Retirement Speech 1.1-A This speech is suitable for someone retiring after a lifetime of service to a company. It provides a basic framework that you can easily customize to meet your needs. By offering your audience a long-view perspective of retirement and some immediate shared memories, you can touch on all of the elements that made your career with that company special. Suggested areas where you can modify or add to the speech are noted in brackets. Opening Good [evening, afternoon, etc.]! I’d like to thank you for that kind introduction. However, it reminds me of the story of the eminent scholar who was the guest of honor at a royal dinner in a tiny, remote kingdom. When it came time for tribute to the guest of honor, the King remained seated while a professional orator spoke the praises of the scholar. When the orator had finished, the scholar tried to stand up, only to be restrained by the King. The scholar looked at the King with astonishment, but the King said, “Don’t get up; I have provided an orator for you. In my country, we don’t believe public speaking should be engaged in by amateurs.” Unfortunately, we’re in America where most public speaking is done by amateurs. So you’re all stuck with me!
Reflections When you’re young and first begin working, it seems as though retirement will never come. The years ahead seem to stretch to infinity. But now that I am finally retiring, all those years seem to have gone past in the blink of an eye. Like looking through a telescope, everything that appeared so small and distant at one end now looks so big and close at the other.
In between lie a life