Retirement speech template
PDF + editable Word doc · delivered instantly · 14-day refund, no questions
You have one job and it is not summarising your career. Everyone in the room already knows roughly what you did. What they do not know, and what they have turned up for, is what you made of it and what you think about them. A retirement speech that lists jobs and dates is the most common version and the least interesting one.
Six minutes. Longer than a wedding speech, because you have earned the room's patience, but not much longer. Three things you actually have to do: say something true about the work rather than the job titles, name specific people rather than departments, and leave without making anyone feel awkward.
The standard retirement speech is a CV read aloud. First I was here, then I moved there, then in 2009 the department reorganised. Dates and titles are the least interesting facts about a working life, and everyone in the room already has them. This guide is built on the opposite question: not what did I do, but what is different between the first day and this one. That is a speech only you can give.
Contents
Everything below is in the one purchase, and every number here is a count of the real file, not a round figure.
- 01 A 10-page PDF guide: the speech template, the full five-part structure, the question script, generator instructions, and delivery notes
- 02 5 questions to ask the people you worked with, including the one that finds the thing you never realised mattered
- 03 6 printable cue cards for the day itself
- 04 1 editable Word document, the same speech template, ready to type into directly
PDF + editable Word doc · delivered instantly · 14-day refund, no questions
Not what you needed? Email within 14 days and I'll refund it. You keep the files.
How it works
- PayCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account needed, just an email address.
- DownloadThe PDF guide and Word template land on the confirmation screen immediately, and in your inbox as a link that doesn't expire.
- Ask the 5 questionsUse the script on the people you worked with. You cannot see your own effect on other people, which is why question three produces the line everyone remembers.
- Fill in the templateWrite the speech straight into the Word document, or work from the printed guide if you would rather draft by hand.
- Practice with the cue cardsPrint the last page, cut along the dashed lines, and mark your difficult line. Card four carries every name.
- Give the speechStructure done, material real, nerves the only thing left to manage.
Questions
How do I get it after I pay?
Instant download on the confirmation screen, plus emailed to you as a permanent link that never expires. No account needed to buy or to redownload later.
What formats do I get?
A 10-page PDF guide and an editable Word document, both included in the one purchase. The 6 printable cue cards are the last page of the PDF.
Can I actually edit it?
Yes. The Word document is a real editable template, not a locked PDF, so you can type directly into it, change the wording, or rework sections freely.
What if it's not right for me?
Email within 14 days and it's refunded, no questions asked. You keep the files either way.
Will it sound like a template?
Not if you use the question script. The structure is the same for every speech, but the material inside it is your own early years and the names of people the room knows, gathered by asking colleagues what they remember, so what you end up saying could not be anyone else's.
What if I am not leaving on good terms?
The guide is blunt about this, because it is the most damaging mistake available in a retirement speech. There will be a strong pull toward one pointed remark. It is the only part anyone will remember, it will follow you, and the person it is aimed at will enjoy telling the story more than you will enjoy having said it. There is a specific test in the delivery section for finding those lines and cutting them.
Speaking about someone else rather than yourself? The send-off speech guide is the one for introducing them, and it covers how the two speeches should fit together.
Buying for more than one speaker? The Work Speech Pack, all three guides plus the joke pack, is $39.