5 tips for giving an amazing retirement speech

RTOERO CEO and award-winning communicator Jim Grieve has delivered hundreds of speeches through the years and has attended many retirement events. In this short video, he shares his best tips for giving an amazing retirement speech.

Tips for making your retirement speech meaningful and memorable

1.   Keep it short

Keep the speech to 10 minutes or less. You don’t have to share your entire work history or give kudos to all your past colleagues individually. Not sure how long your speech is? Practice it in front of the mirror a few times and time yourself!

2.   Think about your audience

Remember your audience is at different ages and stages – some are younger, some at the end of their career like you. Try to offer something for everyone!  

3.   Acknowledge the helpers and learning

Consider sharing little mistakes you made and learned from and the names of coworkers who helped or inspired you. Be careful here to avoid jokes or stories that may be at the expense of another person.

4.   Talk about accomplishments

Share the accomplishments you’re most proud of and the accomplishments of your team, organization, and leaders you worked with. The goal is to leave the people who are continuing with the great work feeling empowered.

5.   Share what you’ll miss most and what you’re anticipating

To close out the speech, you can reflect on what you’ll miss most about working, but also what you’re most anticipating as you start retirement. And of course, thank everyone for coming to celebrate with you.

We hope these tips are helpful!

Preparing your retirement speech may be on your retirement planning checklist. If you’re getting started preparing for retirement, check out our free retirement planning workshop. You can attend as many times as you’d like!