The holiday season gives us the perfect opportunity to spread a little festive cheer. And delivering a great Christmas speech is a fantastic way to do that!
Key Takeaways
A HOLIDAY speech is a perfect way to share festive affection during these sensational holidays.
Start by:
- Having an office Christmas party
- Offering gratitude and recognition to your team
- Lightening up the room and giving bright sentiments
- Including everyone on your team
- Decorating the office (don’t forget the Christmas tree!)
- Appreciation should be spread to everyone
- You need to practice your speech to deliver a great message
Sometimes, knowing where to start with your holiday speech can be challenging. Many of us might have a firey passion for telling our employees “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” with a gratifying speech.
But not all of us know how to use the right words to get our message across.
If that sounds like you, keep reading! Here are the best ways to give a speech during the holidays.
See Related: 20 Virtual Holiday Party Ideas For 2022
Tips For Giving An Oustanding HOLIDAY Speech
A lot goes into a holiday party to make it a successful and fun event. No matter what route you take or the holiday theme you pursue, no holiday office party is complete without a speaker that will deliver a touching, memorable, and seasonal speech!
As an experienced and well-established corporate emcee, I know how intensive speeches can be. If you’re rather new to public speaking, I know it can be a little daunting.
However, giving a Christmas speech is much easier than it may seem. The holiday season gives us amazing festive inspiration and makes it so much easier to connect with our audience.
Holiday speeches can be incredibly rewarding and fun to give. Wondering where to start?
Here are some of my favorite tips to make your holiday speech one for the books!
#1. Have A Christmas Party To Go With It
If you’re planning on giving a speech, you should also count on hosting a Christmas office party. That should go without saying.
A great seasonal speech reflects on the successful year past and helps us relive enjoyable memories. And your speaker, whether it be you or a professional keynote speaker, will be the one to set the tone for the entire Christmas event.
That’s why having a remarkable and heartwarming speech is so essential.
How To Have An Amazing Annual Office Party During The Holidays
We all know that seasonal office parties are one of the most iconic parts of the holiday season. And, of course, your organization should be included in that!
Your speech won’t be complete unless it’s leading up to something. You’re setting the tone for the successful year ahead, and there needs to be something to commemorate that!
And that something should be a Christmas office party. The best way to make your speech and subsequent party stand out is to truly embrace the holiday party spirit.
Looking for a few ideas to make your event stand out?
- Decorate the entire office with seasonal embellishments and trimmings
- Don’t forget food and beverages – Christmas isn’t complete without seasonal eating!
- Have holiday games and fun activities to promote team bonding and spark new friendships
#2. Offer Recognition To Your Employees
A speech during the holidays is an excellent opportunity to give your employees the recognition they deserve. After all, a festive and touching speech in a professional setting can help you express your employee appreciation.
Each workplace needs to know how to share and express recognition to those working there. Especially if the past year was particularly stressful, offering your team a heartfelt and uplifting statement can be truly impactful.
There’s No Better Holiday Gift Than The Gift Of Appreciation
Your team deserves to be recognized for their valiant efforts and hard work.
Whether you want to thank someone who successfully dealt with a challenging client or applaud an employee who put in extra work to meet a tight deadline, your team deserves recognition.
It always feels good when someone notices our professional efforts. So include it in your speech and watch how your team glows afterward!
#3. Lighten Up The Room
The Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year for a reason. So give into the holiday cheer and festive affection and spread bright emotions!
After all, there’s nothing worse than a drab and boring professional speech. So go the opposite way. Make your material full of life and emotions, and touch your employee’s hearts.
Make your speech funny and comedic. Laughter brings us together, and it’s the best way to connect with your team.
Tell A Joke!
When I say “be funny,” most people automatically think about telling a joke. And, of course, telling a joke is the best way to get the laughter flowing.
Don’t be afraid to tell a corny dad joke. The funniest material is comfortable and family-friendly, so let it all out!
#4. Include Everyone!
The holidays are a time for connection, affection, and heartwarming celebrations. Your holiday office speech should be something that will unite your entire team together.
Sometimes, people get carried away, and they establish their emcee humor with crude or dirty jokes in an attempt to pry some laughter from their audience. Don’t do that.
Use inclusive, inviting, and welcoming language, and steer clear of divisive and inappropriate topics. The holidays are full of gratifying and comforting communications. So focus on that!
#5. Decorate The Place Where You’ll Give Your Speech
As I stated earlier, your speech isn’t complete without a holiday party. But both of those aspects aren’t complete without expressive holiday decorations!
Having festive and enjoyable decorations around you will make your speech more touching and fitting.
A seasonal speech deserves to be in a seasonal environment, and cheerful decorations are the best way to do that!
Think about it like this: you wouldn’t give a speech about hiking in the Rocky Mountains sitting on a tropical beach. Those two things don’t exactly fit together nor do they promote a unique theme.
A once-a-year holiday event and speech should have unique decorations to truly bring those festive feelings to life! Whether you are in a rented-out venue or in your daily office space for your speech and party, add in those seasonal decorations, and the rest will fall in line.
Bonus: 14 Employee Appreciation Ideas To Give Thanks To Your Virtual Team
#6. Appreciation Will Go A Long Way
Like recognition, employee appreciation around the holidays is essential. It’s the season of giving, and being stingy with expressing your gratitude can send the wrong type of message.
Showing your employees genuine appreciation and gratitude is the first step in creating a happy and healthy workplace. Your speech just shouldn’t be about celebrating the holidays.
Your speech should be about recognizing your team!
Show genuine emotions, give sincere compliments, and pass on heartfelt sentiments. Your Christmas speech should be touching. And this is the way to do it.
Better yet, attach a holiday gift to your speech. A small token or assorted stocking stuffers are holiday-appropriate and act as a simple gesture to express your gratitude.
No one ever said no to holiday chocolates and sweets!
#7. You’ll Need To Practice
Regardless of the time of the year, you’re still giving a speech. You need to be prepared and organized in your material to ensure your message can reach your target audience.
The key to success in most things in life stems from repeated rehearsal and practice. So if you want your speech to succeed, practice making that happen!
How To Practice Holiday Speeches
If you want your Christmas speech to be memorable and enlightening, you’ll need to work on fine-tuning your public speaking skills. Especially if you get nervous or anxious speaking in front of a crowd, practicing your material will go a long way in setting you up for success.
But before you can practice your speech, you need to write your speech.
Usually, many people may overthink their speech writing. Just keep in mind the tips I’ve laid out for you, and speak from the heart.
Because the most important part of your speech is how you deliver it. Even if you have killer material and hilarious jokes, they won’t hit home if you are just mumbling on stage and acting awkward.
Here are some tips for practicing your speech the right way.
- Rehearse and get feedback. That means you should practice in front of a mirror, in front of friends or family members, or with a video camera to review later.
- Pay attention to your body language. This is where videoing your practice sessions can help. Make sure you’re not doing anything distracting like swaying or fidgeting.
- Use pauses to drive your points home and provide emphasis on keywords or phrases.
- And repeat it all over and over until you are 100% confident in your Christmas speech!
But likely one of the best ways to give a great speech is to have fun with it. Feeling open and connected with your audience will help them relate to you and your message.
Last but not least, I wish you good luck with your speech, and a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Keep Reading: What Is Ethos In Public Speaking & How To Use It Effectively
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Adam Christing has been called “The Tom Brady of emcees.” He has hosted more than 1,000 company meetings, special events, gala celebrations, and more. He is the author of several books and founder of CleanComedians.com. For more event tips, follow Adam Christing on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
