with three powerful words.

Now is the time to separate the war on drugs from the war on addiction. T oday you’ve heard the problems, impacts, and solutions of criminalizing addictions. Bruce Callis is 50 years old now. And he is still struggling with his addiction. while you all are sitting out there listening to this, I’m living with it. Bruce Callis is my father and for my entire life, I have watched our misguided system destroy him. The irony here is that we live in a society where we are told to recycle. We recycle paper, aluminum, and electronics. But why don’t we ever consider recycling them most precision think on Earth– the human life. Student Tunnette Powell, Winner of the 2012 Interstate Oratorical Association Contest.

Closing Phrases

After you restate your thesis, you should carefully deliver your closing phrases.  Your closing should provide a resolution to your speech and/or it should challenge the audience. Frantically Speaking writer Hrideep Barot suggests  “a conclusion is like tying a bow or ribbon to a box of your key ideas that your audience will be taking along with them.”

A speech closing is not just about the words you say, but it is also the way you say it. Change the pace near the end of your speech. Let your tone alone should signal the end is near. It is about deliberate voice control, don’t let your voice weakly away.

In the next section, I will cover these ways to end your speech:

End with powerful words End with a quote End with a graphic End with parallel construction End on a positive note End with a challenge End with a question End with inspiration End with well-wishing End with humor End with a call to action End with a feeling of resolve End with a prop

The best way to teach you about advanced closings is to show not tell. For this section, I will briefly explain each type of closing and then provide a video. Each video is queued so you can play the video and watch the closing statement.  I included a transcript under each video if you want to follow along.  It will be most beneficial for you to watch the clip and not just read the text. By watching, you will have a chance to hear the subtle changes in the speaker’s voice as they deliver their closing statements.

End with Powerful Words

As you design your closing, look at the last three to five words and examine them to see if they are strong words. Oftentimes, you can rearrange a sentence to end with a powerful word. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Watch this clip for how BJ Miller ends with a powerful thought and a powerful word. 

Parts of me died early on, and that’s something we can all say one way or another. I got to redesign my life around this fact, and I tell you it has been a liberation to realize you can always find a shock of beauty or meaning in what life you have left, like that snowball lasting for a perfect moment, all the while melting away. If we love such moments ferociously, then maybe we can learn to live well — not in spite of death, but because of it. Let death be what takes us, not lack of imagination. BJ Miller, What Really Matters at the End of Life

End by Circling Back to the Opening

Another type of ending is to circle back to what you said in the beginning. You can revisit a quote, share the end to an illustration that was begun in the beginning, or you can put away a prop you got out in the beginning.

Watch this clip for how Zubing Zhang begins and ends with the same quote to circle back around to the main idea. 

She starts by telling a story of bungee jumping off the world’s highest platform and how she saw a sign with a quote that says, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” After telling her own story about pushing her emotional limits, she circles back around at the end by saying, “As the words said high on the bungee platform, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”

Yubing Zhang, Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone. 

End With Quote

If you end your speech with a quote, attend to the following.

• Always say the author of the quote before the quote for example, “I want to leave you with a leadership quote ‘What you do has far greater impact than what you say,’ Steven Covey.” The problem with this ending is that “Stephen Covey” are the last two words of the speech and that is boring. Consider instead this ending. “I think Robin Sharma said it best ‘Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.'” In this arrangement, the last three words are powerful–influence and inspiration.
• Provided context for the quote before or after. Make sure the quote is meaningful and not just an easy way to end.

Watch this clip for how Sir Ken Robinson ends with a quote. Notice how he says the author and then the quote.

Also, notice how he then ties his speech to the quote with a final few sentences and ends with the powerful word–“revolution” and how he uses a strong vocal emphasis as he says his last word. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

There’s a wonderful quote from Benjamin Franklin. “There are three sorts of people in the world: Those who are immovable, people who don’t get it, or don’t want to do anything about it; there are people who are movable, people who see the need for change and are prepared to listen to it; and there are people who move, people who make things happen.” And if we can encourage more people, that will be a movement. And if the movement is strong enough, that’s, in the best sense of the word, a revolution. And that’s what we need.

Sir Ken Robinson, How to Escape Education’s Death Valley. 

End with a Graphic

You might want to use a visual to make your final point. Bringing in a picture, graphic, or object, reengages the audience to pay attention to your final ideas.

Watch this clip for how Barry Schartz uses the magic words “so to conclude” and then he creatively uses a picture of a fishbowl to narrow in on his point. Notice how his final word is spoken with urgency as he says “disaster.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

 So, to conclude. (He shows a picture of fish in a fishbowl) He says, “You can be anything you want to be — no limits.” You’re supposed to read this cartoon and, being a sophisticated person, say, “Ah! What does this fish know? Nothing is possible in this fishbowl.” Impoverished imagination, a myopic view of the world –that’s the way I read it at first. The more I thought about it, however, the more I came to the view that this fish knows something. Because the truth of the matter is, if you shatter the fishbowl so that everything is possible, you don’t have freedom. You have paralysis. If you shatter this fishbowl so that everything is possible, you decrease satisfaction. You increase paralysis, and you decrease satisfaction. Everybody needs a fishbowl. This one is almost certainly too limited –perhaps even for the fish, certainly for us. But the absence of some metaphorical fishbowl is a recipe for misery and, I suspect, disaster. Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice

End with Parallel Construction

Parallel construction is a series of repeated phrases. It can be a powerful tool to use in a persuasive speech as it creates a feeling of importance.

Watch this clip for how Malala Yousafzai ends with a series of parallel statements to build momentum. Notice how her pace perfectly matches her words and you feel her strength when she ends with “education first.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice, and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future. So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism, and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education First.

Malala Yousafzai,  United Nations Youth Assembly

End on a Positive Note

Audiences are constantly evaluating a speaker to determine their attitude and motivation. As you consider your speech closing, ask yourself what type of impression do you want to leave?  Do you want to leave them with depression or hope? Sadness or promise? Most of the time, audiences will receive messages that end positively better than speeches that end negatively.

In this speech sample, Hans Rosling showed the audience some hard statistics and he even pointed fingers at the audience as part of the problem. To help them hear his main point, he wisely ends on a positive note.

Watch this clip for how Hans Rosling ends this thought-provoking talk on a positive note. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Now, when thinking about where all this leaves us, I have just one little humble advice for you, besides everything else, look at the data. Look at the facts about the world and you will see where we are today and how we can move forwards with all these billions on our wonderful planet. The challenge of extreme poverty has been greatly reduced and it’s for the first time in history within our power to end it for good. The challenge of population growth is, in fact, already being solved, the number of children has stopped growing.  And for the challenge for climate change, we can still avoid the worst, but that requires the richest, as soon as possible, find a way to use their set their use of resources and energy at a level that, step by step, can be shared by 10 billion or 11 billion by the end of this century. I’ve never called myself an optimist, but I do say I’m a possibilist and I also say the world is much better than many of you think.

Hans Rosling, Facts about the Population.

End with a Challenge

Leave the audience with a doable personal challenge. Help them mentally make sense of all the information that you shared by helping them know how to file it away and how to use it.

Watch this clip for how Melissa Butler ends with a challenge. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

So, I challenge each of you, when you go home today, look at yourself in the mirror, see all of you, look at all of your greatness that you embody, accept it, and love it. And finally, when you leave the house tomorrow, try to extend that same love and acceptance to someone who doesn’t look like you . Melissa Butler, Why You Think You’re Ugly. 

Watch this clip as Darren LaCroix literally falls face down to anchor the point that when we fall, we “fall forward.” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Darren LaCroix talks about taking risks and falling down and getting back up, he literally and purposefully falls down during his speech and ends this way: What’s your next step… take it. I didn’t want to look back at my life and say you know I never did try that comedy thing, but I died debt-free. All of us are headed toward that goal we are going to teach a point where we get stuck and our feet are like in cement and we can’t move but we’re so afraid of that ouch but we forget that if we lean forward and take a risk–(He falls face down) and we fall on our face. When we get up, notice, you still made progress. So please, with me, go ahead and fall. But fall forward. Darren LaCroiz, Winning Speech delivered at National Speech Association

End with a Question

Asking a question at the end is one way to reengage the audience. It helps them think about what your topic might mean for them.

Watch this clip for how David Eagleman reminds us about why his topic is important and then ends with a question. Notice how he pauses before his final question and how he changes the pace of his speech for the final sentence. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

So I think there’s really no end to the possibilities on the horizon for human expansion. Just imagine an astronaut being able to feel the overall health of the International Space Station, or, for that matter, having you feel the invisible states of your own health, like your blood sugar and the state of your microbiome, or having 360-degree vision or seeing in infrared or ultraviolet. So the key is this: As we move into the future, we’re going to increasingly be able to choose our own peripheral devices. We no longer have to wait for Mother Nature’s sensory gifts on her timescales, but instead, like any good parent, she’s given us the tools that we need to go out and define our own trajectory. So the question now is, how do you want to go out and experience your universe?

David Eagleman, Can We Create New Senses for Humans? 

Watch this clip for how Lera Boroditsky ends with a personal note and a  powerful final question. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

I want to leave you with this final thought. I’ve told you about how speakers of different languages think differently, but of course, that’s not about how people elsewhere think. It’s about how you think. It’s how the language that you speak shapes the way that you think. And that gives you the opportunity to ask, “Why do I think the way that I do?” “How could I think differently?” And also,  “What thoughts do I wish to create?” Lera Boroditsky, How Language Shapes the Way We Think

End with Inspiration

“Inspiring your audience is all about helping them see their own vision, not yours.”

You may want to end your speech with inspiring and encouraging words. Pick words that resonate with most of your audience and deliver them in such a way that your audience feels your lift in emotion.

Watch this clip for how Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ends with an inspiring final note and a powerful last few words “regain a kind of paradise” (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.

I would like to end with this thought:   That when we reject the single-story,   when we realize that there is never a single story   about any place,   we regain a kind of paradise.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  The Danger of a Single Story  

Watch this clip for how Dan Pink ends with an inspiring final note. (I have the video cued to play just the closing) Let me wrap up. There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. Here is what science knows. One: Those 20th century rewards, those motivators we think are a natural part of business, do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two: Those if-then rewards often destroy creativity. Three: The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive– the drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter.

And here’s the best part. We already know this. The science confirms what we know in our hearts. So, if we repair this mismatch between what science  knows and what business does, if we bring our motivation, notions of motivation into the 21st century, if we get past this lazy, dangerous, ideology of carrots and sticks, we can strengthen our businesses, we can solve a lot of those candle problems, and maybe, maybe — we can change the world. I rest my case. Dan Pink, The Puzzle of Motivation

End with Well Wishing

There are several types of closings where the speaker wished the audience well.

The Benediction Close: M ay God bless and keep you…. The Presidential Close: God bless you and may God bless the USA The Congratulatory Close: I congratulate you on your accomplishment and wish you continued success. 

End with Humor

You can end on a fun lighthearted note. It is important to always run your humor by a variety of people to make sure you are funny, and your humor is appropriate.

Watch this clip for how Andrew Dunham uses humor throughout his speech and ends with a funny one-liner. (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

I wish you all the best as we begin this journey on our paths and I sincerely hope and pray that your time and success have proven to be as memorable and spiritually rewarding as mine. If not, there’s always summer school.

Andrew Dunham, Valedictorian Comes Out As Autistic During Speech

End with a Call to Action

If you are delivering a persuasive speech, let the audience know exactly what you want them to do.

End with a Feeling of Resolve

Paul Harvey made famous the line “And now you know…the rest of the story.” Your closing should allow us to know the rest of the story or to know how a situation was resolved.

Watch this clip for how Lucy Hone ends this tough but inspiring talk with a feeling of resolve (I have the video cued to play just the closing)

https://youtu.be/9-5SMpg7Q0k?t=913 If you ever find yourself in a situation where you think there’s no way I’m coming back from this, I urge you to lean into these strategies and think again. I won’t pretend that thinking this way is easy and it doesn’t remove all the pain. But if I’ve learned anything over the last five years, it is that thinking this way really does help. More than anything it has shown me that  it is possible  to live and grieve at the same time. And for that I will be always grateful. Lucy Hone, The Three Secrets of Resilient People

End with a Prop

Nancy Duarte says you should give your audience, SOMETHING THEY  will ALWAYS REMEMBER–S.T.A.R. One way to do that is with an action or statement that will have the audience talking about it for a long time. President Obama did it with a mic drop.

Memorize Your Conclusion

End on time.

Do not diminish the effect of a great speech with a bloated, aimless conclusion. Dan Rothwell.

“Times about up.”

Don’t end with any references to time. It is like a giant stop sign saying, “stop listening.”  Don’t highlight that you ran over time or that it is almost time for lunch. You want them to think about your speech, not the clock.

“Any Questions?”

You want them to feel a sense of closure for your speech.  End with something powerful and let them applaud.  After the applause, you can offer to answer questions. Similarly, projecting your last slide with the words, “Any Questions” is a weak ending.

“Let Me Add This Point I Missed”

If you forget something in the body of your speech, it is usually best to leave it out.  Most of the time you are the only one who will miss it.

“Thank You to the Team”

There is a time to thank the organizers and those who helped you but it is not at the end of your speech. Your focus should be on your audience and what they need and what they need to hear is your idea.  Send a thank you letter to the team if you want them to feel your appreciation.

“I’m Sorry”

“Sorry again for the technology issue,” “I apologize for going over time, ” “I regret I have no answer to this.” These are all negative phrases.  Keep to your topic that is what they need to hear and stay focused.

“I’ll Close with this Video”

No, you should close with talking about the big idea.

If you don’t have a plan at the end, you will ramble. “Steer clear of meandering endings they kill a story,” according to the Moth Storytelling website. “Your last line should be clear in your head before you start. Yes, bring the audience along with you as you contemplate what transpires in your story, but remember, you are driving the story, and must know the final destination. Keep your hands on the wheel!”

To Thank or Not to Thank, That is the Question

There is a debate amongst speech professionals, speech teachers, and speech coaches about whether or not you should thank the audience. Here are their main arguments.

Why You Should Not Say Thank You

• You want to end with powerful words. “Thank you” are not strong words.
• The recency effect suggests they will remember the last words you spoke. You want them to remember more than just “thank you.”
• It is not a very creative way to end.
• It can be a sign of a lazy speaker, “I have no idea how to end this, I’ve run out of good things to say so I’ll say ‘Thank you’ so you will clap now.”

Why You Should Say Thank You

• It has come to be the expected ending in many settings. Violating their expectations can cause them to have a negative reaction.
• It clearly signals you are finished so the audience knows when to clap. The relieves the pressure from both you and the audience.
• It expresses gratitude.

I will leave it up to you to decide what works for you. As for me, I plan on trying to find more creative ways to end other than just saying “thank you.”

Maximizing the Primacy Recency Effect

If I were to read you a list of thirty things on my grocery list and then asked you to list all that you can remember, chances are you would remember the first times on the list and the last items on the list ( and any ones you found interesting from the middle). When people engage in listening, they tend to remember the first and last things they hear, it is called the primacy-recency effect. T his is just one more reason that your introduction and conclusion should be so well planned out. It is those first words and last words that the audience is going to remember. 

The primacy recency effect influences, not only what people pay attention to in a speech, but also which speech we pay the most attention to in a series of speeches. For example, if there is a lineup of six speakers, the first and last speakers tend to get the most attention.

As a speaker, you can use this information to your advantage by volunteering to go first or last. If you are giving a long presentation, you can break it up by allowing the audience to move around or talk to a neighbor. When you come back from break, you have re-engaged that primacy effect and moved them back to a high state of attention.

Do You Have Everything You Need for a Strong Closing?

• Have I signaled my speech is coming to an end with my words or my voice?
• Have I restated my main points?
• If I am persuading my audience, do they know what I want them to do or think?
• Have I written the last three to five words in such a way that I end with powerful words?
• Have I memorized my closing?

Getting Off the Platform is Part of Your Closing

Plan on making a strong exit. Whether you are stepping off a stage or simply going to your seat, you should consider that the audience is watching you.

I have had students who finished their speech and then walked over to the trashcan and in a large, exaggerated movement, they threw their notecards in the trash. In our minds, we threw their message away with those cards. I’ve seen speakers, sit in their chairs and then announce, “I can’t believe my hands were shaking so much.” I’ve sat there and thought, “I didn’t notice.” I then realized that the comments they made influenced my perception of them and my perception of their topic.

You said your last word and the audience is applauding, now what? Look at your audience and smile and nod in appreciation before walking off the stage. If you will be answering questions, wait until after the applause stops to begin your question and answering period.

When practicing your speech, it is a good idea to start from your chair, walk up to a spot and then give your speech, and then walk back to your chair and sit down. Your “speech” impression begins and ends from your chair.

Key Takeaways

Remember This!

• A speech closing should include a review of the main points and a purposeful closing sentence.
• Persuasive speech endings should tell the audience specifically what they should do or think about.
• The recency effect suggests that people remember the most recent things they have heard which is one reason the closing is so important.
• Chance the pace of your speech and the tone of your voice to signal the end of the speech.

Please share your feedback, suggestions, corrections, and ideas.

I want to hear from you. 

Do you have an activity to include? Did you notice a typo that I should correct? Are you planning to use this as a resource and do you want me to know about it? Do you want to tell me something that really helped you?

Click here to share your feedback. 

Adichie, C.N. (2009). The danger of a single story. [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg Standard YouTube License.

Anderson, C. (2016). TED talks: The official TED guide to public speaking. Mariner Books.

Barot, H.  Fifteen powerful speech ending lines (and tips to create your own). Frantically Speaking. https://franticallyspeaking.com/15-powerful-speech-ending-lines-and-tips-to-create-your-own/

Boroditsky, L. (2017). How language shapes the way we think.  https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think  Standard Youtube License. 

Butler, M. (2018). Why you think you’re ugly. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imCBztvKgus  Standard YouTube License. 

Dunham. A. (2019). Valedictorian comes out as autistic during speech. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk  Standard Youtube License. 

Eagleman, D. (2015). Can we create new senses for humans?[Video]. YouTube  https://youtu.be/4c1lqFXHvqI  Standard YouTube License. 

Hone, L. (2019).  The three secrets of resilient people. [Video]. YouTube  https://youtu.be/NWH8N-BvhAw  Standard YouTube License. 

Jeff, P. (2009). Ten ways to end your speech with a bang. http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/10-ways-to-end-your-speech

Jobs, S. (2005). You’ve got to find what you love. https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/

Khanna, P. (2016). Let the head of TED show you how to end your speech with power. https://www.fastcompany.com/3059459/let-the-head-of-ted-show-you-how-to-end-your-speech-with-p

Karia, A. (2013). How to open and close a TED talk (or any other speech or presentation). https://akashkaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/HowtoOpenandCloseaTEDTalk.pdf

LaCroix, D. (2001). World champion of public speaking. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUDCzbmLV-0  Standard YouTube License. 

Mandela, N. (2011). Speech from the dock in the Rivonia trial.[Video]. YouTube https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/i-am-prepared-to-die  Standard YouTube License. 

Mandela, N. (1994). Presidential Inaugural Speech. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/nelsonmandelainauguralspeech.htm  Standard YouTube License. 

Miller, B.J. (2015). What really matters at the end of life. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/bj_miller_what_really_matters_at_the_end_of_life?language=en  Standard YouTube License. 

Moth. (2021). Storytelling tips and tricks: How to tell a successful story. https://themoth.org/share-your-story/storytelling-tips-tricks 

Obama, B. (2016). White House correspondents dinner. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFkEj7KPC0  Standard YouTube License. 

Pink, D. (2009). The puzzle of motivation. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_the_puzzle_of_motivation  Standard YouTube License. 

Rothwell, D. (2014). Practically Speaking. Oxford University Press.Robinson, K. (2013). How to escape education’s death valley. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc  Standard YouTube License. 

Rosling, H. (2014). Don’t Panic-Hans Rosling showing the facts about population.[Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FACK2knC08E  Standard YouTube License. 

Schwartz, B. (2005). The paradox of choice. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice  Standard YouTube License. 

Toastmasters International. (2016). Concluding your Speech. https://www.toastmasters.org/Resources/Concluding-Your-Speech

Young, S. (2014). I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much. [Video]. YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtPGrLoU5Uk  Standard YouTube License. 

Yousafzai, M. (2013). Malala Yousafzai addresses United Nations Youth Assembly. [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/3rNhZu3ttIU  Standard YouTube License. 

Zhang, Y. (2015). Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. [Video]. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmN4xOGkxGo  Standard YouTube License. 

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Advanced Public Speaking Copyright © 2021 by Lynn Meade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Award Presentations and Recognition Speeches: A How-To Guide

• Charlie Boddicker
• June 20, 2023

How do you get the most out of your employee recognition program? It’s important to consider not only what kind of gifts you award but also  how  you award them. Studies have shown that public recognition events like banquets or ceremonies can enhance the effectiveness  of your award program.

Awards granted in a public setting can feel more meaningful to the recipient. Additionally, when people witness others being recognized, they often share the feeling of being seen and valued, even if they are not receiving an award themselves. Because of this, public recognition events help magnify the recognition given, and they foster a positive culture of recognition throughout the organization.

Employees are at their happiest and most productive when they feel that their personal expertise and contributions are noted and valued. Because of this, recognition events should highlight each awardee’s individual personality and accomplishments. This means that recognition should be specific, relevant, and sincere. When recognition is tailored to the individual, it will be perceived as coming from a place of genuine appreciation. This is crucial when it comes to  boosting morale and engagement . If employees do not perceive the sentiment behind an award as genuine, then the award program will not be as effective.

While it is acceptable to standardize awards ceremonies for the sake of efficiency and professionalism, it is also important to give them a human touch. During a recognition event, managers should draw attention to an awardee’s specific accomplishments. They can highlight the awardee’s particular duties and skills or reference challenges that they have helped the business overcome. Many employees, especially in public service industries , are motivated by the positive impact they have on others, whether that be patients, students, or customers, and this is something that ought to be recognized and celebrated. Managers can show that they care about their employees as people by recounting a fun anecdote or by referencing their interests and hobbies outside of work.

To sum up, employee recognition events are an important tool when it comes to increasing motivation, productivity, and retention. They can foster a welcoming and respectful working culture by showing employees that their work is seen and appreciated. To make the most of these events, managers should celebrate their employees’ individuality and display an open and honest appreciation of their hard work.

Check out our post, “Award Presentation Worksheet,” for a handy worksheet that can help get the ball rolling on your next presentation!

O’Flaherty, S., Sanders, M.T., & Whillans, A. (2021) ‘Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost’, The Harvard Business Review . Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/03/research-a-little-recognition-can-provide-a-big-morale-boost

Gallup (2022) ‘Unleashing the Human Element at Work: Transforming Workplaces Through Recognition’, Gallup . Available at:  Gallup-Workhuman-Transforming-Workplaces-Through-Recognition-Report.pdf

Gibson, K.R., O’Leary, K., Weintraub, J.R. (2020) ‘The Little Things that Make Employees Feel Appreciated’, Harvard Business Review . Available at: https://hbr.org/2020/01/the-little-things-that-make-employees-feel-appreciated

Mann, A. & Dvorak, N. (2016) ‘Employee Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact’, Gallup . Available at: Employee Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact (gallup.com)

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What Should I Say To Present An Award?

This is one in a series of posts that uses my ready made speech templates to help you get a start on this type of speech or presentation.

In this one we will look at “Presenting An Award’ – whether this is an internal business award or part of a greater recognition in the business community.

As always, the first step in your preparation is to understand why your audience is there and why it is you making the presentation or speech.

You may not need to adjust what you plant to say but it is always important to understand the “why” before you begin to prepare your speech or presentation.

To start with, we need to acknowledge that all of us are often more interested in ourselves than others so you will need to make the presentation match the needs of your audience (as well as the recipient) to maintain interest in your speech.

For me, I prefer to prepare it as two speeches – one is the actual announcement, the other is the “support” speech which is structured to enable it to be adjusted for any required length of time.

Here is a template I use to help me write this type of speech.

• “Today marks the announcement of…..”
• “ Firstly I would like to share with you a little of the history of this award and how the winner is determined. …….”
• “It is now my privilege (or honour) to announce ……”
• “ Please join with me in congratulating …..”

Taking this one section at a time, section 1 simply needs the name of the award to be inserted. The value of starting this way is that it gives the audience time to focus on you and the occasion.

Section 2 is where you can adjust your time to the time allocated for your part of the presentation. The content of this section should be structured as you would for any speech – tell them what you are going to tell them ( ” Firstly I would like to share with you a little of the history of this award and how the winner is determined”); tell them the information keeping it relevant to the audience; then conclude and lead in to section 3.

Section 3 then becomes a direct announcement of the award name and the recipient name. Make sure you pause before you say each of these.

Section 4 is your opportunity to complete your presentation and exit the stage.

A word of warning about using “but”, “however” or “because”. My experience shows that an audience remembers what you say after these words not what is important ly said before them. e.g. I am pleased to be announcing this award BECAUSE it has taken such a long time to finalise it. You could still express this sentiment by saying I am pleased to be announcing this award AS it has taken such a long time to finalise it.

Always keep in mind that the most important part you are presenting is the award (or making the announcement), not the history of the award or how it is determined. By being prepared and having a structured presentation you run less risk of being side tracked during your presentation.

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How to present an award.

Presenting an award to an employee, business partner or customer is an honor in itself. It’s exciting to be able to celebrate someone’s accomplishments and how he has added value to the business. Whether you’re honoring an employee for 20 years of service or celebrating a customer’s milestone with using your products, carefully plan your award presentation to ensure you make it a special moment for the recipient.

Get the Logistics Straight

The first step to take before presenting an award is to understand the important details. Who is the award recognizing? Ensure that you know how to pronounce the person's full name correctly. This shows respect for the recipient. Getting the name wrong during the awards ceremony can be embarrassing.

If you’re presenting the award during an event with other items on the agenda, be sure to know when it is your turn. Keep in mind how long you have to present the award so that you write a speech that doesn’t go over the allotted time. Know where the actual award or certificate of recognition is kept and whether you’re responsible for bringing it up on the stage with you when you present.

Start With a Relatable Anecdote

Begin your award speech for recognition with a personal or humorous story about the recipient. Some people prefer to keep the name of the winner a secret until the end of the speech. Others choose to say it right away when presenting the award. Either way, break the ice by telling a story and making it relatable.

For example, you could say, “ The winner of this award has been with the company as long as I have. I remember my first day on the job. I was nervous and afraid that I would make a mistake. Little did I know that she had my back. I think this is something many of us can say about our first days here. A very special guardian angel ensured that we all succeeded even though we were scared and nervous. ”

Make Presenting an Award About the Winner

Keep the focus on the recipient of the award. Say a few lines about why he is worthy of this recognition. Keep your speech centered on his accomplishments, experiences and ways he has contributed to the organization. Refrain from telling a story about yourself or how you have made those contributions. It’s important to keep the attention on the winner instead.

A customer service award speech example might be: “ Darlene is a customer favorite. She starts each day with a smile and greets every customer as though they are the most important person in the room. Customers always provide me with feedback on how much they love speaking with her. She’s there to answer their questions and quell their worries .”

Don’t talk about your experience in this situation. For example, don’t say, “ I really think Darlene is a good customer service rep because I have taught her everything she knows. I trained her when she was just starting out .” Unless it’s said in jest, this kind of speech takes the focus away from the winner and places it on you, which is not best practice for presenting an award.

Keep it Short and Step Aside

Your awards speech should be short and to the point. Don’t spend a long time talking because the audience will want to see who the winner is and hear his acceptance speech. Keep your award presentation to a few minutes at the most. After you’ve handed the award over to the winner, step aside and let the winner have the floor.

When presenting the trophy or certificate to the winner, be sure to hold it with respect . This shows the audience and the winner what kind of value the award holds.

Related Articles

How to word a plaque for appreciation →.

How to Verbally Recognize an Employee's Efforts →

How to Give an Award Ceremony Speech →

Etiquette for Food Servers →

How to Deal With a Colleague Who Keeps Challenging Your Views →

How to Write a Thank-You Card to Your Boss →

• Paper Direct: What to Say When Presenting an Award [Script]
• Saylor Academy: Presenting or Accepting an Award
• Westside Toastmasters: Presenting an Award for Maximum Impact

Anam Ahmed is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto, Canada. She writes on everything from business to parenting, travel to technology. Learn more at www.anamahmed.ca.

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Different Ways to End a Presentation or Speech

November 6, 2017 - Dom Barnard

The beginning and ending of your presentation are the most important. The  beginning  is where you grab the audience’s attention and ensure they listen to the rest of your speech. The conclusion gives you a chance to leave a lasting impression that listeners take away with them.

Studies show  that when people are tasked with recalling information, they “best performance at the beginning and end”. It’s therefore essential you leave an impact with your closing statement. A strong ending motivates, empowers and encourages people to take action.

The power of three

The rule of three is a simple yet powerful method of communication and we use it often in both written and verbal communication. Using information in patterns of three makes it  more memorable  for the audience.

Examples of the power of three being used:

• This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning – Winston Churchill
• Blood, sweat and tears – General Patton
• I came, I saw, I conquered – Julius Caesar

A compelling story

Ending your presentation on a short story, especially if that story is personal or illustrates how the content presented affects others is the best way to conclude.

If you want to talk about a customer experience or successful case study, think about how you can turn it into a meaningful story which the audience will remember and even relate to. Creating empathy with your audience and tying the story back to points made throughout the presentation ensures your presentation will be well received by the audience.

A surprising fact

A surprising fact has the power to re-engage the audience’s attention, which is most likely to wane by the end of a presentation. Facts with  statistical numbers  in them work well – you can easily search online for facts related to your speech topic. Just make use you remember the source for the fact in case you are questioned about it.

A running clock

Marketing and advertising executive Dietmar Dahmen ends his Create Your Own Change talk with a running clock to accompany his last statement. “Users rule,” he says, “so stop waiting and start doing. And you have to do that now because time is running out.”

If you’re delivering a time-sensitive message, where you want to urge your listeners to move quickly, you can have a background slide with a  running timer  to add emphasis to your last statement.

Acknowledging people or companies

There are times when it’s appropriate to thank people publicly for helping you – such as

• Presenting a research paper and want to thank people involved in the project
• Presenting data or information obtained from a company or a person
• When someone helped you build the presentation if it’s a particularly complex one

You can even use the  PowerPoint credits  feature for additional ‘wow’ factor.

A short, memorable sentence

A sound bite is an attention magnet. It cuts to the core of your central message and is one of the most memorable takeaways for today’s  Twitter-sized  attention spans. Consider Steve Jobs’ famous last line at his commencement address at Stanford University: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Think about how you can distil your message down to a crisp, memorable statement. Does it represent your authentic voice? Does it accurately condense what your core message is about? Listeners, especially business audiences, have a radar that quickly spots an effort to impress rather than to genuinely communicate an important message.

An interesting quote

A relatively easy way to end your speech is by using a quote. For this to be effective, however, the quote needs to be one that has not been heard so often that it has become cliché.

To access fresh quotes, consider searching current personalities rather than historical figures. For example, a quote on failing from J.K. Rowling: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

You need to figure out what resonates with your audience, and choose a quote that fits the presentation theme. If you’re up to it, you can round off the quote with your own thoughts as well.

A visual image

Make use of this power by ending your presentation with a riveting visual that ties to your take-home message. Leave this slide on when you finish your presentation to give the audience something to look at and think about for the next few minutes.

Use a summary slide instead of a ‘thank you’ slide

‘Thank You’ slides don’t really help the audience. You should be verbally saying ‘Thank you’, with a smile and with positive eye contact, putting it on a slide removes the sentiment.

Instead of a ‘Thank You’ slide, you can use a  summary slide  showing all the key points you have made along with your call to action. It can also show your name and contact details.

This slide is the only slide you use that can contain a lot of text, use bullet points to separate the text. Having all this information visible during the Q&A session will also help the audience think of questions to ask you. They may also choose to take photos of this slide with their phone to take home as a summary of your talk and to have your contact details.

Repeat something from the opening

Closing a presentation with a look back at the opening message is a popular technique. It’s a great way to round off your message, whilst simultaneously summing up the entire speech and creating a feeling of familiarity for the audience. Comedians do this well when they tie an earlier joke to a later one.

Doing this will signal to the audience that you are coming to the end of your talk. It completes the circle – you end up back where you started.

There are a few ways to approach this technique:

• Set up a question at the beginning of your speech and use your ending to answer it
• Finish a story you started, using the anecdote to demonstrate your message
• Close with the title of the presentation – this works best with a provocative, memorable title

Link the main points to the key message

At the beginning of your talk, it’s important to map out the main ideas you will talk about. An audience that doesn’t know the stages of the journey you are about to take them on will be less at ease than one that knows what lies ahead. At the end of your talk, take them back over what you’ve spoken about but don’t just list the different ideas you developed, show how they are related and how they support your main argument.

Finish with enthusiasm

It’s only natural that you’ll feel tired when you get to the end of your talk. The adrenaline that was racing through your body at the beginning has now worn off.

It’s crucial that the audience feels that you are enthusiastic and open for questions. If you’re not enthusiastic about the presentation, why should the audience be?

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Don’t end with audience questions

When the  Q&A session  is over, stand up, get their attention and close the presentation. In your closing give your main argument again, your call to action and deal with any doubts or criticisms that out in the Q&A.

A closing is more or less a condensed version of your conclusions and an improvised summary of the Q&A. It’s important that the audience goes home remembering the key points of the speech, not with a memory of a Q&A that may or may not have gone well or may have been dominated by someone other than you.

If possible, try and take questions throughout your presentation so they remain pertinent to the content.

Getting rid of the “questions?” slide

To start, let’s talk about what you shouldn’t do. You shouldn’t end a presentation with a slide that asks “Questions?” Everyone does and there is nothing memorable about this approach.

Ideally, you should take questions throughout the presentation so that the question asked and the answer given is relevant to the content presented. If you choose to take questions at the end of your presentation, end instead with a strong image that relates to your presentation’s content.

Worried about no audience questions?

If you’re afraid of not getting any questions, then you can arrange for a friend in the audience to ask one. The ‘plant’ is a good way to get questions started if you fear silence.

Chances are that people do want to ask questions, but no one wants to be the first to ask a question. If you don’t have a ‘plant’, you might need to get the ball rolling yourself. A good way to do this is for you to ask am open question to the audience. Ask the most confident looking person in the room for their opinion, or get the audience to discuss the question with the person sitting beside them.

A cartoon or animation

In his TED talk on  The Paradox of Choice  , Barry Schwartz ends his presentation with a cartoon of a fishbowl with the caption, “You can be anything you want to be – no limits.” He says, “If you shatter the fishbowl, so that everything is possible, you don’t have freedom, you have paralysis… Everybody needs a fishbowl”. This is a brilliant ending that combines visuals, humour and a metaphor. Consider ending your presentation with a relevant cartoon to make your message memorable.

Ask a rhetoric question

So, for example, if you’re finishing up a talk on the future of engineering, you might say, “I’d like to end by asking you the future of manufacturing, will it be completely taken over by robots in the next 30 years?”

The minute you  ask a question  , listeners are generally drawn into thinking about an answer. It’s even more engaging when the question is provocative, or when it touches potentially sensitive areas of our lives

Thank the audience

The simplest way to end a speech, after you’ve finished delivering the content, is to say, “thank you.” That has the benefit of being understood by everyone.

It’s the great way for anyone to signal to the audience that it’s time to applaud and then head home.

Call your audience to action and make it clear

It’s not enough to assume your message will inspire people to take action. You need to actually tell them to take action. Your call to action should be clear and specific. Your audience should be left with no doubt about what it is you’re asking.

Use the last few minutes of the presentation to reinforce the call to action you seek. Examples of strong calls to actions include:

• Retain 25% more employees with our personal development solution
• Save your business 150% by using this framework
• Donate today to save millions around the world

Make it clear that you’ve finished

Nothing is more uncomfortable than the silence of an audience working out if you’ve finished or not.

Your closing words should make it very clear that it’s the end of the presentation. The audience should be able to read this immediately, and respond. As we mentioned previously, saying “thank you” is a good way to finish.

If the applause isn’t forthcoming, stand confidently and wait. Don’t fidget and certainly don’t eke out a half-hearted, ‘And that just about covers it. Thank you’.

Award Ceremony Speech

Award ceremony speech generator.

Ceremonies, events, speech. What do these three words have in common? They are almost always associated with important milestones for someone or a group of people. An award ceremony is almost always associated with a speech. Like any other event that may happen whether formal or informal. It would always be associated with making speeches. 

11+ Award Ceremony Speech Examples

1. award ceremony speech template.

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2. Award Ceremony Presentation Speech

Size: 288 KB

3. Global Chemical Leasing Award Ceremony Speech

4. Sample Award Ceremony Speech

Size: 364 KB

5. Teacher Award Ceremony Speech

Size: 231 KB

6. Award Ceremony Speech at College

Size: 119 KB

7. Presentation Speech at Public Award Ceremony

Size: 118 KB

8.  Population Award Ceremony Speech

Size: 328 KB

9. Award Ceremony Speech Example

Size: 77 KB

10. Career Award Ceremony Speech

Size: 76 KB

11. Formal Award Ceremony Speech

Size: 551 KB

12. Award Ceremony Speech in PDF

Size: 81 KB

Definition of Ceremonies

A ceremony or ceremonies is a series of formal acts or occasions. They are usually a traditional or a religious occasion. An important event that is celebrated. A ritual or a convention. A set of traditional activities performed during traditional or religious events.

Definition of Events

An event is anything or something that happens. It is usually something very important or sometimes very unusual. An activity that is planned for something very special. A celebration . It often involves a lot of individuals with the same purpose.

Definition of Speech

A speech is a type of communication wherein two or more people share their output, their opinion and their ideas. It may be through a formal discussion like public speaking or an informal discussion like a simple discussion inside a classroom. In addition to that, a speech is also a way for individuals to share the same dialect, a method of communication. A public discourse .

Definition of Award

An award is anything that can be given like money, a medal, a prize. It is something bestowed upon someone who has won something like an event. To give something very valuable to an individual or a group of individuals for doing a good job, like a reward.

Importance of Award Ceremony

The importance of an award ceremony is to acknowledge an individual’s contribution in anything they have done. It also boosts their self esteem and shows everyone their worth. An award ceremony is important because it celebrates the hard work and dedication the person has done and the individual feels the respect and the appreciation from the people who have made the ceremony in honor of them.

Importance of Award Speech

The use and importance of an award speech is to acknowledge the person who did a great job at a field they excelled in. It is also to let others recognize the person and to boost their reputation.

Importance of Speech

Ever asked yourself why is speech so important ? The reason for this is because it allows people to form a connection with those who share the same interest as them. Speech is also a motivation for change. If people were to stop making speeches or stop talking altogether, the world would be nothing but a silent, and sad place. Making speeches can be scary sometimes but it is still an important form of communication.

Tips for Writing an Award Speech

Ever thought of writing an award speech or any type of ceremonial speech for fun or simply because you were told to do so? If you answered yes to both questions, you’re in luck. An award speech is just like any other type of speech you may have written or heard about, there are guidelines to follow and there are tips to be familiar with. Regardless of what you heard about composing an award speech can be tricky, it really is not. All you need to do is to be familiar with the following tips.

• Start at the beginning: You may have heard or read some articles about writing a good speech, you must start at the beginning. Well, it is true. If you want to write a good speech, you must start by thinking about the type of speech you are going to be composing. Since there are a lot of types, be specific. Once you have thought about it, let’s move to the next tip.
• Write the necessary details: Ask yourself, what are the necessary details required for the award speech? The necessary details are the name or the names of the individuals who are accepting the award. What is the name of the award that they are given? Who is going to be the one to present the award to them? These are just a few of the necessary details. You may add more if you want, as long as they are still part of your speech.
• Make a copy of your work: Make a draft of your speech and make a final copy. Begin with your draft. This is where you are going to polishing your work before you reach your final copy. Don’t be embarrassed at making a draft for your speech, it is also useful as this can help you rearrange your thoughts.
• Revision is key: Finalizing your work before passing it. Check to see if you have placed all the necessary details. Check your spelling and grammar as well. Also do not make your speech too long nor too short. The reason for this will be explained in the next part of the article.

Tips for Presenting an Award Speech for Students and Teachers

Now that you have finished your work, it’s time for some tips for presenting your speech. It is common for people presenting to get overcome by stage fright. But that can be avoided, so listed below are some tips to help you present your award speech.

• Practice before you present
• Breathe in and out
• Be familiar with your work
• Make eye contact

Why is it necessary to be familiar with your essay?

The reason for this is because you are not going to be bringing your full copy in front of the stage. You may lose the interest of your listeners and making eye contact with them is also important. Avoid bringing your copy with you, practice and be familiar with your work. If you must bring a copy, it is best to use index cards and write the most important information.

What should I say if I have no idea of the names of the awardees?

If you are not able to get the names of the awardees, ask them beforehand. The reason for this is to avoid embarrassment and confusion for you and the people involved.

Do I need to make a thank you speech in addition to the award speech?

You may use a little of the thank you speech in a way that you are thanking everyone present. But your main focus is the award speech.

There you have it, some tips on writing an award speech, some tips to present your speech. By being familiar with the tips and adding some tricks of your own, you are going to ace composing that speech. Good luck!

Text prompt

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Create an award ceremony speech for a distinguished alumni

Help me write an award ceremony speech for a young innovator

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People in leadership have the privilege of recognizing the achievement of others by giving them awards.  This is an important moment, and you want to help make it special. In this chapter, I will teach you the five-step process on how to give an award, I will share with you practical things to think about in terms of setup and execution, and finally, I will share with you ways to elevate this speech to a professional level.

Ceremonial Speaking Wheel

All ceremonial speeches should include the trio –narration, magnification, and identification.

Identification

You are not talking to an audience; you are sharing with an audience. You are celebrating with them and collectively celebrating shared values and shared appreciation for their accomplishments. Saying “we” are here to honor the recipient and reminding the audience of shared values helps the audience to be a part of the process.

The use of story helps the audience to be drawn in and want to listen. The narration can be about the organization, how the award was formed, or about the person receiving the award. It is better to tell a story of a complex problem they solved instead of saying “they are a good problem solver.”

Magnification

Take a trait of the individual and magnify it. I’m not talking about superfluous embellishment; I’m talking about honest elaboration. If they discovered an accounting mistake, talk about the difficulty of noticing such a mistake, and talk about the financial impact on the group because the correction was made. In short, find heroism in events where others might not notice. Magnification means finding the extraordinary which is often hidden:  loyalty, work ethic, going the extra mile, and standing up under adversity. Let us truly see the person’s accomplishments with a bright spotlight, not just a little candlelight.

Now you know of the key elements that should be in your speech, let’s talk about the specific five-step structure of an award speech.

Five-Step Award Process

Greet the audience.

Welcome the audience to the event. Thank them for attending and address any special guests or sponsors.

Describe the Award

Open your speech with a greeting and then describe the award. Tell about the organization that is giving the award and why this award was created. Who founded this award? What’s the story behind the award? What makes this award unique?  Describe the criteria for selecting a winner. Who decides? What are the criteria?

Tell Why They Deserved the Award

Describe the attributes of the person who will be receiving the award.  If possible, tell a story about the person. The more details, the better. People who come to awards ceremonies like to be inspired and they like to feel included. The more you can make everyone feel like they are part of something special, the better your speech will be. This is the most important part of the award. Make the recipient feel special by telling stories of their achievements and calling out specific highlights of their achievements.

If there are multiple recipients for the same award, for example, awards for everyone who completed upper-level training, you can highlight the task they had to do to receive the recognition. You can tell a story about one part of the training that will be familiar to those who completed it.

Present the Award

Announce the person’s name who will be receiving the award.  Consider writing yourself a note on how to pronounce the name.  Find out in advance their preferred name and if you should use an honorific. As they approach to claim the award, be sure that they know where they are supposed to stand. If you didn’t tell them before the presentation, you should indicate in some way where they should go and what they should do. Do they stand beside you or somewhere else? Will there be a handshake? Do they hold the award? Do they grab the award and go or do they stay while you talk about them? This is their moment, and you don’t want to make them feel awkward because they don’t know what they are supposed to do.

Present the award to them with a handshake and a smile. Be sure to pause so the photographers can take a picture.

Wish Them Well

While they are still upfront, give a statement that wishes them well. This is done most effectively when it is connected to the theme of the award. If it is a sales award, make reference to sales, if it is a teaching award, make reference to teaching, if it is an academic award, make reference to how they will use their academics.

Practical Mechanics

You have your speech written and you are setting up the room where you will give the award. It is time to think of some very practical things like the location of the award, the location of the handshake, and the location of the photographer.

Location of the Award

Where are you going to set the award?  If there are multiple awards, you will likely need to set up a table and have someone help pass out the awards.  Before the event, you should have someone pretend to get an award to help you figure out any potential issues.

Location of the Handshake

Where are you going to do the handshake? When they come up and receive the award, are you going to shake their hand and give them the award or will another distinguished leader give the award and the handshake? If you are standing behind the podium, it is hard to shake hands and get a good photo, so it will be important that you step in front of the podium or off to the side for the handshake.

Location of the Photographer

Where are you going to have the photographer stand? In high-profile awards, there may be a professional photographer who requires a special setup. Always be mindful of where they will be located and make sure they don’t block the view from the other guests. In addition, most people will have family, friends, colleagues in the audience who will want a picture. Make sure you have an aisle clear, so photo takers have a clear view. Write yourself a note to pause and let the pictures be taken.

Handshake Matters

• Shake with the right hand.
• Hand the award with the left hand.
• The award or certificate goes on top.
• Pause, smile, and face the camera.

Handshake tips.  When people get nervous, their hands may get sweaty. Keep a tissue in your pocket to wipe your hand on just in case. When you go in to shake someone’s hand open your hand wide and go in for the web of skin between the thumb and pointer finger. A typical handshake is two to three pumps, but an award handshake is typically two pumps and a long pause while pictures are being taken.

Taking it to the Next Level

To elevate the quality of your speech, add advanced language devices sometimes called colorful language. Let’s talk about the three main types that can make you sound like a speech professional–Theme, alliteration, and parallel construction.

More on using colorful language in a speech. 

Alliteration: Repeat the same sound three times

• Jake is polished, practical, and professional
• LaShay’s got grit and goes after things that impact

Parallel Construction: Repeat the same phrase at least three times.

• Passionate about students…
• Passionate about learning…
• Passionate about teaching…

Theme: Pick a theme that fits the person and the award

• Accounting is his life.
• He can multiply his impact.
• The bottom line is…
• When you look at his character, it all adds up.

Remember, your award speech is not about you– it is about the recipient and people who care about them. It is about creating a celebratory atmosphere where the audience and the recipient can feel good.  Doing the work it takes to write the speech well will make a big difference. The joy you will feel from making someone else feel special will be its own reward.

Key Takeaways

Remember this!

• The more details about why the person deserves this award the better.
• Include identification, narration, and magnification.
• Practice your handshake and how to hand the award to the recipient.
• Tell them what the award is, tell them why they deserve the award, give them the award, wish them well.

Public Speaking by Lynn Meade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Write an Acceptance Speech

Last Updated: March 21, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,102,469 times.

When you win an award or honor, it's traditional to share a few words. Writing an acceptance speech can be challenging, so it helps to brainstorm and prepare in advance. You should open your speech with a brief introduction of gratitude, move on to thanking your benefactors, and conclude your speech with some inspiration and optimism. This is your time to shine, but showing humility will leave your audience feeling truly pleased for you and your success.

Brainstorming Ideas

• After you make an initial list of people you want to thank, walk away and come back to the list later. There might be people you forgot to include that you'll remember at a later time.
• If you're worried about leaving someone important out of your speech, ask a close friend or coworker to help with your list. They might think of someone you forgot to include.

• For example, if you're receiving an award for your volunteer work, try searching “volunteer award acceptance speeches” in a search engine. If you're referencing speeches in a physical book, try to find a book that has the speeches organized by award type.

Writing Your Speech

• For example, you could write “I am so honored to be standing here today to receive this community leadership award. Serving my community has been a joy and a privilege that I am grateful for every single day. I wouldn't be able to do it if it weren't for all the amazing people in this city."

• You don't have to say someone's name to show you're thankful for them. For example, instead of thanking all of your coworkers individually, you could say “I can't express enough how grateful I am for all of my amazing colleagues.”
• You can thank the members of the organization giving you the award without listing off their names by saying something like “Thank you so much to the team at the New York Nonprofit Conference for recognizing me with this incredible award.”

• For example, if you're winning an award in recognition of your volunteer work with kids, you could mention how you think more work needs to be done to combat childhood illiteracy.
• Don't use your acceptance speech as a time to rant about your political viewpoints or talk heatedly about a controversial topic (unless it's directly connected to the award you're receiving). You'll likely alienate members of the audience and upset the organization that gave you the award.

Rehearsing Your Speech

• If there's someone mentioned in your speech that can't attend the event, invite them to practice with you. That way they get to hear your speech and you have someone to give you pointers.

• Notice how your voice sounds. Make sure you're speaking loud enough and that what you're saying is clear and understandable.

Writing Help

Community Q&A

• Make eye contact with members of the audience to appear more engaged. [11] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Bring a copy of your speech with you onstage. You might not need to use it, but it's helpful if you forget someone's name. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Avoid reading the copy of speech, but use notes and make sure to look up at the audience more tha you read what you write. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Avoid negative or apologetic statements during your speech. They can make you seem ungrateful. Thanks Helpful 10 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-prepare-an-accepta_b_9290348
• ↑ Lynn Kirkham. Public Speaking Coach. Expert Interview. 20 November 2019.
• ↑ https://www.gvsu.edu/ours/oral-presentation-tips-30.htm
• ↑ https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/10-tips-for-improving-your-public-speaking-skills/
• ↑ https://www.washington.edu/doit/presentation-tips-0

About This Article

To write an acceptance speech, start with a brief introduction that expresses your gratitude and makes a connection with your audience. Then, in the body of your speech, focus on the people that you want to thank. Try to avoid thanking too many people so your audience doesn't grow impatient by sticking with the people directly involved with the award and your immediate support system. Finally, conclude your acceptance speech on a brief, positive note and thank the audience one last time. To learn how to rehearse an acceptance speech, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Usher unmuted: Fans decry censorship of icon’s BET Awards speech. Here’s what he said

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Usher’s confessions about the gratitude he feels for family, friends and fans fell victim to the mute button at the BET Awards on Sunday.

When the R&B icon received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award, he delivered a 13-minute speech that praised the people who helped him find and maintain success over the last 30 years. However, BET omitted large portions of the “Confessions” crooner’s acceptance speech, much to viewers’ and social media fans’ chagrin.

“Soooooo Usher’s entire speech is bleeped out,” one fan tweeted Sunday evening.

“It’s the silent acceptance speech for the viewers at home for me,” a second viewer tweeted . “Just go to commercial.”

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Usher, who received his award from executives Babyface and L.A Reid, kicked off his speech honoring those who had been in his corner, joking about the timing of his award (“I’m still running and gunning”) and getting vulnerable with the audience at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles about his beginnings.

“I’m gonna take my glasses off because I want you to see my eyes,” he told his peers in attendance. “I want you to understand it’s real.”

The Grammy-winning singer, who took over the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show , talked how his father’s absence motivated him to seriously pursue his career in music and praised the father-like figures he turned to during his ascent. Then came his first censoring.

“Who have spoken to me, who have been solid no matter how [expletive] may have been,” he said of those father figures. “I’m sorry, I’m cursing to let you know how I really feel.”

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Usher, full name Usher Raymond IV, continued his speech with a few more expletives, then BET kept the singer muted for several minutes during its broadcast, according to video shared on X (formerly Twitter.) Amid the silence and shots of attendees reacting to Usher’s speech, some words would break through seemingly at random. The silent broadcast inspired memes and annoyance on X.

“Usher is getting a Lifetime Achievement Award and we can’t even hear the speech?! BET is so trash!!!!,” reporter Mýa Melody said , also tweeting a gif of Katt Williams walking and holding a small blade in the movie “Friday After Next.”

In a statement Monday to The Times, a BET spokesperson attributed the silence to “an audio malfunction,” adding that portions of Usher’s speech “were inadvertently muted.”

“We extend our sincere apologies to Usher as we couldn’t be more grateful for his participation in Culture’s Biggest night,” the statement continued, before adding that fans could watch the uninterrupted speech “across BET Platforms” and via Monday’s encore showing of the BET Awards.

A representative for Usher did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

The 2024 BET Awards was a star-studded celebration of Black talent and culture that saw Taraji P. Henson return to host. Tyla, Victoria Monét, Kendrick Lamar and Regina King were among the night’s winners. Usher, in addition to his achievement award, won the ceremony’s male R&B/pop artist prize. His legacy also inspired an energetic tribute performance with Donald Glover, “Boyfriend” collaborator Keke Palmer , Teyana Taylor and more musicians performing his most popular hits.

BET published Usher’s full speech Monday, in a YouTube video titled “Usher is Unfiltered & Motivated While Accepting His Lifetime Achievement Award.”

The new video, and viral recording from inside the ceremony, provides a more complete look at Usher’s moment. Here’s a full transcript of the Grammy winner’s unfiltered speech:

“Getting here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it. I have a lot of people that I want to thank but before I get into any of that — by the way I should caution you that I like to talk and I have a way with words. But what I will say is I didn’t write anything because I wanted this moment to be exactly what it was: present. In this moment, how I am feeling and the appreciation that I have for each and every person that had anything to do this moment tonight as well as the 30-plus-year career that I celebrate.

This life achievement award, I don’t know, man — is it too early for me to receive it because I’m still running and gunning? I still love this s— like I did when I was 8 years old.

I want to thank each and every one of the performers tonight who paid tribute and each and every person who had anything to do with the production, the wardrobe. I’ve seen everything, every detail, every moment, every moment and everything. We was going back to moments that some of y’all might not even know when I was dropping my pants. So those moments that become legacy are all about expression and just having fun and finding the connection and really the spark.

You know, when I first started I had a different idea about what I thought life was going to be. I started off as an artist in a group in Chattanooga, Tenn., my name was Cha Cha and I really was searching for some identity and I was doing that specifically because I was trying to make sense of this name that was given to me that was not — I’m gonna take my glasses off because I want you to see my eyes. I want you to understand it’s real.

I was trying to make sense of this name that a man gave me that didn’t stick around because he didn’t love me. Or at least that was my perception of it , because I had to live long enough in order to understand that you have to have a forgiving heart, in order to understand the true pitfalls and hardships of a Black man in America. And my father , he was a product of that. He made a lot of decisions, he made a lot of choices and one that probably hurt and helped me at the same time was to stay away. But that’s part of the reason why I saw this is the year of the father, where all the fathers gotta stand up for their sons, their daughters and be the man that they need to be for them.

They say success has a million fathers. Well I start with these guys right here. This is my village, these are the men who motivated me, who speak to me. Who have spoken to me, who have been solid no matter how f— up it may have been. I’m sorry, I’m cursing to let you know how I really feel. ‘Cause at one point, it got really thick, when motherf— weren’t f— with me. And I get it, I understand. Sometimes you gotta go through some s— to get to some.

I’m gonna tell you, they solid. And it ain’t about a motherf— hit record. They solid, they gonna always gonna have my back and I’m gonna always have theirs. Now, somebody asked me a question about ego and this idea of having an ego. Could be so confident that you could come to L.A. Reid’s office at 12 or 13 years old and say , ‘You meeting the next superstar and I’m gonna take that space on the wall right there and you’re gonna put my picture up there.’ No, that wasn’t ego speaking. I re-branded that word that day.

I expressed goals out loud ... it makes sense and the reality is you have to express your goals outwardly no matter what people may see, no matter what they may feel, now matter how dark it may look, no matter how complicated it may be because that’s the only way it could ever become a reality. You have to see it first. You have to then move in action and decide, ‘This is what I’m gonna do. This is what I’m committed to.’ You’re gonna have a cast of people who are gonna be with you, you’re gonna have a cast of people who are gonna hate you.

So long as you stay connected to what you feel, what you’re committed to, something major will happen and God will show up. He always does. Now, I can proudly say I’m the b astion of Usher. Right? But I made something of it. I did that because my mother, she subbed in two ways. She was a mother and a father at the same time. This is the power of a Black woman in America, you know? So with everything that I’ve accomplished, I didn’t do it alone. I wanna thank the ones that are not here to be able to see this moment who I talked to, some of whom are fathers or were like fathers to me. Harry Belafonte is somebody who I always looked up to. Quincy Jones is somebody who always I looked up to and took me under his wing. Clarence Avant is another person I looked up to. Virgil Roberts is another person I looked up to and continued to push me and make certain that whatever I thought of I could absolutely achieve.

Evangelist Ernestine Carter , who I lost — and Kirk Franklin, he helped me usher her into this ascension and this place. And all of these wonderful things begin to happen. She was an Earth angel and she now is in heaven, making these moments happen. It is the hard work we put into this, but it is the belief in those who see something in us. A woman, a very important woman is at the very foundation to this — a man and a woman by the name of James Lackey and Nancy Lackey , who were at the foundation of who I am as a young, hopeful child who just wanted to do something and wanted to matter even though there wasn’t a dad to call, even though there was not nobody to pick up and say , ‘Yeah, you’re going to be all right. This is what you do. This is what is OK , what isn’t. You gonna like girls, you gonna go through s—. You gotta figure it out. But it led me to be the father that I am to my boys, Cinco and Naviyd , who are here today. And my little ones Sire and Sovereign who are home as well.

Thank you all for — why you lookin’ like that — you not happy today? OK? No. This one , he be in my DMs , you know , hitting [up] people and stuff. It’s all good. So I thank y’all for being patient with me. I forgive each and every person who had anything to say negative about me, because it only motivated me to be who I am. “Good Good” is more than just a song, I’m trying to turn a new leaf. We gotta be cool for the sake of the kids. I look at Swizz Beatz and his ex-wife and Alicia Keys and the fact that they’ve managed to pull things together. I’m trying , Tameka . First step, get it right.

So yeah, that’s a heavy one. But it’s all about y’all. It 100% all about my children and making certain that you understand your dreams can come true if you truly commit it — if you are truly committed, if you’re dedicated to something and you find passion and you stay committed to it. This could potentially be you. This could be your moment, not on this stage ‘cause I’m the only one that’s gonna have this one, but you could have a moment like this too.

I’m so happy for LeBron [ James ] and his son. This is the year of the father, man. To my team and each and every person that had to do with this moment that I’m having: Laffitte , Luke at my management company , Aakomon Jones. I said everybody on this stage, Johnta Austin who holds me down is my maverick, Chris Chambers who always has my back and always stays focused with me. Each and every person who has had a part in this moment, from the past going all the way back to AJ Alexander, that’s the guy who actually discovered me. And then, each and every friend who has encouraged and helped me in the moment, I celebrate this moment with you. This is not just my moment. This is our moment together.

My lovely wife, thank you so much for being my best friend. Thank you so much for supporting me and encouraging me. For each and every fan who has been a part of buying an album, or either coming to a show or either supporting me , I absolutely would not have been able to do this without you. L.A Reid , Babyface I just want to tell you, Face I love you. I thank you, man. I thank you so much for your encouragement as an artist, your encouragement as an executive, your encouragement as a part of the two, duo, that created LaFace records. Each and every person who is part of that organization set the tone in this time for what it is that it is to be entrepreneurial in music. I have you two to thank for that , and we want to thank y’all for that.

You gotta be willing to forgive, y’all. He who knows, knows sin , cast the first stone. We gotta be willing to forgive, we gotta be willing to be open. I’m telling you, you stand before a man who had to forgive a man who never showed up ever and look what I made with it. Look what I was able to usher in. That’s what’s real and that’s what makes us human. That’s what makes us men and women. I thank y’all, man.

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Usher Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award at 2024 BET Awards, But His Audio Kept Cutting Out

"I don't know, man, is it too early for me to receive it?" he wondered early on in his speech.

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Usher accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 BET Awards Sunday night (June 30) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, but the audio cut out for a good chunk of his speech for those watching from home.

2024 BET Awards Winners: See the Complete List (Updating)

Trending on billboard.

“Getting here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it. … I didn’t write anything because I wanted this moment to be exactly what it was: present. In this moment, how I am feeling and the appreciation that I have for each and every person that had anything to do with this moment tonight as well as the 30-plus-year career that I celebrate. … I don’t know, man, is it too early for me to receive it? Because I’m still running and gunning and I still love this s–t like I did when I was eight years old,” he began.

While praising Jam, Lewis, Reid and Babyface for how they helped shaped his successful career, Usher described them as “the men who motivated me, who speak to me, who have spoken to me, who have been solid no matter how f–ked up it may have been — sorry, I’m cursing to let you know how I really feel” while “f–k” was censored but a subsequent “s–t” wasn’t. Almost four minutes into his speech, Usher’s speech starting cutting in and out for almost four minutes straight.

BET Awards 2024: Photos From the Red Carpet

But according to a Billboard reporter inside the awards show, Usher said “f–k” and “motherf–ker” once, while barely swearing throughout his speech that didn’t contain any salacious subject matter.

When the sound was restored, Usher shouted out his eldest sons Usher “Cinco” Raymond V and Nayvid Ely Raymond, who were in the front row, as well as his son Sire Castrello Raymond and daughter Sovereign Bo Raymond, who were at home. “It is 100% all about my children and making certain that you understand that your dreams can come true if you truly committed, if you are committed to it, if you’re dedicated to something and you find passion and you stay committed to it, this could potentially be you. This could be your moment. Not on this stage, because I’m the only one that’s gonna have this one,” he joked.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President   Biden at Presentation of the Medal of Honor to Army Private Philip G. Shadrach and Private George D.   Wilson

4:40 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Please be seated.  Thank you.

It’s a long time in coming. 

One year into the civil war to abolish slavery, a fighting raged across the states.  The fate of the nation hung in the balance.  President Abraham Lincoln created an award to honor ordinary Americans who showed extraordinary courage in the battle to save the Union. 

The award was a star-shaped medal made of copper and coated in bronze.  At first, it was called the Army Medal of Honor.  In time, to capture the full capacity of our Armed Forces, it became known simply as the Medal of Honor.  Today, it is our nation’s highest military honor. 

Secretary Austin; Secretary McDonough; Secretary Wor- — Wormuth; Chairman Brown; General Milley; previous Medal of Honor recipients who are here; distinguished guests. 

The very first recipients of the Medal of Honor were a small band known as “Andrews’ Raiders,” named for a spy for the Union Army, James Andrews, who led one of the most daring operations in the entire Civil War.  Every soldier who joined that mission was awarded the Medal of Honor except for two — two soldiers who died because of that operation but never received this recognition. 

Today, we right that wrong.  Today, they finally receive the recognition they deserve. 

Private George Wilson, born in Belmont County, Ohio.  In his early 30s, not long after the Civil War began, he enlisted in the Union Army.  He joined the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  He was a father, a mechanic, and he was a hell of a debater.  He always was ready to persuade, argue, and, as one family member put it, “dress anyone down” if the need be. 

Private Philip Shadrach, born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  By the time he was a teenager, Philip was an orphan, a laborer — did anything he could to get by.  And from what we know, he was a free spirit, always searching for adventure, excitement, intrigue.  In his early 20s, Philip enlisted, joining the Ohio regiment that George did — the same one.

With us today are members of those families: Theresa Chandler, George’s great-great-granddaughter; Gerald Taylor, Philip’s great-grandnephew.  They shared with us how the stories of their brave ancestors were passed down through their families for generation after generation. 

For Philip and George and their brothers in arms, serving our country meant serving our country — our country — fighting and even dying to preserve the Union and the sacred values it was founded upon: freedom, justice, fairness, unity.  George and Philip were willing to shed their blood to make these ideals real. 

Folks, it was April 7th, 1862.  James Andrews, the Union spy, who regularly sneaked behind Confederate lines, was preparing to lead a daring scheme.  A group of two dozen soldiers, including George and Philip, would travel 200 miles deep into the Confederate territory and steal a Confederate chain — a train near Atlanta and drive it north to Chattanooga, just over the Georgia border, which Union troops were preparing to capture — that is, Chattanooga.

Along the train journey, they would destroy enemy bridges, railroad tracks, telegraph lines, disrupting communications and vital supply lines, sabotaging the railroad that the Confederate Army used to move troops.  All of that would make the Union capture of Chattanooga much more likely.  And that would cut off the Confederate Army from both Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, a huge — a huge strategic victory that could bring the war to a swift end. 

The risk of this mission and the risk of all this mission were enormous.  If caught, they would certainly be killed.  Philip, George, all the men were given a chance to walk away.  Not one of them did.  Not one of them walked away.

Instead, they changed into civilian clothes, got a few hours’ sleep, and set out for Georgia. 

Several days later, nearly all of them, including George and Philip, made it to the rendezvous point: a train station just north of Atlanta.  They gathered at midnight and waited until morning.  When the conductor and passengers disembarked for breakfast, they ma- — that’s when they made their move. 

Quickly and quietly, they detached three box cars and a locomotive, hopped in, and began moving at full speed north to Tennessee. 

Almost immediately, their problems were increased.  Rain made it nearly impossible to burn the tracks and the bridges along the way.  There were other trains on the track that were  not supposed to have been there, slowing them down considerably. 

By then, Confederate forces were in hot pursuit.  But George and Philip and the rest of the Raiders didn’t quit.  They kept going nearly for seven hours, destroying as much track as they could along the way and cutting as many telegraph wires as they could. 

They almost made it to [out of] Georgia, but about 15 miles from Chattanooga, they ran out of fuel, and the Confederates closed in. 

The Raiders took off on foot, running and hiding in the woods.  They survived there for weeks, but one by one, Confederate soldiers, supporters, and their bloodhounds rounded them up.  They were taken to a Confederate prison; held in a tiny, underground room; chained by their necks and their wrists; starved. 

Still, the men remained unbowed and unbroken.  Eventually, eight escaped.  Six were exchanged for Confederate prisoners.  The rest, including Philip and George, were tried as spies and both sentenced to death. 

When that fateful day came, as they approached the gallows, Philip and George stold — stood tall.  A crowd gathered around them.  Private Wilson turned to face the crowd, summoned the ultimate measure of grace, and, according to reports from that day, this is what he said.  He looked at the crowd and he said he believed they were wrong, but he did not harbor hostility toward the people of the South.  He said it was not them but their leaders who were responsible for the rebellion.  And he said the time would come when the Union would be restored and the American flag would wave over the entire nation once again. 

Ladies and gentlemen, until the very end, George and Philip believed in the United States of America, the only nation on Earth founded on an idea.  Every other nation in er- — in the history of the world is based on geography, ethnicity, religion, or some other attribute, but we’re the only nation founded on an idea.  And that idea is we’re — all men are created equal, deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.  We haven’t always lived up to that, but, like George and Philip, we’ve never walked away from it either. 

Their heroic deeds went unacknowledged for over a century, but time did not erase their valor.  And they want to fight for — what they fought for and they died is just as precious today as it was then: unity over disusi- — disunion; freedom over subjugation; progress over retreat; truth over lies. 

Let me end with this.  Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, another reminder of why it’s so important to know our history, not to erase our history; to remember the sacred cause of American democracy and not make up a Lost Cause to justify evil of slavery; to remember the nation that George and Philip fought for and died for: the United States of America. 

That’s who we are.  That’s who we are: the United States of America.  And there’s nothing — nothing beyond our capacity in the United States if we work together. 

So, God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. 

And with that, it’s my honor to ask the military aide to read the citations.

Thank you.  (Applause.)

MILITARY AIDE:  Gerald Taylor, accepting on behalf of his great-great-uncle, Private Philip Shadrach.  And Theresa Chandler, accepting on behalf of her great-great-grandfather, Private George Wilson.

Attention to orders.  The president of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has posthumously awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Private Philip G. Shadrach and Private George D. Wilson, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their life above and beyond the call of duty.

Private Philip G. Shadrach and Private George D. Wilson  distinguished themselves by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in Georgia on 12 April 1862.

Private Shadrach and Private Wilson were 2 of 22 Andrews’ Raiders who, by direction of Major General Ormsby M. Mitchel, penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory.  Upon capturing a railroad train at Big Shanty in Georgia, the group set out to complete their mission of disrupting enemy supply lines by destroying bridges and tracks between Chattanooga and Atlanta. 

Private Shadrach and Private Wilson’s gallant actions in close contact with the enemy were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon themselves, the Army of the Ohio, and the United States Army.

(The Medal of Honor is presented.)  (Applause.)  

4:56 P.M. EDT

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BET Awards 2024: Usher is honored, Will Smith returns, and the election is top of mind

Usher honored with lifetime achievement at the 2024 BET Awards; Other BET winners included Tyla and Killer Mike; Ice Spice and Coco Jones among the stars to rock the BET blue carpet. (July 1)

Ice Spice, Tyla, Taraji P. Henson and Halle Bailey walked the blue carpet in style at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. (June 30)

Usher accepts the Lifetime Achievement award during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Babyface, rear left, and L.A. Reid, rear center, look on.(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

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Will Smith performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Megan Thee Stallion performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Taraji P. Henson arrives at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Usher, left, accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award from L.A. Reid during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Usher accepts the award for best male R&B/pop artist during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Killer Mike accepts the award for album of the year for “Michael” during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Keke Palmer arrives at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Tyla arrives at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Tyla, left, accepts the award for best international act from Colman Domingo during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sexyy Red performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Host Taraji P. Henson speaks during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Devale Ellis, right, presents the award for best male R&B/pop artist to Usher during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Usher poses with the Lifetime Achievement award in the press room during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Lauryn Hill performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Usher accepts the Lifetime Achievement award during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Latto performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Lauryn Hill, left, and Wyclef Jean perform during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Victoria Monet, center, accepts the award for video of the year for “Oh Mama” from Jessica Betts, left, and Niecy Nash Betts, right, during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Usher, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award, poses in the press room during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Shaboozey, left, and J-Kwon perform during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Tinashe performs during the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30, 2024, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Usher accepted the lifetime achievement award at the 2024 BET Awards — even if the superstar mused it might be a bit early.

The Grammy winner stayed on his feet as a parade of artists performed his hits — Childish Gambino kicked it off with “U Don’t Have to Call,” joined by Keke Palmer, who took the lead on “You Make Me Wanna...” Coco Jones appeared in the audience for a sultry rendition of “There Goes My Baby,” serenading Usher and his wife Jenn Goicoechea.

Summer Walker hit the stage for “Good Good,” Tinashe did “Nice & Slow,” Marsha Ambrosius tackled “Superstar” and Chlöe performed “Good Kisser.” Teyana Taylor and Victoria Monét teamed up for “Bad Girl,” mirroring Usher and Beyoncé’s choreography from their performance of the song. Latto brought the energy for “Yeah!” In some ways, the homage underscored the women that carried much of the night — dominating the performances.

After introductions by Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam, Usher accepted the award from music executive L.A. Reid.

“Getting here has definitely not been easy, but it has been worth it,” Usher began his lengthy speech, reflecting on his career, which has spanned over three decades. He questioned the timing, saying, “I’m still running and gunning and I still love this (expletive) like I did when I was 8 years old,” he said.

Much of his speech couldn’t be heard to audiences at home because it was censored.

“I forgive each and every person who had anything to say negative about me because it only motivated me to be who I am,” he said at one point.

Will Smith returns with God-filled new single

Earlier in the night, Will Smith stood in a circle of fire — joined by Fridayy and the gospel choir Sunday Service — to make the live debut of his latest single, “You Can Make It.”

“I don’t know who needs this right now,” Smith opened his set. “But I am here to tell you, you can make it.”

Mid-way through, Kirk Franklin joined, and then two rapped together. “Nobody gets an easy ride,” Smith, who is in the midst of his comeback from slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars two years ago, told the room. “There is wisdom in that fire. Dance in your darkest moments.”

The election is top of mind

The forthcoming U.S. presidential election was a huge topic of conversation throughout the show. After Childish Gambino presented Killer Mike with the album of the year award for “Michael,” the rapper used his acceptance speech to address his Grammys arrest and voting.

“Technically, I was not supposed to be here. I was put in handcuffs, and I was marched out of this building. But I want to tell you, look at God. ’Cause I’m back, baby. I’m back and I’m winning,” he said in his speech. Killer Mike was arrested at the Grammys earlier this year over a physical altercation he said was caused by an “over-zealous” security guard; he was not charged over the incident .

“They going to tell you who we vote for is important,” he continued his speech, “And it is who we vote for on the big stage. It’s important, but it’s more important you know who your city council person is, who your prosecutor is.”

Women dominate on stage and across genre

Megan Thee Stallion opened the show by emerging from an egg — a metaphor for her a new musical rebirth — before diving into with an energetic medley of her new singles “Hiss” and “Boa.”

“BET, Where my girls at?” she said, shouting out Monét and Jones in the crowd before launching into “Where Them Girls At” — a track that’s been an immediate fan favorite since Friday’s release of her third studio album, “Megan.”

Taraji P. Henson hosted the show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Her opening monologue was a performance, Henson rapping “It’s about us,” in a loose parody of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which he released in the midst of his reignited feud with Drake.

“No beef in here tonight,” she joked, “Can we say plant-based?”

Tyla, the Johannesburg , South African amapiano superstar , won two honors on the show, starting with best international act.

Later in the night, she’d take home the award for best new artist. “This is crazy,” she said. “I just want to dedicate this one to Africa.”

Monét, who earlier this year won the Grammy for best new artist , made her BET debut and set a high bar for performances, condensing a full set into a few mins with three costume changes and a pair of songs, “On My Mama” and “Alright.”

Then Sexyy Red took the stage, performing her smooth bedroom ballad “U My Everything” before moving to another stage and a costume change — tackling “Get It Sexyy” in front of an LED screen depicting the White House and dancers dressed like the Secret Service.

The show took a tonal shift when VanVan and Heiress Harris, two child rappers, their empowerment anthem “Be You” in a school room set. Harris is the daughter of rapper T.I. and singer Tiny Harris.

Lauren Hill and son YG Marley help close the show

Best female R&B/pop artist went to SZA and best actress to Regina King, both of whom were not in attendance; the BET HER award went to Monét for “On My Mama.” She brought her mother up to accept it.

Country musician Tanner Adell brought her “Buckle Bunny” and her new song, “Cowboy Break My Heart.” GloRilla emerged from above, descending to join her dancers for “Yeah Glo!” and “Wanna Be” — the latter of which saw a surprise appearance from Megan Thee Stallion. Shaboozey kept the country coming with “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and was joined by rapper J-Kwon, who appears on the track, creating an unexpected and rewarding collaboration across genres.

Lauryn Hill closed the night, beginning with “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” going into “Lost Ones,” before introducing her son YG Marley for his reggae tracks “Survival” and “Praise Jah In The Moonlight.” Best of all: Wyclef Jean appeared, and the trio — in front of a full-band — performed Fugees’ “Fu-Gee-La.” Pras, the third member of Fugees , was not present. The rapper, who was accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies, was convicted in April.

For more coverage of this year’s BET Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/bet-awards