Speak without Fear #10
Being comfortable with special-occasion speeches
Warmest congratulations to the editor, publisher, and the entire team at the HRM Nepal on your fourth anniversary issue. You’ve built a thoughtful platform for leaders and learners across Nepal, and it shows issue after issue. Your consistency makes our community wiser and workplaces better. Thank you for doing the hard work that makes our work easier.
I begin this article with a genuine wish and I will let you know how I wrote it so you can, too.
Deconstructing the method
I used this simple five-step approach that can help any time you have to speak on a special occasion with little notice:
1. Moment: ‘Fourth anniversary issue of HRM Nepal’
2. People: ‘editor, publisher, whole team’
3. Value: ‘built a thoughtful platform’ (what they’ve done for the community)
4. Impact: ‘makes our community wiser, workplaces better’ (why it matters now)
5. Feeling: ‘thank you for doing the hard work’ (a genuine closing sentiment)
That’s it. Three to five sentences. No drama. No clichés. Just truth, clearly stated.
Special occasion speeches are tricky
I used to dread the ‘Can you say a few words?’ moments like the wedding toasts, quick tributes, even presenting a colleague’s award. I would either ramble, read a bio verbatim, or chase too many ideas. The Toastmasters Special Occasion Speeches projects (legacy education manual) gave me rails and structure to depend upon. As I began to practice at the clubs, it made me organised. And once I was organised, I could finally be sincere.
If you have read the earlier articles, you may point out to the Impromptu speaking structures discussed. Impromptu speaking techniques help, but they don’t always fit moments that carry emotion or ceremony like eulogies, toasts, or award segments. In these moments, you are not just informing, you are honouring. The goal shifts from ‘deliver content’ to ‘carry meaning with care’.
Four reliable structures
These are inspired by Toastmasters’ classic Special Occasion Speeches projects –Mastering the Toast, Speaking in Praise (eulogy/tribute), The Roast, Presenting an Award, Accepting an Award. The Toastmasters materials emphasise clarity, sincerity, and fitting the form to the moment.
1) The Toast (for anniversaries, weddings, retirements)
Structure: OSBT
- Occasion: Name what we’re marking.
- Story/trait: One concrete example (not five).
- Blessing/wish: What you hope for them next.
- Toast: The formal lift.
Example (anniversary at work):
“Today we celebrate five years of the HR team at Parijat Foods making work feel more human. I still remember when they piloted ‘First-Week Buddies’. New hires stopped quitting and started thriving. May your next five years be even more caring and bold. [Lift glass] To the HR team!”
2) Tribute/Eulogy (for farewells, memorials, appreciations)
- Structure: VSIC
- Values the person stood for.
- Story that shows those values in action.
- Impact on people/organisation/community.
Carry Forward a practice or promise.
Example (mentor’s farewell):
“Anita believed leadership meant noticing the quiet voices. When our new hire struggled, Anita blocked her calendar to listen and coach. That employee now leads a team of ten. Anita’s gift was turning attention into growth. We honour her by doing the same. Slowing down to lift others as she did.”
3) Accepting an Award
Structure: GASN
Be genuine, recognise those who helped, personalise briefly, and respect the clock.
- Gratitude for the recognition.
- Acknowledge mentors/teams/supporters.
- Story/lesson (15–30 sec) that reveals the journey.
- Next step you commit to because of this honour.
Example:
“Thank you for this recognition. I’m here because of my team, my first manager who took a chance on me, and a client who taught me patience. When our pilot failed last year, we learned to listen before we fix. This award reminds me to keep earning trust and start tomorrow with three customer calls to hear what we can do better.”
4) Presenting an Award
Structure: CCHP
- Context: Why this award exists.
- Criteria: What excellence looks like.
- Highlight recipient: A vivid example of the recipient meeting the criteria.
- Present: Say the name clearly and invite them up.
Example:
“This award recognises leaders who build inclusive workplaces. Nominees must show measurable change. This year’s recipient launched a ‘return-to-work’ programme that brought 27 women back into full-time roles, boosting team performance and retention. Please join me in congratulating Saraswati Adhikari, our 2025 Inclusion Champion.”
Simple rules of thumb
What I have come to appreciate from the Toastmasters manual is its easy way of providing a structure and how it can be applied in everyday life. Simple rules as below make it easy for anyone to write, practice and speak with conviction.
- Be human first. Speak as a friend, colleague, or grateful beneficiary and not as a performer.
- Be brief on purpose. Two to three minutes is ample for most toasts or award moments.
- Be specific. One story beat five adjectives. A crisp example sticks.
- Start clean. State who/what you’re honouring and why this matters now.
- End decisively. For toasts/awards, end with the formal line; for tributes, end with a promise we’ll keep.
- A few examples you can adapt anytime
Company milestone toast (anniversary):
“Three years ago, the Lalitpur Learning Circle began as a handful of managers swapping books after work. Today it’s a citywide network sharpening thousands of leaders. Thank you for keeping curiosity alive. May the next decade bring deeper conversations and bigger ripples. Cheers!”
Wedding toast (friend):
“To Anish and Riya – who took a friendship that survived exam seasons and micro-buses and turned it into partnership. May your home be a place where plans are made, tea is shared, and laughter arrives before the solution. May you continue to love each, forever.”
Farewell tribute (colleague relocating):
“Prakash brought calm to chaos. When deadlines collided last winter, he called a 15-minute huddle, asked three quiet questions, and the fog cleared. We’ll miss his steadiness and we’ll keep it alive by pausing, asking, then acting.”
Award acceptance (team lead):
“On behalf of the team, Thank You. We had a rough year, and the turning point was a customer who told us exactly where we were failing. We listened, we rebuilt, and the results belong to them as much as to us. We’ll keep earning this by staying close to the people we serve.”
Final thought
Special-occasion speaking isn’t about grand language. It is about right-sized words that honour real people at real moments. Pick one structure, add one honest story, end with one strong line. Done well, your voice becomes a bridge between achievement and appreciation, between loss and what we’ll carry forward, between a milestone and the momentum to reach the next one.
And now, the toast:
“To you, the reader who finished this article and is brave enough to practice. May your next toast be shorter, your next tribute truer, and your next award moment calmer. To showing up, speaking with heart, and getting 1% better each time. To you!”
[Shakya is an entrepreneur, certified trainer, and small business consultant. He can be reached for an executive mentoring session at
suman@tangentwaves.com]
