Special Occasion Speech Topics

High school and college students deal with a wide variety of study assignments. One popular activity is writing a speech for a special occasion. Teachers understand that everyone has to deal with the selection of words for important dates. For example, when grandfather retires, a close friend celebrates a birthday or there is a need to congratulate the boss on a corporate holiday. Such an occasion is always accompanied by a huge responsibility.

We understand how this task can be important for you, and therefore have prepared the detailed guide. You will receive all the necessary information about the holiday speech and you will be able to prepare an amazing one. Or just order a ready-made paper from us to save your time!

Checklist for Special Occasion Speech Writing

Before you start brainstorming and pick up ideas for writing your speech, you need to carefully prepare. Below you will find some useful questions prepared by professional writers. Answer them to check yourself before writing the special occasion speech:

What is the occasion for the holiday?
What are your job or personal responsibilities?
Who are you preparing the speech for? Are these your friends, relatives, colleagues?
How much time do you have to prepare?
Should I have a formal style?
What is your most important task?
In which part of the event will you give a speech?
What should be avoided in your story?
Do you know funny stories you can include in a speech?

This checklist comes in handy during the speech preparation phase. Answer these questions for yourself and you can draw up a good plan of action for further work. And when the speech is ready, just go back to the list to check everything again.

Some Types of Special Occasion Speeches

Some students do not understand why writing a speech can cause some difficulties. Indeed, writing a toast for a loved one can be very simple. But situations are different and there are those that require more time and attention. Some speeches should contain not just words of gratitude, but informative ideas and even facts. It is also important to understand the needs of your target audience and make a professional impression.

Speech of Introduction

The opening speech assumes the presence of a keynote speaker at the event. It is necessary to introduce the speaker and arouse the interest of the audience in him. It is important to make the special occasion speech of introduction brief, contain basic information about the speaker, the topic of his report. End the opening speech with a greeting.

Toast Speech

A toast is a short text expressing thanks and congratulations addressed to a particular person or occasion. Often, interesting stories and jokes with a philosophical conclusion are used as toasts. Toasts are short and expressive. The main thing here is to choose the right time and consider the mood of the audience.

Graduation Speech

Top students are often honored to give a graduation speech. This is a big responsibility because people have high expectations. Therefore, you need to start in advance, don’t write your speech before the deadline if you want to make it really good. Remember the most memorable moments during your studies, the lessons that you managed to learn. Think that in your words every student will be familiar. Be sure to express gratitude to the professors and the educational institution.

Wedding speech

It all depends on what role you have. Usually, the wedding speech is pronounced by the bride and groom, as well as their parents and the closest people. In any case, you will need to try very hard, as guests at weddings pay great attention to speeches. These are the words that your loved ones will remember for a very long time.

Retirement speech

If you need to write a speech about dismissal or retirement, there’s nothing complicated. The structure of the text will be similar to the speech of the graduate. Remember some touching moments, thank the employees for their joint work.

8 Steps to Write a Top-Notch Special Occasion Speech

The need to give a speech can excite anyone. Working on a text will strengthen your self-confidence. Thoughtfulness and attention to detail will allow you to create informative, convincing or motivating! Allocate the necessary amount of time to the work and train to make a speech. Consider our 15 steps to get prepared.

1. Study the Topic Well

Work on an informative or compelling speech requires an in-depth study of the issue. This approach will allow you to write a reliable and convincing text. Look for information and arguments in reliable sources: don’t trust all the articles on the Internet. It is best to rely on famous books, scientific journals. If you need to write a speech for the lesson, then specify the number and acceptable types of sources from your tutor.

2. Make a Plan with Affirmations and Arguments

Structure your ideas and findings in the form of a plan to check in advance the completeness and consistency of information. As a rule, a speech includes an introduction, several main points completed with statistics, quotes, examples of cases, and a conclusion. Use a numbered or bullet list. If your speech is informative or persuasive, then use the structure in the form of a problem and solution. First, describe the essence of the problem and in the second part explain how it can be solved. Remember that the plan can always be changed later and at the stage of work on the draft version. Engage all the information that seems important. Keep in mind that later text will have to be shortened.

3. Provide an Interesting Fact to Immediately Attract the Attention of Listeners

The first sentence of your speech may be the most important because at this moment people decide whether to listen to you. Depending on the topic and purpose of the speech, something funny, sad, frightening or shocking can be said to intrigue the audience.

4. Associate a Topic with a Broader Issue to Provide Additional Information

Perhaps the audience will not understand the importance of the chosen topic without your explanation. If the topic seems completely irrelevant, then the listeners will not follow the speech. Try to think globally to fit your theme into the big picture. Why should people be interested?

5. Review Abstracts in a Logical Order

After familiarizing yourself with the topic and context, go straight to the thesis. State each statement clearly and provide supporting information, facts, evidence, and statistics to explain each point. It should be based on the calculation of 1 paragraph per aspect.

6. Raise New Topics and Recap the Previously Reviewed Material

Another way to help students understand the thesis is to offer a quick overview of 1-2 sentences before moving on to a new topic and briefly summarize the material in 1-2 sentences after an explanation. Use simple words to make your acquaintance and resume easier that will help you express your ideas in an accessible way.

7. Use Transitions to Simplify the Perception

Transitions improve the smoothness of speech and also help to see the connection between the theses. Transitions are not always noticeable when you read and write texts, but their absence is immediately evident. Make sure you use different transitions in your speech.

8. End Your Speech with a Call to Action

As they approach completion, listeners should be passionate about the topic and ready to take action. Motivate people to learn more and take part in solving the described problem with words about how they can do it. This is a good opportunity to share resources and set a direction.

How to Make Special Occasion Speech Interesting and Exciting

There are also some useful tips that will help you to attract and keep the attention. Follow them to prepare the perfect speech:

Use short and simple words and sentences. Bulky words instead of equivalent simple synonyms can scare the listeners. Long and complex sentences can be confusing as well.
Do not replace nouns with pronouns for extreme clarity. Of course, you can sometimes use a pronoun, especially in an attempt to avoid multiple repetitions. However, too many pronouns will prevent listeners from monitoring your arguments.
Repeat words and phrases several times. Repetition is an effective technique in any special occasion speech. If repetitions of different words can be distracting, then repeating a particular word or phrase several times will help give your argument a clear form and captivate the audience.
Use a limited number of quotes and statistics to not discourage listeners.
Choose an appropriate tone of speech. The tone is the general mood of your speech, which can vary from serious to humorous or from measured to hasty. The choice of words and pronunciation affects the tone of speech.

The most important thing when writing a speech is quality training. Take this issue responsibly and you will become an outstanding speaker!