How to Present an Award: Speech Structure and Examples

Being asked to present an award is a compliment and a small responsibility. For about a minute, you are the person who explains to a room why someone deserves to be recognized. The recipient will remember what you said far longer than the audience will.

The good news is that a presentation speech is short and follows a pattern. This guide gives the pattern, four complete sample speeches at different lengths, and the delivery details that make the moment go smoothly.

The four-part structure

Almost every strong presentation speech has the same four parts, in this order.

1. Context. What the award is and what it stands for, in one or two sentences.
2. What they did. The specific actions, in plain words. One real example is worth more than five adjectives.
3. Why it mattered. Who was helped or what changed because of it.
4. The name, last. Announce it clearly and stop.

Holding the name until the end is the single most useful rule. It gives the speech a direction, lets the audience guess, and means the applause arrives at the right moment and not on top of your best sentence.

How long to speak

One minute is right for most awards, which for most speakers is somewhere around 130 to 150 words. A retirement or a lifetime award can run to two or three minutes. If you are one of many presenters at a ceremony, ask the organizer for your limit and keep to it; the running order was built around it.

Write the speech out in full, read it aloud with a timer, then cut it. Spoken sentences should be shorter than written ones.

Finding the material

• The nomination. If the award came from nominations, start there and quote one line. The guide on how to write an award nomination shows what a good one contains.
• Two colleagues. Ask each for one story. You will use one.
• The record. A project, a number of years, a result. Use facts the audience will recognize as true.
• The award itself. Read what is on it. Your speech and the award should use the same title and tell the same story.

Sample speech: employee of the year (about one minute)

The Employee of the Year award goes to the person who, in the view of the people they work with, made the biggest difference to this company over the past twelve months.
This year’s recipient took on our switch to the new ordering system, a project nobody volunteered for, and ran it so carefully that not one order was lost on the first morning. They did it while training two new team members, and without once letting a customer feel the disruption.
One nomination said: “If you want something to be done properly, you give it to her and then you stop worrying.”
Please join me in congratulating our Employee of the Year, Dana.

If you are also choosing the award, see employee of the year awards.

Sample speech: retirement (two to three minutes)

Twenty-six years ago, this company had eleven employees, one delivery van and a new hire in the accounts office who, on his first morning, asked where the filing system was. The answer was that there was not one. By Friday there was.
That has been the pattern ever since. When something was missing, he built it. When something was broken, he fixed it quietly and told nobody. Most of the people in this room were trained by him, or were trained by someone who was.

What I will remember is not the systems. It is the door that was always open, the patience with the same question asked for the third time, and the habit of giving other people the credit.
We are a better company because he spent his career here, and many of us are better at our jobs because he showed us how.
On behalf of everyone here, with our thanks and our very best wishes for what comes next: Marcus, this is for you.

A retirement speech can be longer because the room wants it to be. Keep it to stories people will recognize, and finish looking forward. For the wording on the award, see retirement plaque wording, and for the award itself, retirement plaques.

Sample speech: volunteer award (under one minute)

Our Volunteer of the Year award recognizes someone who gives their time without being asked twice.
This year’s recipient ran the Saturday reading program at the library in every season and stayed until the last child was collected. When the heating failed in January, she found us another room by lunchtime.
A lot of children in this town read better because of her. Please thank our Volunteer of the Year, Priya.

More on recognizing volunteers: volunteer awards.

Sample speech: team award (about one minute)

Some results cannot be traced to one person, and this award exists for those.
In the spring, our support team inherited a backlog that had been growing for a year. They did not ask for more people. They rewrote how requests are sorted, they covered for each other through a difficult summer, and by September the backlog was gone.
Customers noticed. So did the rest of us.
The Team of the Year award goes to Customer Support. Please come up together: Alex, Bianca, Jordan, Mei and Sam.

With a team, name the group first and then read each person’s name as they walk up. Each member should receive a piece of their own; team awards explains how matching sets work.

Delivery: the minute at the microphone

• Check the name. Ask the recipient, or someone close to them, how it is pronounced. Write it phonetically at the top of your notes.
• Bring notes, not a memory. A card with the full text in large type is fine. Look up at the end of each sentence.
• Slow down. Nerves speed everyone up. Pause before the name.
• Speak to the recipient at the end. Say the last line to them, not to the room.
• Know the hand-over. Hold the award in your left hand, shake with your right, pass it across, then both turn to the camera and hold still for a moment.
• Step back. Once the award is in their hands, the moment is theirs.

Check before the event whether the recipient is expected to speak. If so, hand over the microphone as well as the award; if not, guide them toward the photographer so they are not left standing.

What to leave out

• Inside jokes. If half the room will not understand it, cut it.
• Your own story. One sentence on how you know the recipient is enough.
• A list of adjectives. “Dedicated, hardworking and passionate” describes everyone and no one. Use an example.
• Anything that could embarrass. Teasing that works in a small team can land badly in front of families and executives.
• Surprises about the award title. Use the name that is on the award and printed in the program.

That last point is worth settling early. When we make an award, the title, name and message are confirmed on a design proof before production, so the presenter can read from the same wording. See corporate awards for what we build, and the award ceremony script if you are also hosting the event.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you say when presenting an award?

Say what the award is for, describe what the recipient did with one specific example, explain why it mattered, and then announce their name last.

How long should an award presentation speech be?

About one minute for most awards, which for most speakers is around 130 to 150 words. Retirement and lifetime awards can run to two or three minutes.

Should I say the winner’s name at the beginning or the end?

At the end. Describing the achievement first builds toward the name and keeps the applause from covering what you have to say.

How do you hand over an award properly?

Hold the award in your left hand, shake hands with your right, pass the award across, then turn with the recipient to face the camera and pause for the photograph.

Can I read the speech from notes?

Yes. A card with the full text in large type is better than a memorized speech that goes wrong. Look up at the end of each sentence and say the final line to the recipient.