Ceremonial and Special Occasion Speaking
Ceremonial Speaking
Ceremonial speaking brings people together and heightens their awareness of what they share as a community. While informative speaking imparts knowledge, and while persuasive speaking attempts to change attitudes and behavior, ceremonial speaking shares aims, beliefs, and aspirations.
All cultures have rituals and ceremonies.
Here at the CAL our ceremonies include student convocations, graduation ceremonies, and honors convocations.
In the past few years we have witnessed a number of ground-breaking ceremonies for new buildings and opening ceremonies when they were finally built.
Sororities, fraternities and student organizations have induction ceremonies and sports teams, departments and other groups hold annual banquets where students are given awards and other people are acknowledged.
For example, each year there is a dinner where all the donors who have endowed scholarships meet the students who have been awarded the scholarships.
There are many things which we as a community celebrate together.
When faculty retire there is often an event where their students and colleagues say good bye, wish them success in their retirement, and celebrate their contributions to the university.
All too often the University community comes together for memorial services to remember students, faculty and staff who have passed away.
Two of my favorite events of the year are the Wild Game Dinner and the Christmas Concert.
There are speeches at all these events!
Speeches for special occasions include speeches of introduction, after-dinner speeches, speeches of inspiration, acceptance and receiving awards and eulogies given at a funeral or memorial service.
We will give some guidelines for the other types of ceremonial speeches, then focus on the tribute speech.
My experience is that students can excel when they choose to deliver a ceremonial speech, particularly a speech of tribute.
I have been moved to tears, enjoyed moments of laughter, and been awed and blessed by the many messages of hope, celebration and tribute that students have expressed in their speeches.
Types of Ceremonial Speeches
Speeches of introduction
At many events someone is asked to introduce the main speaker.
The speech of introduction is not the focus of the day but it has an important function.
Besides actually introducing the speaker, the speech serves to honor the speaker and gets the audience prepared, ready and even eager for the main event.
The idea of the speech is to set the speaker up for success with this audience! Speeches of introduction are brief.
That does not mean they are only a sentence or two in length but usually they are under five minutes.
The following speech of introduction not only introduces the speaker but also builds community and honors others for their outstanding contributions.
Speeches of acceptance
A speech of acceptance should:
- express gratitude for the honor you have received;
- acknowledge those who made the accomplishment possible;
- focus on the values the award represents;
- and be presented in language that matches the dignity of the occasion.
Speeches of celebration
Some speech occasions call listeners to share joy over some accomplishment.
Such occasions may mark the beginning or completion of a process, such as the opening of the school year or the end of football season or graduation.
Speeches can also serve as fund-raising affairs, political rallies, or award banquets.
The type of speech most often heard on such occasion is called an after-dinner speech because it is typically presented after the speaker and the audience have celebrated the event by eating.
Speakers making such presentations usually do not introduce radical materials that require listeners to rethink their values or that ask for dramatic changes in belief or behavior.
Nor are such occasions the time for anger or negativity.
A GOOD AFTER-DINNER SPEECH LEAVES A MESSAGE THAT CAN ACT AS A VISION TO GUIDE AND INSPIRE FUTURE EFFORTS.
Here are some clips from a speech by Michelle Obama at a high school graduation ceremony in Anacostia, MD
Of course a toast at a wedding or other celebration is a special kind of speech.
Click on the website below for a great video with tips on writing a Best Man Speech. The advice works for any celebratory speech.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-give-an-excellent-best-man-speech
Role of Humor
Humor is an essential ingredient in most after-dinner speeches because of the gala nature of the occasion.
In the introduction of a speech, humor can place both speaker and audience at ease.
Humorous stories can create identification by building an "insider's" relationship between speaker and audience that draws them closer together.
In sharing humor together, the audience becomes a community of listeners.
Since a toast--such as at a wedding--is a mini after-dinner speech, be sure to include all the audience in recalling humorous events by telling what the event was.
If your story is not suitable for all ears, save it for another time.
Telling jokes or making references to events that only some of the audience is familiar with is alienating and isolating part of the group gathered and defeats the purpose of creating community.
Recount the story in such a way so all the audience can enjoy the humor.
Sometimes inside humor grows out of the shared experiences of the group such as if they all share the same profession or have an experience in common.
In that case, a simple reference to it is useful and adds both humor and builds a sense of community.
Inside humor can also develop out of something that is happening right then and there and it may relax the audience to make reference to it, such as referring to a snowstorm that is waging outside or the temperature of the room.
Be sure to avoid religious humor, racist or ethnic humor, sexist humor, and even political humor.
Even if there will not be anyone present of different religions, racial mix, ethnic backgrounds, or varying political values it is still unwise to use humor that can be construed as offensive to others.
Why?
Because you might--and likely will--offend someone, thus destroying the group unity you are there to build.
Creating negative reactions in some or all of the audience --can also destroy speaker credibility, and block a fair hearing of the rest of the speech.
Use humor to make a point.
Often the best kind of humor centers on the speakers themselves and can endear the speaker to the audience.
Although the stories the speaker tells about himself or herself seem to put the speaker down, they actually build the speaker's ethos.
Make sure there is a point to the humor and a lesson for the audience. Your speech should not be a string of one-liners but should have structure and cohesiveness.
One of my friends in college did a wonderful after-dinner-speech that was entitled "Shortcuts to the Sheepskin" in which she told numerous humorous ideas she had for getting that A in a course or making an impression on professors.
The following underscores the points I have made above.
Speeches of tribute
As we have already indicated, this speech is the most common and effective special occasion speech given in speech classes.
Let's see how to construct this speech.
If you had developed a speech honoring Michael Phelps' victories, you would have prepared a speech of tribute.
The speech of tribute, which may center on either a person or on an event, recognizes and celebrates accomplishments.
You might make a speech honoring a teacher you have had, a special friend, or someone you admire--your father, mother, a sister, brother or coach.
The person you pay tribute to does not have to be famous, have earned awards, or be reported in the media.
If you can think of particular values the person has lived out and can think of experiences or stories to illustrate these values, then you can construct a speech of tribute about this person.
Keep in mind that the speech of tribute requires that you illustrate the values you have shared with specific stories and clear examples.
Following the guidelines of magnification of values, these stories or narratives can be symbolic incidents that could benefit society anywhere--in the family, community, school rooms, business, or work.
There are many, many examples of speeches of tribute but this eulogy by Ted Kennedy at his brother Robert's memorial service is truly a great speech of tribute.
Accomplishments and events
Accomplishments and events are usually celebrated for two basic reasons.
First, they are important in themselves; the influence of the person you honor may affect the lives of many or a few--but a positive outcome is present.
Second, they are important as symbols.
Remember the significance of the event or accomplishment is that it draws the community together bound by the shared values it represents. In your speech be sure to highlight those values and concentrate on bringing the community together.
In this speech by Professor Torsten Persson, when he was presenting the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2012 at the Stockholm Concert Hall he acknowledges the significance of contributions of Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley to the lives of others while holding them up as a symbol of the kind of contributions the Nobel Prize honors.
Here the speaker acknowledges the contributions of the recipient while at the same time inspiring the audience by celebrating the lives that were touched by his contributions. In August 2011, a 66 year-old man in Livingston, New Jersey, gets a new kidney. The donor is a complete stranger, a 44 year-old man from Riverside, California, who offers his left kidney as a genuinely altruistic gesture. The recipient's niece is prepared to donate one of her kidneys to her uncle, but belongs to the wrong blood group. Instead, the niece is asked to donate her kidney to an unknown woman in Wisconsin, whose ex-boyfriend in turn donates one of his kidneys to another anonymous patient in Pittsburgh. The chain does not come to an end until 60 coordinated transplants have taken place across the entire United States. Four days before Christmas Eve, a 30th patient with chronic kidney failure, a 45 year-old man in Chicago, resumes a normal life after a difficult year of dialysis. This success story reflects not only achievements in nephrology, but also innovative research in matching theory. Thirty kidneys can be allocated among thirty patients in an almost infinite number of ways. But only a few of these potential matches are truly great, because the human body is so prone to reject foreign organs.
Below is the press conference where the announcement is made. To find the English delivery and the speech I am referencing above click on the video and move your cursor to minute 7:00 for the speech.