Presenting an Award Speech

Most people do not know how often the awards organizing committees face last minute cancellations from their original presenters. The committees then have to go and scout for someone else to present the award. But then, presenting an award is a real honor so people can't really refuse. Hence, the only thing they can do is put their heads down and write up the presenting an award speech at the 11th hour. But wouldn't it be great if you had some help with it?

The Award Presentation Speech

So how to write that all important giving an award speech? Well, some may feel it is even more difficult than writing the award acceptance speech! Because, well, the person receiving the award knows what it is for and the effort that he/she has put into it, while the person presenting an award might not. This is how the basic layout of the award speech should have.

A Bit About the Occasion
Say how glad you are to be there. Every occasion, especially when it is boring, needs to have the compere/award presenter say how awesomely exciting it was. Say how you're happy to be part of 'this wonderful show display of talent', or a 'bevy of up and coming stars' and the like. Say that it must have been difficult for so many people to execute such wonderful performances and that actually everyone here was beyond brilliant. More verbose among you can add a few inspirational quotes, an anecdote or a whole story. But as everyone knows, no one's really interested in this. But if you like holding the suspense a bit, telling a story is quite effective!

A Bit About Yourself
Perhaps avoidable if you do not wish to drag the thing too long, but it is always good to tell the people a little about yourself, the good old self introductory speech as they call it, or about the company/organization you are representing, at this 'very special occasion'. And how overwhelmed you are at the sight of the proceedings. And how you too wished you were in their place and as talented as the performers are (if you feel that you fit into this of course. Quite inappropriate for a female judge to say the previous sentence in a male bodybuilding competition!).

A Bit About the Winner
Some of us with the appetite for suspense love to carry the presentation forward don't we? To resist creating that atmosphere, tense with apprehension is too much. So we of course like to start with something like 'among these stars one shone brighter tonight'. Describe this star, his/her qualities, the intensity of the performance and how much blood, sweat and toil must have gone in the practice sessions. And then, with a little clue based on what the winner performed, you drop the ball. Name the winner.

The End
You call out the winner(s) on stage, and then ask the winner to say a few words on how hard it was and how it is the happiest day of their lives. Congratulate the winner and move out. Simple as it gets. And that's how all the award speeches for students end!

A small point I'd like to make here is the need to pause every once in a while. Like when you're announcing the winner, or when you're talking about the audience. Always give a fair amount of time for the audience to applaud for the words, laugh at your jokes and for the other judges to speak. The thing about and award speech is, you really need to merge your emotions with the crowd, it's the only way your speech will sound natural instead of words that you mugged up and blurted out a few time in front of the mirror the previous night. Plus it shows you're having fun at the show, something the audience will appreciate and look at to increase their own enjoyment.

Award Speech Example

Not able to find the right words, here's one of the simplest award speech examples. Here's a sample presenting an award speech where you have to give the award away for the winner of a national level children's dance competition.

Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pride to be here today, judging what must be the finest, most wonderful exponents of dance in this country. It is also an honor that I have been given an opportunity to represent my company (company name) at such a huge occasion! They say fortune favors the brave and it indeed takes a lot for kids of such tender age and perform here in front of all these people, on prime time television. Many of us can dance, but only in the comfort of our homes, but hopefully the exhibition of talent we saw today might inspire our hidden talents to come forward! It was a tough competition to judge indeed. The level of performances has been absolutely top-notch. But the one performer that stood out because of his/her sheer determination, talent and energy in the performance only will take away the prize. So without further ado, the winner of this competition is (name of the winner)! Congratulations (name of the winner)! Could you come on stage and say a few words about your experience?

Follow all these tips and I'm sure all your speech writing demons will be chased away!