Types of Special-Occasion Speeches

Although there are various types of special-occasion speeches, the six most common are as follows:

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At some events, you’ll hear more than one type of special-occasion speech being delivered. Consider the Academy Awards (or Oscars) ceremony hosted in Los Angeles by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This star-studded annual event begins with a speech of introduction. A master of ceremonies—perhaps Chris Rock, Neil Patrick Harris, or Ellen DeGeneres—prepares the audience for the main event, often acknowledging the honored tradition of the Oscars while also telling jokes to loosen up the crowd. At some point during the evening, a well-known actor gives a presentation speech before announcing a lifetime achievement award for a long-famous director or producer. Recipients of Oscars and lifetime achievement awards deliver acceptance speeches thanking the academy, exclaiming how much the award means to them, and acknowledging (sometimes seemingly endlessly) the support they’ve received from their families and colleagues. Later in the evening, a presenter might eulogize a recently departed luminary from the motion-picture industry.

Each of the six types of special-occasion speeches serves a unique purpose and evokes a different mood, but they all have something in common: to deliver them effectively, you must apply certain common skills (such as evoking your listeners’ emotions and being mindful of their expectations). We present the following guidelines to give you a basic foundation of knowledge and then explore strategies tailored to each of the six types of speeches.