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% We do so much appreciate your business . . . and we re
determined to keep earning it and to earn more of it.
Close by Praising the Audience
% With winners like you on our team, it s clear that the best
is yet to come!
Close with a Call for Unity
% Let us work, create value, and grow . . . together.
% All of us at [company/organization] look forward to work-
ing more closely with you, as our industry enters a new era
of great promise and exciting opportunity.
Close with Good Wishes
% I wish you every success in taking advantage of the many
exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
Close with Optimism
% We ve only just begun. We ve just begun to explore the
possibilities for pursuing excellence, building our partner-
ship, and breaking new ground in cost, quality, and innova-
tion.
If You re Speaking Near the Beginning of a Year
If you re speaking near the beginning of a year, you can close
with the following:
% I know it s going to be a great year for all of us, a year of
working together, to serve customers/clients/end users
and grow our businesses . . . a year of innovation, profitabil-
ity, and success.
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Part Four
Specific Speech
Situations
ach section of Part Four is devoted to a particular type of
speech whose content is driven less by what the audi-
Eence has in common and more by the audience s expec-
tations, the situation, or the speech topic (or perhaps all three).
105
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Part Four. Specific Speech Situations
28. Keynote Speeches (Internal or External)
These speeches set the tone for an event or conference.
They re expected to be thoughtful and inspirational. Since
attention spans and enthusiasm are high, the keynote is an
excellent opportunity to showcase your speaking skills, get
your message across, and excite everyone about the rest of
the event.
Speak very little about your company or organization,
unless the subject is truly relevant to the keynote. Less is
more.
The material in Sections 15 and 25 will give you ideas
for themes you can develop.
Express Appreciation
% I m honored to be the keynote speaker for this distin-
guished program.
% I m delighted that you ve asked me to deliver the keynote
address. It s an excellent opportunity to talk about some of
the issues that concern all of us.
Tell How the Keynote Word or Phrase the Conference
Theme Excited You
Examples:
% I looked at the conference title, your keynote [whatever
the keynote is] immediately began ringing loud and clear
in my ears, and I knew exactly what I wanted to say to you
today.
% Your conference theme The Spirit of Cooperation is
the keynote I ll be sounding in my remarks today. I con-
sider that spirit absolutely essential to the welfare of our
nation/industry.
107
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Perfect Phrases for Executive Presentations
Create Excitement and Anticipation for Speakers Who
Will Follow You
% Today we have some are highly knowledgeable, thought-
ful, and stimulating presenters who will elaborate on and
reinforce these themes I ve laid out . . . and they ll provide
additional approaches and actions you can take to [accom-
plish whatever the goals of the conference are].
In Your Conclusion, Look Forward to the End of the
Event
What do you hope the audience will gain from the event?
% I urge you to make most of this conference and to leave
here with a head full of new ideas, a handful of new tools,
and a heart full of revitalized enthusiasm and determina-
tion for new and greater achievements. And I wish you
every success.
% It s going to be an exciting [day, week, etc.] of new ideas
and experiences, and I hope you ll come away with [hoped-
for result].
If You re Closing the Conference, Give the Audience a
Positive Sendoff
% Thank you for inviting me. I wish you a successful and
enjoyable conference.
% I thank you again for your invitation. I hope that your con-
ference is productive and stimulating, and that its rewards
are felt long after it has ended.
% I wish you every success in taking advantage of the many
exciting opportunities that I know lie ahead.
% Good luck! Thank you for inviting me, and I hope this con-
ference has been your best ever!
% Thank you . . . and have a great [day, week, etc.]!
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Part Four. Specific Speech Situations
29. Panel Remarks
Your speech is one of several short presentations. The usual
length is five to 10 minutes. The other panelists may be from
different fields (e.g., academia, government) or they may be
from competitor companies. Preparation and research are
key: if you have some idea as to what others plan to say, you
can avoid repetition and handle potential conflicts with
your own speech.
If possible, speak first or last. If you speak first, you ll get
to lay out the basic issues and others will seem to be echoing
you. If you speak last, you re more likely to be remembered.
You ll typically be asked to represent your organization
or your industry and give its position on the panel topic.
Always be sure you understand the topic and make your
speech relevant to it.
In your remarks, take a broad view: try to show who else
benefits or stands to benefit from what your organization is
doing or planning to do. It s OK to plug your organiza-
tion but briefly, subtly, and in connection with the panel topic.
Here are two additional suggestions.
Praise the Moderator and/or Your Fellow Panelists as
Equals
% I m very much aware that I ve been preceded on this
podium by a number of highly eminent speakers. I m
delighted to be in their company and to address this dis-
tinguished group.
Consider Ending by Stating What You Hope the Panel
Discussion Will Achieve
% [State overall, higher goal, then say:] I hope today s discus-
sion will help us to do just that.
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Perfect Phrases for Executive Presentations
30. IPO Announcements
While the actual legal and financial content of your presen-
tation will be largely determined by others and the numbers
and other nuts-and-bolts information will be included in
the printed documents, you can nevertheless (if circum-
stances seem appropriate) make the speech an expression of
your personal feelings about the accomplishment and
thank the people who deserve credit for bringing it about.
Make every effort to accentuate the personal element
and avoid impersonal language and bureaucratic jargon.
(See Sections 46 and 49.)
Discuss the size and significance of the IPO. Express a
sense of accomplishment that the job is done. Consider
mentioning everybody who played a major role senior
managers, lawyers, outside financial advisors, and invest-
ment bankers. Make each group feel good about its contribu-
tion. If appropriate, congratulate the team of leaders on how
well they have worked together to bring the IPO about.
Begin with a Formal Announcement (if No One Else
Has Done So)
% This is a great day for [company] our first day as a pub-
licly traded company.Today, at [exact time], our symbol,
___, crossed the ticker of [name of stock exchange] for the
very first time.
Briefly Review the Company History, Positioning the
IPO as the Next Logical Development
% When we founded [company] in [year], our ambition was
to see it flourish and grow . . . and one day float/be traded
on [name of stock exchange].
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Part Four. Specific Speech Situations
Thank the People Responsible for Your Success Thus
Far
% My deepest thanks to all of the great [name of company]
people who have built such a successful business/institu-
tion/organization and brought us to where we are today.
Talk About the Positive Reaction from the Financial/
Investment Community
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