If you are looking for ideas for welcome speeches, this is where your search ends. In this article, we give you some samples and also tips on how to write these speeches.
What is a welcome speech? It is a short and brief speech that is used during various events and functions, of both business and personal nature, to either introduce the event or in some situations to introduce a person and welcome him or her. If the speech serves to introduce an event or an occasion, then it needs to be a pleasant mix of formal and informal, so that it sets the right mood. In case the speech serves to introduce a person, then you will need to add personal information to the speech and ensure that you refer to how the person’s experience in his various capacities is relevant, to the event he is presiding over. An important thing to be kept in mind about a welcome speech is that it should be informative, complementary, and positive. Samples and tips on how to write these speeches will help you understand this better.
How to Write Welcome Speeches
Given below are some tips that will help you draft speeches and come up with some ideas for the same. While writing them, the basic aim remains the same, which is to welcome and introduce the audience to the event and the reason for the event.
- The opening to your speech, as is evident, should begin by welcoming the audience to the event that has been organized. If there are any special guests at the event, then they should be welcomed and thanked for gracing the occasion with their presence.
- An important decision that you will need to make is to decide what the tone of your speech is going to be. Is it going to be a funny speech, an entertaining speech or do you want your speech to inspire? Depending on this you will need to draft your speech.
- The most important focus of the speech has to be your audience and your aim should be to make them look forward to what you have planned for the event. This will make your audience enthusiastic about the event at hand.
- While you do not have any speech topics you need to decide on, it may be a good idea to carry forward some sort of a theme, that matches the theme of the event or function.
- If there is going to be another speaker at the event after you, then it is important that you introduce him or her before concluding the speech.
- While concluding the speech, try and end with a quote or saying of some sort that has an impact on the audience, so that the audience carries home memories of your address to them.
- Before delivering the speech on the final day, it is of utmost importance to read out the speech in front of a few people, so that you know there is nothing inappropriate about the speech and that it is not offensive in any manner. If you are nervous about the speech, practice it in front of the mirror. This will help reduce your nervousness.
- Before you end the speech it is absolutely mandatory to thank all those people who have made the event possible.
While there are many websites and books that will offer you the use of templates for welcome speeches and samples of the same, resist using these. The speech should be heartfelt and drafting it is not difficult at all, as long as you include the key and essential pointers that you feel will bring out the essence of what you want to say.
Examples
There are many famous speeches that were drafted as welcome speeches but are now oft quoted as parts of speeches for graduation and other such events, due to the sheer motivational power of these speeches. In this article, we have not given any such famous speeches but we have given you one example that will help elucidate how these speeches should be drafted.
Sample |
A very good evening to all of you and a warm welcome as we celebrate the fifth anniversary of Trends, our lifestyle magazine. It is an exceptional night today. Five years ago Gary and I started this magazine in the garage of a friend’s house, because frankly that was all we could afford as an office. It is thanks to all the special people who joined us here today that we are able to celebrate five years of not just running this magazine but being successful at it. To all those people who could not join us here today, we miss you. Tonight though, is about enjoying ourselves. Not looking at tomorrow but celebrating the present so go ahead and let your hair down. Have a magical night! You have all worked so hard for it. Surround yourselves with the happiness you deserve and thank you for making this possible. |
This is just one example from many speech samples that you could refer to. Now that you know what is expected from a welcome speech and how to draft it, you should have absolutely no issues in writing the same. At the end of the day, giving the speech is all about making your guests feel at home and also the ensure that they now what the celebration is about.