How to write a great retirement speech

If you’re preparing a speech for an upcoming retirement bash, you are either retiring, or speaking about someone who is. These clearly require different approaches. So firstly, let’s focus on the retiree:

What should I include in my retirement speech?

We’d always suggest that a retirement speech should be crisp, self-deprecating and relatively brief (around 10 minutes). It works best when you contrast how the business is now with when you started, tell one or two amusing anecdotes, and express genuine thanks to key colleagues. There should be a touch of nostalgia and a hopeful look to the company’s future.

How does Great Speech Writing approach a speech about someone who’s retiring?
We focus on what the retiree has meant to their colleagues, highlighting lessons learned, sharing challenges, and thoughtful stories, rather than listing every single achievement. We also acknowledge life outside work , for instance, personal sacrifices or plans for retirement , to give a well-rounded and heartfelt tribute.

Should I mention achievements and promotions within a retirement speech?
Great Speech Writing believes that recounting every deal or promotion can feel boastful or tedious. Instead, we encourage a balance: memorable stories, gratitude, and insight into what made working together special. That way, the speech connects emotionally, feels genuine, and doesn’t come across as a self-aggrandising history lecture.

How does Great Speech Writing work with a client to craft their retirement speech?
We start by consulting with you to understand your time at the company, key memories, and how you want to sound. From there, our team writes either a full draft or polishes what you already have. We then revise based on your feedback, helping you find the right tone, structure, and pacing so the speech feels authentically yours.

Can Great Speech Writing help me to deliver my retirement speech well, along with writing it?
Yes. Great Speech Writing can coach you in delivery: we advise on timing, pacing, and tone, ensuring your words land naturally. Our coaching ensures you feel confident, avoid awkwardness, and deliver your speech with warmth, focus, and genuine emotion, making your farewell both polished and sincere.

Want some help with a retirement speech?

That’s what we do! We’d be delighted to help write your speech from scratch or edit a draft you have already written. Please call us on 0207 118 1600 or email Lawrence for more information.

And what about a brilliant retirement present?

OK – this is a bit cheeky, but if you’ve read this far you may have a feel for the way we work.  If you like it, please do take a look at our memoir writing service, where we conduct a series of interviews with people keen to record their personal and family history and then write a short book for them to share with their families. If you’d like to give us a gift to the retiree, we’ll create a personalised voucher for you to hand over after your speech and will do a fabulous job.

We hope our guide on how to write a great retirement speech has been of help.