Sports award speeches

[Romulus]

Anyone know of a site that contains any kind of speech given prior to some sort of sports award. I have a banquet coming up soon and I'm to give a speech for the most outstanding athlete on our team. I'm not that great at public speeches but if I had some sort of ideal what is expected out of a speech such as this, I might not make a total jackass out of myself.

But then again I'm sure some people here would find it rather amusing if I looked like a total tool at the podium. ;)

[Hullebullen]

I don't have any links for you but I'll give you some pointers instead:

*keep it simple and short - Noone likes to listen to someone who seems to go on and on and never seems to stop.

*stick to the subject - Seems simple enough but some people still miss this one.

*Tell a story - Remember that you should stick to the subject. If it's someone you don't know in person this might be a little awkward. For instance, you could tell something about how this person wanted to play the drums instead when he/she was little and had to be dragged to every training and so on and now this person is here to receive an award. The story should have a connection to the subject, which in this case is sport.

Don't talk about stuff that would embarass the subject of your speech (such as the time you and him/her went to a party after a win and he/she got so pissed he/she puked all over the place and had to spend the night in jail. It might be funny, but it sure ain't appropriate).

*wrap it all up with some personal reflections over why you think this person have deserved the award, congratulate him/her and then you're home free!

[Hullebullen]

...and one more: don't excuse yourself. If you start off with:"well, I ain't not much for speeches", people will get a "negative" view of what you're going to say, regardless if your speech is good or not. You improve your chances of getting people a good feeling about your speech if you don't immediately give them the notion that your speech is going to both suck and blow. Let them decide afterwards if your speech was good or not.

[Romulus]

Thanks!!!^^^^^ ;)