A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO WINNING WELCOME SPEECH
The essential gesture that creates an excellent start to any occasion is welcoming. Welcoming every person at an event is quintessential to mark the occasion in the fond memory of people. The usual way adopted to render our welcome on any occasion is a welcome speech.
A welcome speech is a significant facet of any occasion and marks the beginning of the ceremony. A welcome address is a proclamation commencing the event, meeting, or ceremony. It extends a comfortable greeting to all the guests of honor, the dignitaries, and the audience. Followed by a greeting, it briefs up the purpose of the occasion, followed by the schedule. This provides a clear picture of the event of the day.
A welcome speech is said to enhance achieving the motivation of any occasion as it helps gain the support of the individuals attending the event. The welcome speech has to be presented in a particular format and let us have an idea about the structure of the Welcome address.
FORMAT OF THE WELCOME SPEECH:
Quote the occasion:
Commence the welcome speech with any famous quote that suits the occasion. It is not a compulsory step, yet it could be an excellent beginning for a welcome speech.
The quote can be seeking god’s blessing for the event, and it can also be related to the purpose of the occasion.
For example, if the occasion is a prize distribution ceremony for the sports category, then quoting quotes related to sports will be a befitting choice.
Direct towards the significant personalities:
Every occasion’s well proceedings are in the hands of notable individuals, guests, and dignitaries. So, it is vital to pay attention to welcoming them. Greet the guests individually, along with their designation. Following it, highlight the individuals who have been the pillar of support for the event to happen and greet them in the welcome speech.
Follow to the audience:
An event doesn’t become successful and remarkable just with the guests, and the crowd size marks the fruitful happening of an event. So, extending a warm welcome to the audience is fundamentally necessary.
Insist on the objective of the occasion:
Every event has its impetus to happen. Explain the goal of the occasion, and put forth the intention behind conducting the event.
Say, for example, if the ceremony is arranged to honor someone in their achievements in the medical field, then provide a view of their achievements, highlight the significance of those achievements, detail the effort behind those achievements, etc.
Outlay the agenda of the occasion:
Once the briefing is the motive behind the occasion, it is advisable to give a glimpse of the order of events. Giving an idea about the agenda of the occasion will help the audience to stay connected with the event.
Reinforce the thankfulness:
Even though the guests and notables individuals will be greeted and thanked at the beginning of the welcome speech, it is a polite gesture to reinforce the greetings and oblige gratefulness for their presence. It will create a positive impact among renowned individuals on occasion.
The audience is as essential as guests in an event, and the strength of the audience present determines the success of the event. So, it is even more significant to thank the audience once again, finally.
Introduce the next speaker or put forth the following event:
Once the end of the welcome speech has arrived, the speaker is responsible for introducing the next person to their address. If any event follows the welcome speech, say dance, music, etc., the speaker has to conclude the welcome speech with a hint for the next event.
THINGS TO BE REMEMBERED WHILE WRITING A WELCOME SPEECH:
The tone of the speech:
The welcome speech is the most prominent part of an event, and it imprints the image of the entire event. So it is really important to present a welcome speech in a formal professional tone. The tone of the welcome speech will always have a significant impact on the audience.
The welcome speech can have simple words at times but no informal comments.
Never include questions in the welcome speech:
The welcome speech, on occasion, is purely from the host side. Hence, there is a necessity for questions, and asking questions can be boring for the audience. In addition, questions may sometimes give a chance to unnecessary comments.
So it is best to avoid questions in the welcome speech.
List of the dignitaries:
The ultimate purpose of the welcome speech is to greet the dignitaries. So, it is essential to have a complete list of all the guests, dignitaries, and higher officials attending the event. And also, the designations of those people should be included in the welcome speech without fail.
Timing of the speech:
The welcome speech marks the beginning of the event, and a long welcome speech would turn the commencement event itself dull. It is always advisable to have a short, crispy yet includes all the indispensable details.
An excellent crispy welcome speech can be around 5 to 7 minutes.
EXTRA TIP THAT WILL HELP IN GIVING AN EXCELLENT WELCOME SPEECH:
A food, though delicious, will appear pleasing only when presented on a well-garnished plate. In the same way, even if the welcome speech is top-notch, it is still delivered better when the speaker dresses up formally neat. The elegance of the speaker will help pull the attention of the audience.
HELP IN WRITING WINNING WELCOME SPEECH:
Though we can research a lot on the internet, find samples of extraordinary welcome speeches, and edit them according to us, the uniqueness goes missing. To overcome these issues, we can seek the help of essay writing services.
Essay writing services will have professionals who can exclusively write a welcome speech making it unique and more for the occasion.