Offer them hope! And something to smile about
With the holidays approaching, it's time again for looking back and forward with Christmas speeches and New Year's speeches. Quite a difficult task in these times of uncertainty: unrest in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine and polarization in society. The world is in flux and that comes with feelings of stress and anxiety. Consider Mark Rutte's recent speech telling us to prepare spiritually for war. At the same time, a year-end speech is also an opportunity to connect and give people a little hope.
How do you come up with such a message that strikes the right chord?
Here are three tips based on some of the best speeches of 2024.
Togetherness
Create a sense of togetherness. You do this by crossing over into your audience's lifeworld. Appoint shared values and needs. In the end, we are all in the same boat. In her strong speech at the DNC, Michelle Obama referred to the values she herself inherited from her mother: Do something!
Humor
Especially in these dark times, people need perspective through humor or entertainment. See if you can start the speech with a witty remark or joke, and otherwise with a surprising question or fact. Jerry Seinfeld showed how to do it at his commencement speech at Duke University.
Positivity
hope and positivity. With the Netherlands mostly complaining about everything that is wrong, we sometimes forget to see how good we have it. Take an example from John Leguizamo, who gave an extremely positive speech at the Oscars. His message: look at all we have accomplished.
Finally
And remember: everyone likes it when someone stands up and gives a short, raunchy speech. So the bar is much lower than you think. If you need some help, be sure to download our structure for a year-end speech or New Year's Eve speech at the bottom of the page. Success guaranteed!
PS.For the speech lovers: on December 25 from half past 10 Huib will be on the Speech of the Month panel on Radio 1 again and they will choose the Speech of the Year in a special marathon broadcast.
Do you also want to make the moments you speak in front of a group a success?
Contact us.
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