Where are you giving your speech? Professional speakers usually give their speeches in venues that are professionally equipped. And soundproofed. For the speaker who is giving a eulogy for the death of a friend or the incoming President of a sporting organisation that may not be the case. So if you are giving a speech in less formal surroundings it is a good idea to check the venue first.
A church will usually have a microphone system but if you are speaking at a funeral home or a graveside this won’t be the case and your eulogy will have to be delivered in a loud, clear voice. Your venue may be beside a motor racing track or a nosy factory? If so, your speech could be drowned out by the sound of the engines racing or machines working and you will have to allow for the fact when speaking. Does the microphone work? It’s too late to discover it doesn’t when you start your talk. Practise using it and ask someone to check that they can hear you from the end of the room.
If you are speaking at your mother’s birthday or your grandson’s Bar M mitzvah the party may be held at home. If so you will probably not have a microphone at all and you should practise throwing your voice so that your wonderful toast can be heard by all present. Another tip would be to arrange beforehand for a little stand of some sort. When people gather around the table where the birthday cake is placed for instance you may not be seen by those in the back of the crowd. That is, of course, unless you are seven feet tall!
Even professional speakers can have problems with venues. If they are opening a business conference in a hotel for instance the room may be beside where the beer crates are unloaded and that’s a very noisy procedure. Alternatively, there may be a wedding in another room with a band belting out tunes. You need to be sure too that you won’t be interrupted while giving your speech so arrange for dishes to be cleared away before you begin. So whatever the occasion or wherever the speech is being given check out the venue first. That way you can be sure of getting your message across.

Check out our sample speeches

Birthdays they come for all sorts of people
You’re grandmother, your uncle or son
And of course for all sorts of ages
Your daughter might be 21.
It could be the birthday of your dear mom
Or you dad could be sixty long years
Your granddad might have reached 90
Or it might be one of your peers
Who is now 40 and you’d like to express
All your good wishes without making a mess
Or instead give to him a most teasing roast
Of course you’d end with a suitable toast.
So whatever the age or the person in question
Consult us at Speech-Writers is our suggestion.

Check out our sample speeches

Personalise your party.  That’s the secret of successful entertaining. It’s more important to put thought into the preparation than to spend a fortune on fancy foods. Take a son’s 40th birthday for instance. If he were a keen tennis player you could do up the room with his club colours and have the cake iced and decorated as a tennis court. Maybe ice cream deserts could be provided in the shape of tennis balls or the centrepiece of the tables might be tennis figurines. It’s all about using your imagination.
The father of the girl who is sweet sixteen might organise tapes of her favourite group to be played with the room decorated with all sorts of pictures of that group. The menu could be adapted so that the courses were labelled with the name of members of the group e.g.  Shane’s soup, Barry’s Beef. Perhaps her friends could be invited to dress up like the members of that group. Maybe you could get in touch with the group’s agent and arrange for her to get a special birthday message from them.
A couple who are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary might like the room decorated with newspaper headings over the years of their marriage. A notice board could show photos of family events since the time of their big day. Alternatively that notice board could show written wedding anniversary wishes from all their guests. A video message from absent friends might be another idea.
So take a theme based on the occasion in question. It might be a sporting theme or a sentimental one. It might involve doing a bit of background research such as digging up lost friends or collecting jokes about their hobby whether it be ballroom dancing or playing the trumpet. Whatever you choose to do surprise the person or the couple and really give the guests something to talk about. It’s a great way to get a party going and to give a memory.

Check out our sample speeches

Thanksgiving is only one reason for a family re-union. Families also gather for a grandmother’s birthday or a golden wedding anniversary. They also come together for such family occasions as a wedding or a funeral. Thanksgiving, though, is the occasion where families re-unite although there is no specific family reason for the gathering. It’s a federal holiday of course, and even for those with no religious beliefs it is a day when they express their thanks for their lot in life. Most importantly they give thanks for being in the midst of their loved ones. Families come in all sorts of combinations and live in all sorts of places. A Thanksgiving Day re-union puts the focus on the family and what it means in our lives. It’s very much a time for gathering around the tables and doing what mankind has done since time immemorial and that is eat, drink and hear all the family gossip. It’s a time when we hear of the sorrows and joys of the members of our own clan. Even those who are not in regular contact with each other appreciate the fact that we need such re-unions even with those with whom we are not always in agreement. A family re-union is like a giant canvas on which Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving we paint a picture of family life at that particular time.

Check out our sample speeches

Everyone likes to be appreciated. Yet while most of us are quick to criticise we are, unfortunately, much slower to praise or to thank. We know, deep down, of course, that we ought to express our thanks to certain people. That is probably what gave the greeting card industry the opportunity to cash in our sense of guilt by marketing such occasions as fathers’ day and mothers’ day.
At Christmas or at the end of the company year many executives do thank their staff in their happy holiday/staff motivational speeches. Companies also thank customers in with client appreciation speeches. By doing so they are responding to a human need and it is good business as well.
On a more personal level one of the couple celebrating their wedding anniversary will thank guests for gifts and good wishes. The same applies at birthdays where the birthday boy or girl often says a few words of thanks.
We often forget to say thank you to a teacher. Yet teachers are often one of the greatest influences in our lives. In fact, second only to our parents, they are often the people who determine who or what we become later on. Many of them spend long hours helping us with problems we may have with a certain subject. Certainly they often go beyond the call of duty in encouraging and helping their pupils. In fact they are often the mentor who means the most to us and certainly the schools that have good teachers should treasure them and express gratitude to them too. So if you’ll remember your teacher in later years say the right thing and he or she will remember you too.

Check out our sample speeches

There was once a popular hit the words of which went “Let’s get together again”. It’s the ideal advice for anyone who plans a party. Getting together with old friends helps make the occasion a great success. If it’s your mother’s birthday she would probably be delighted to see the old friend who was her bridesmaid perhaps. If it’s your father’s retirement he would probably be glad to see an old colleague who had moved onto another job somewhere else.

Perhaps you are having a family re-union? If so making a big effort to contact those cousins with whom you’ve lost touch will be well worthwhile. They’ll probably be delighted that you made the effort. There are some occasions that call out for such a family re-union. Take a bar mitzvah or a wedding anniversary for instance. It’s the ideal time for the generations to mix.

Sadly many of us only get together at a time of mourning. Whether it’s your sister’s funeral or an uncle’s funeral it is a time for a get-together. So don’t rush off after the funeral service but stay and revive memories with family and friends. It will help give you comfort and together, you can reminisce and tell tales of the loved one you have lost.
There are, of course, other reasons for getting people together. It might be a political rally or at the firm’s annual picnic. Whatever the reason it’s good to mix with like minded people. If you find you don’t get on with them you can always chalk it down to experience and avoid the next gathering!

Check out our sample speeches

Love is in the air. As the 14th February approaches every store has its Valentine cards and its gifts. Hotels are offering romantic meals and get-away breaks. Romeo’s and Juliet are trying to compose loving sonnets and songwriters are trying to write new songs about love.
It’s worth remembering, though, that there are different kinds of love. The father of the bride giving a speech on his daughter’s wedding day will say how much he loves her and his toast will wish her all the happiness in the world.
A birthday speech for a mother will usually be given because she is special to her son or daughter. That son or daughter wants to tell her how much her family appreciates all she has done for them during her lifetime.
Love can be shown in action too, by volunteering to help others. The thousands of people who raise funds, work in third world countries or with those who are ill, poor or homeless are all expressing love in a very special way. You can love a sport or a type of food. Love is being expressed by the godparent who gives a christening or baptismal speech or the grandchild who gives a eulogy at his/her grandmother’s funeral.
In fact the more you think about it the more you realise that love really does make the world go around.

Check out our sample speeches

Get the age right. That’s the secret of writing a good birthday speech or toast. A birthday, you see, is a time for looking back and forward. Obviously speeches for the birthday of a grandmother will have a lot more memories than 1st birthday speeches for a boy. On the other hand in a grandfather’s 90th birthday speeches your wishes for the future will not encompass as many years as that for the celebration of a girl who is sweet sixteen.
So your speech should be relevant to the age of the person who is celebrating. A war veteran might be proud to have his war time adventures mentioned. A man who is at retirement age would probably be very happy to hear how much his family appreciated his lifetime’s work to support them. Unlike wedding anniversaries birthdays do not have connections with the numbers of years being celebrated. There are no silver or golden birthdays but celebrants do have their own connections with happenings during their particular lifetime. It’s another way of personalising your speech.

Check out our sample speeches

Every birthday has a special significance. The first birthday of a son is an occasion for oohing and aahing by grandparents and aunts. It’s a day for teddies and toys and balloons. A sweet sixteen birthday is about love and pride and hope for the future of a girl who has become a woman. The 40th birthday of a man is one when he takes the opportunity to celebrate an occasion that is more fun than his normal workaday world of job and mortgage.
We celebrate birthdays in all sorts of ways. There are the casual ones where those attending order a pitza and have a few cans at home with their friends. There are formal do’s in fancy hotels. You can celebrate your birthday by taking a trip down the country or a cruise around the world. There are black tie events and fancy dress parties.
Birthday gifts range from something hand made by your child at the crèche to hugely expensive jewellery or clothes. Some people have the knack of choosing just the ideal gift while others spend a fortune for something you don’t want or need.
Birthday cards come in all shapes and sizes. Some warm your heart while others tickle your fancy. There are birthday loving messages for mothers and crude comments for friends. Sometimes the cards are bigger and more expensive than the actual gift we give.
Whether it’s an 80th birthday for grandmother or a 21st for a niece birthdays are a time for looking back at times past and forward to the future. Their significance is that we have lived, loved and laughed for another year and that we are hoping that we have many more years left to us to do more of the same.

Check out our sample speeches

Have you ever thought about friendship and what it means in our lives? Children usually come home from their first day at school to tell their mother they have made new friend. They play with these  friends, fall out with them too and then make it up again.
For many of us our friendships go back to those long ago schooldays.
Later in life we make friends in sports clubs, at university or at work. Maybe we become friends with our neighbours. Isn’t it nice to pay tribute to those friendships at the important times in our friends’lives?  Maybe it’s your best female friend’s birthday for instance.  So why not give a little speech about what she means to you and wish her well? It could be that you are asked to be best man at your friend’s wedding. Wouldn’t it be a pleasure to toast the happy couple? If you lose a friend isn’t it good to be able to share your memories in a eulogy to a friend.
Good friends are listeners when you need them. . They are happy to share in your good news. They give you sympathy and understanding when times are bad and encouragement when you are discouraged. No matter how far away he or she may live a good friend is always at the other end of the phone.
You should work at your friendships because they are precious things. They are about giving as well as taking. A good friend is appreciative. Such a friend lifts you up when you are blue and will talk halfway through the night with you. They make your world a better place. Friends – make them and keep them.

Check out our sample speeches