Last quarter, as you all are aware from the minutes of the previous Board meeting, held on 30 June, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, in this very office, we, that is to say, this esteemed Board, felt obligated to delineate, and indeed to emphasize the value of the progress and growth of our fine company, as could only have been made possibly through the continued efforts of the fine men and women of each of our sundry but equally valued departments, all of which shall herewith be named, in turn, and each member duly honored…

zzzzzzzzzzzzz……

Huh? Oh…sorry, must have nodded off. And who wouldn’t, given such a desperately dull account as that listed above? Speeches are meant to inform, not substitute as a sleeping aid. Here’s how to write speeches that are informative and interesting.

Rule number one: Make it relevant to the audience:

In all business writing, there is no rule more important than this. To use the example above, no one cares what time zone the previous meeting happened to be in. And is it really necessary to point out that we are an esteemed Board?

Since the intent of the above speech is to honor company employees, why not try something like this:

Our company’s continued progress is due mainly to one key factor: you. Each department plays an important part in making us an industry leader. With this in mind, it is my pleasure to sincerely thank each of you for the fine work that you do…

What makes this so much better? Mainly the fact that it’s you-focused. There is one other thing, though. The old standby of speech killers is stilted language (why people ever thought they had to speak in such language is somewhat beyond me—but I digress). Specifically, using words like sundry, herewith, delineate, etc. is not only necessary, but can often be off-putting (avoid words like “off-putting,” too).

So, make it relevant, keep it you-focused, and use language that is easily understood—your audience will appreciate it.