How to write a great work anniversary speech

by Rick Joi
Rick Joi is the founder of The Workiversary Group and author of the award‑winning book, Inspiring Work Anniversaries.

Writing and giving a speech can be intimidating, especially if that’s not a typical part of your job.

But, writing a celebratory work anniversary speech is easier than it might seem, especially now that you’ve found this blog post! 😉

The speech objectives

Every great speech has clear objectives.

A celebratory work anniversary speech has these two objectives:

Make the long-serving employee feel special and appreciated 🥰
Help others listening to the speech feel a deeper connection with the long-serving employee

Keep the goal of maximizing those two objectives in mind as you choose what to include in the speech and what not to include.

And, remember that the second objective is as important as the first. While you’re there to honor the long-serving employee, you also need to provide value to the rest of the audience.

Preparation

Great speeches start with great preparation. 🤔

Your knowledge and view of the long-serving employee is just your narrow perspective. You can add to the richness and depth of your speech by reaching out to others who have been close to the long-serving employee over the years. Try to get to as many of their managers and their managers’ managers as you can. Also, reach out to colleagues who have been close to them over the years. If people from their personal life will be there for the speech, try to reach out to them, too.

Here are five great questions to ask:

What would you consider their biggest accomplishments since they joined?
What’s your favorite memory from working with them?
What do you appreciate most about them?
Do you have any photos of them or their accomplishments? (If you’re talking to their significant other, you can also ask for pictures of them with their family, doing treasured hobbies, and perhaps even embarrassing photos from their youth. If they work for a train company, find these photos! 🚂)
Who else should I make sure I reach out to with these questions?

The answers to these questions will help you build up a lot of material for your speech.

Speech structure

The person organizing the event should be able to give you an idea of how long the speech should be. Shorter is generally better. Don’t be afraid to cut good material to bring more attention to the great material. (The times in parentheses are just guidelines and are assuming a 5-10 minute speech.)

Start by thanking your audience for joining you to honor and celebrate the past however many years that the honoree has been with the organization. If the organization has a clear and well-communicated mission or purpose, then you’ll want to mention that it’s about more than just time, it’s also about contributing to the mission or purpose. (15-30 seconds)

If you have them, show the photos from their personal life next. Your primary goal in this section is to help the audience get to know the employee better. If something from their personal life can in some way be connected to their work, mentioning that is fine, but it’s not necessary to find connections. (0-120 seconds)
Next, mention their start date and year. Try to come up with a visual for it. A photo of them when they started is best, but a photo showing the organization when they started, such as the building or a product can also work. Barring that, you can flash up references to pop culture in that year like popular movies or songs. (15-30 seconds)
Then, tell the personal story of how you met them. If you have a picture of the two of you together, that’s amazing, though rare. Sharing a first impression that would go on to foreshadow their contributions works well here. You can also joke about how neither of you were probably expecting or thinking about this moment back then, which can be a fun lead in to sharing that you are honored to be the one chosen to give the speech. (60-120 seconds)
Then, for the bulk of the speech, mine the accomplishments, memories, and what colleagues appreciate most that you captured in the preparation. Showing any related pictures adds to the interest level. (3-6 minutes)
End with heartfelt gratitude for the employee’s contribution to the organization and for all the people they’ve impacted, and ask for a round of applause. 🙏 (30 seconds)

What not to do

Celebratory work anniversary speeches are really positive, and not much can go wrong, but we have assembled this small list to be aware of:

Don’t make divisive or insensitive comments that could alienate some of your audience. Unless you’ve run it by and got the okay from at least three folks who are more timid than you, avoid politics, race, national origin, religion, and sex. 🚫
Don’t make anyone feel bad. For example, don’t mention who the employee beat out for a promotion. Don’t dwell on big mistakes that the employee cleaned up.
Don’t end with a mention of your desire for the employee to continue to stay for a long time. That can taint an otherwise celebratory speech with the tinge of self-centeredness. The speech is meant to be a celebration of the past, not an attempt to influence the future.
Don’t forget to practice!

Practicing

Ever seen an amazing speech? It’s not because the speaker was more talented than you, it’s because they practiced.

Admittedly, celebratory work anniversary speeches are not high stakes, but you will honor the long-serving employee more, and look better yourself, if you practice.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when practicing:

Slow down. 🐢 Most people speak too fast when speaking publicly. Your speech is important. You want people to be able to be able to both understand and relish it. Pause after particularly powerful statements.
Time your speech. It’s probably longer than you think, especially if you succeed at slowing down your speaking.
Ask whoever is listening for ideas for improvement more than once. The first time, most people will say something encouraging, but unhelpful, like “it was great”.

It’s highly recommended that you practice a couple times on your own, and then practice a couple times in front of at least one other person. (Think the speech is too long to do that? One trick is to make the speech shorter. 🙂)

Final thoughts

You’re going to do great and everyone is rooting for you to succeed.

You very well might create one of the most memorable highlights of someone’s career!

Have fun, and good luck! ☘️

Want an editable and printable version of this blog post to provide to share with your event’s work anniversary speakers?

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