Make Your Last Speech Memorable and Ensure it Counts

When it's time to give your last speech, it's best to make it count. Well, that's probably best practice for public speakers everywhere. But what about when you're a diplomat? Or an ambassador perhaps? Your final speech after several years service might need to be diplomatic.

Certainly that's what you would expect from one of Israel's top diplomats, Gilad Erdan. Because on the occasion of his final speech at the United nations, the Ambassador literally tore into the United Nations itself. Or, at least, the members in his audience. It really wasn't diplomatic. Yet, you sense the time for his diplomacy was well and truly over. He's retiring. But not shy and retiring.

However, final speech or not, it is sensible to make your speech memorable. To make it count for something. After all, that's your job as a communicator.

I pray that you will see the truth.

Keep Your Final Speech Short

The Gilad Erdan speech took 10 minutes or so at the hastily convened meeting of the Security Council and was with notes. Those notes reinforce the obvious difficulties of addressing such an audience with all the different language constraints. Certainly that proved a problem with the Ahmadinejad Farsi Speech Farce of a few years ago.

Let me be clear

Others have used their final speech to bid a fond farewell or remind an organisation of its strengths, values and achievements. However, this wasn't a concern for Gilad Erdan on his retirement from the United Nations. In fact he took quite the opposite approach. So this speech was memorable. Very memorable, if not a truly diplomatic speech.

Shame on You. What a disgrace.

You can discover plenty of top public speaking tips here at Time to Market. And with more than 100 top tips for speakers and presenters there's something for every occasion. Then, when you're ready to build your own skills that bit further, perhaps when you need to give your farewell speech, you are always welcome to enroll on an online public speaking course.