I’d Like To Thank The Academy...



Source: SurveyMonkey

If you’ve read any of my other entries, you already know how I feel about Thank You notes, both professionally and personally. Well, in light of one of my favorite nights of the year, Oscar night, I thought I would do a quick review on the art of the Thank You speech. Yes, there is an art to saying‘Thank You’. If you’ve ever watched the Oscar’s, you know that’s true. (Okay, so yes, I'm "that" girl...the girl who watches the red carpet show and judges every dress, as though I have some expertise or the right to do so...but I also watch the awards show. I usually have seen most of the movies and feel I'm a good judge, of course. My pick for this year was The Artist. I loved it!)


Here are some of my favorite and most memorable Oscar speeches:

• Roberto Benigni
• Cuba Gooding Jr.
• Halle Berry
• Sidney Poiter
• Julia Roberts

Most awards that you (we) would receive, you would not need to give a spontaneous speech. You would usually have some time to prepare what you would want to say and who you would want to thank. However, you should be prepared for those rare times when the unexpected may happen and you are forced to say ‘Thank You’ in public, such as at a surprise birthday party (or party of any kind) or recognition at work for something you’ve done or achieved.

Even when given time to prepare a speech, other factors may happen that will affect what you say or how you say it. These factors usually cannot be helped and you just have ‘to go with it’.

• It is difficult to know how you will react in the moment unless you’ve been there before. Be aware you have no idea how you will react until it happens. Emotions may get the better part of you, and that’s okay. Raw emotion can usually add to your speech and make it more heartfelt.
• Stage-fright or fear of public speaking may rear its ugly head.
• You may misplace your speech or don’t remember what you want to say.
• You may forget to thank someone important.

Some of these can be rectified, such as forgetting to thank someone. It’s always a good idea to send that person a note to thank them immediately after you realize your mistake. Most people will understand that these things happen in the moment.

If you have a fear of public speaking, there are plenty of ways to combat it. I plan to cover these in another blog at some point, but in the meantime, here is a link to some quick tips.

Hopefully we all get the opportunity someday to receive an award –whether a community award, professional award, or something different all together– and thank the important people in our lives for getting us to where we are today. Let’s hope when that day comes we are prepared.

Here are some good sites to look over to help you prepare for that occasion:

Crafting the Perfect Short Thank You Speech

Write a Thank You Speech

A word to the wise is sufficient.