There are many occasions on which a congratulatory speech will be given ? retirements, promotions, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, awards, when a good review is written on MS by Amrita, Zuludancing,Pranavi,Venkat,jai_cooer, pritamshetty, Cousin2,manoj101,bhavana, doublea etc, and the setting can range from the very formal to the very informal. The size of the audience can likewise run the gamut from very small and intimate to very large. Each congratulatory speech must be prepared taking all of these elements into account.

1. Who is being honoured and what are they being honoured for? The speaker should be thoroughly well acquainted with the person receiving the honour and the nature of the honour itself, particularly in the case of a special award. If you are not adequately acquainted with both the honouree and the honour being bestowed, you may not be the right person to deliver the speech.

2. If you are chosen to give the speech regardless of the fact that you are not sufficiently familiar with the honouree, you obviously will need to familiarize yourself with this person?s history, background, special talents, skills and interests, family, etc. Find out as much information as you can - the following examples are provided to help you in your research:

o birthplace, hometown, childhood upbringing
o interesting, unusual or traumatic childhood experiences
o education, degrees
o family members, teachers, others who have had a significant impact
o unusual or interesting jobs
o turning points in his/her life
o travel opportunities which exposed the honouree to other peoples and cultures
o special challenges or obstacles presented and overcome
o when did his/her talents first emerge, and did his/her family recognize and encourage these talents?
o famous, infamous, well-known or otherwise prominent ancestors or relatives
o when and how did he/she meet their spouse?
o children ? names, ages, and grades (if still in school)/occupations (if adults)
o special achievements, contributions and accomplishments
o other awards/honours received
o hobbies, special interests

3. Remember that it is not necessary to gush over the honouree. While the tone of your speech should be positive, it is not necessary to be overly flattering. Don?t be afraid to ’’roast’’ the honouree a little bit, especially if he/she is a close friend or family member. The key is to accurately reflect the honouree?s personality and character in both the praise and the ’’roasting’’.

4. Keeping in mind the advice given in #3 above, remember that you want the honouree, and the audience, to be pleased with your speech. Keep in mind what the reaction of the honoured guest will be to your remarks ? you don?t want to embarrass the honouree or his/her family. And you do want to entertain everyone, but most of all you want them to know why this person is being honoured. And that requires an understanding of what type of person you are honouring, and why their peers and their family respect them, so that you can impart this information to your audience.

Now that you are prepared, lets use the speech for all MS members who have won the contests on MS!!