CHAPTER 11
SPECIAL OCCASION SPEAKING
Chapter Objective: By the end of this chapter, students will understand what a special occasion
speech is and how it differs from informative and persuasive speaking. Students will learn
about the different types of special occasion speeches, including what is necessary to include in
these speeches and tips for how to make these speeches more effective.
To use this chapter most effectively, you will want to define the term “special occasion
speech.” Students should be able to distinguish between a special occasion speech and an
informative or a persuasive speech. Students should also be able to identify the different types
of special occasion speeches and pinpoint what is needed to make each the most effective.
Chapter Outline
I. Special occasion speeches differ from informative and persuasive speeches.
A. The organization of special occasion speeches is slightly different, though still
contains an introduction, body, and conclusion.
1. The introduction of a special occasion speech should evoke the common
values or feelings that have brought your audience together.
2. You may need to establish your credibility in the introduction.
3. In the body, make main points clear and support them with entertaining
and inspiring materials.
4. The conclusion refocuses the audience interest on who the listeners are
and what they stand for.
5. Visual aids can be especially useful in special occasion speeches.
B. The purposes of special occasion speaking differ, though are thought to
reinforce the values of the community by praising virtue and condemning vice.
II. Types of ceremonial speeches.
A. Speeches of introduction are one of the most common types of special occasion
presentations; speakers should do the following:
1. Tell listeners enough about the featured speaker that they will
understand the person’s qualifications and why he or she was selected to
speak.
2. Encourage the audience to listen by telling them “what’s in it for them.”
3. Generate interest in the upcoming presentation.
4. Welcome the featured speaker to the stage by giving the title of the
presentation and repeating his or her name.
a.) This type of speech should prepare the audience to listen.
2.) Highlight the speaker’s name.
4.) Express appreciation to the speaker.
6.) Personal material that humanizes the speaker.
7.) The topic of the speaker’s talk.
B. Awards presentations should emphasize the worthiness of the person receiving
the award and explain the award’s significance.
2. Give the name of the winner and his or her reason for winning.
3. Mention the reason why you are glad to present the award.
C. Acceptance speeches demand more from the recipient than a simple thank you.
1. Thank the donor and presenter.
3. Thank others who may have contributed to your success.
5. Express appreciation in your conclusion.
D. Commemorative speeches formally recognize and honor a person, organization,
or occasion.
1. Tributes renew kinship between speaker and audience while recognizing
the occasion.
a.) Recognize or create the identity of the audience.
b.) Commend the audience’s shared history or revered heroes.
2. A toast is a very brief set of remarks traditionally delivered while
audience members hold aloft glasses of wine or champagne.
3. A eulogy offers tribute to someone who has died; a eulogy should do the
following:
a.) Recognize the death.
b.) Temper the audience’s grief by explaining how the deceased
“lives on.”
c.) Redefine the audience’s relationship to the deceased.
d.) Reassure the audience that life will continue.
e.) Sometimes advise the audience on how the death should affect
their own lives.
1.) The eulogy must reknit the community.
2.) The compliments for the deceased must be sincere and
appropriate.
3.) Specific anecdotes about the deceased are appropriate.
4.) A poorly crafted eulogy can be interpreted as
disrespectful or ridiculous.
E. After-dinner speeches were once delivered as the conclusion to a meeting that
includes a meal.
1. After-dinner speeches include any speech that is light, entertaining, and
often inspirational in tone.
2. A speaker delivering an after-dinner speeches should:
a.) Avoid controversy and overly technical explanations while still
reinforcing a central theme.
b.) Not feel obligated to keep the audience laughing constantly.
c.) Be careful to avoid comments that may offend.
d.) Gear humor to the background and interests of the audience.
e.) Reaffirm the occasion and the reason why the audience has
chosen to get together.
f.) Speak with sufficient volume and clear enunciation to overcome
the sounds of courses being served, glasses being filled, plates
being cleared, and servers moving around the room.
g.) Include plenty of attention-getting material throughout the
speech since the attention span of the audience will be low after a
heavy meal.
Classroom Exercises
Online Activity
Ask students to go to TED talks at www.ted.com/talks and find an example of an outstanding
special occasion speech. Ask them to identify the speech they viewed and discuss how the
speech fit the pointers discussed in the text for planning and delivering that type of special
occasion speech.
Active Critical Thinking Activity
To think further about special occasion speaking, ask students to complete the following:
1. List several special occasion speeches you have heard over the last year – your list
may include a toast at a wedding, an introduction to a speaker, a eulogy, or an
after dinner speech. Identify where each speech occurred.
2. Select the best speaker from your list and discuss at least two skills that made the
speaker successful.
To think further about speeches of introduction, ask students to complete the following:
1. Plan a speech of introduction to give before a classmate’s final speech.
2. How will this speech differ in length and content from a typical informative
speech?
To think further about award presentations, ask students to complete the following:
Prepare an award presentation to give to one of your classmates for something they have
done this semester or a speech they have given. Write out the award presentation
following the guidelines in the chapter and prepare to give it in class if asked.
To think further about acceptance speeches, ask students to complete the following:
1. Take the award presentation you wrote about in the previous activity.
To think further about commemorative speeches, ask students to complete the following:
To think further about after-dinner speeches, ask students to complete the following:
1. The June issue of Vital Speeches in 2009 is full of commencement speeches – a
11.1 Banquet Day
Students will learn the essential components for creating each type of special occasion speech
by planning a banquet for the class. They will be assigned to small groups of about 5-6
members and each group will decide on its banquet theme (e.g., sports banquet, corporate
banquet, academic banquet, etc.). Once the theme has been determined, students will choose
11.2 Public Speaking Awards Day
This exercise is best suited for use toward the end of the course, when students have become
11.3 Introducing a Celebrity Guest Speaker
Ask students this question: If you could have anyone in the world, living or dead, speak in our
class today, who would you choose? Students should reveal their choices (to avoid
11.4 Eulogy for a Fallen Hero
You and your students might consider this exercise a bit macabre, but when conducted
11.5 Toast of the Town
To make this exercise more enjoyable and realistic, you and your students should bring enough
soft drinks and cups for the entire class to share. Announce at least one class day in advance
that you have designated a day as toast day. Pair up students in the class or have them select
11.6 Commemorating Great Authors
This exercise requires each student to select an author they admire and detail their
accomplishments, focus on their background, and specific fiction or non-fiction works. They
11.7 Fun with Embellishment
This brief assignment simply requires students to submit on a slip of paper the name of a