Someone has given years — sometimes decades — of their life to a job, a team, a mission. And now they are leaving. A retirement speech is your chance to say: we saw you. We valued you. You mattered here.
The difference between a forgettable retirement speech and a memorable one is specificity. "She worked here for 30 years" means nothing. "She was the person who stayed late every budget month and never once complained about it" means everything.
Thank the people who actually made a difference — by name, specifically. Tell them what they taught you. Be honest about what you will miss. And tell them what you are looking forward to — it gives everyone permission to feel happy for you rather than just sad about the goodbye.
Three to five minutes. Enough to honour them properly. Short enough that people are still engaged at the end when you raise the glass.
Stop staring at a blank page. Answer a few questions, Clara writes the rest. Done in minutes.
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