A good speech comes down to five moves. Know your audience and the occasion. Pick one core message they should remember. Structure it as open, body, close. Write it the way you actually talk. Then cut it to time. Do those five things and you are most of the way there. The rest of this guide shows you how, with real examples of speeches you can adapt today.
I have written and delivered tons of speeches across eighteen years on the stage, from wedding toasts to policy summits. The ones that land are rarely the cleverest. They are the clearest.
A speech is a gift you hand to a room full of people who are giving you their time, not an essay you happen to read aloud at them. Let me show you how to write one worth their attention.
Before you write a word: audience, occasion, message
Most weak speeches fail before a single sentence is written, because the speaker skipped the thinking and went straight to the words. Spend a few minutes here and the writing gets far easier.
Know your audience
Who is actually in the room? Their age, their background, why they have gathered, and what they are hoping to feel. A toast in front of close family is a different speech from a keynote in front of strangers in suits. Ask yourself whether the mood is formal or celebratory, whether the crowd knows you, and what they already understand about your topic. Write for the people in the seats, not for yourself.
Know the occasion
In Nigeria, the occasion sets the rules. A wedding wants warmth and a little humour. A church or thanksgiving service wants gratitude and reflection. A burial or tribute wants dignity and comfort. A corporate presentation wants clarity and a point. A graduation wants encouragement for the road ahead.
Each of these carries its own expectations for tone, length, and even who you must greet first. Name the occasion honestly before you write, because it decides almost everything else.
Pick one core message
This is the discipline most speakers lack. Decide on the single thing you want people to remember when the chairs are stacked and everyone has gone home. One message. Not five. If your audience can repeat it in a sentence the next morning, you have done your job.
Everything in the speech should serve that one idea, and anything that does not serve it should be cut.
The structure of a great speech: open, body, close
Every strong speech has three parts: a strong opening, a body that carries your message, and a close that makes it stick. I have taught this structure for years because it works, and because it keeps you confident. When you know the three parts, you always know where you are going.
The opening: hook plus the greeting protocol
Here is the move almost every foreign guide skips, and it matters enormously in Nigeria. Before your hook, you acknowledge the room. A Nigerian audience expects you to recognise the people who carry weight in that space, and getting the order right signals respect and competence.
The usual order runs from the highest authority of the occasion downward. For a formal event that often means: the chairman of the occasion first, then the celebrant or guest of honour, then any traditional rulers (Kabiyesi, Igwe, Obi), then religious leaders (the clergy, the pastor, the imam), then distinguished guests and dignitaries, and finally the general audience, ladies and gentlemen. For a smaller family event you simply greet the most senior people present, then everyone else.
A quick honesty note. The lazy shortcut “all protocols duly observed” has become a tired cliché. If the room is small enough, name the key people. It sounds far warmer than the shortcut.
Once you have greeted the room, hook them. Open with a short story, a surprising line, a question, or a single vivid image. Avoid the dead opening, “good evening, my name is, and I have been asked to say a few words.” Earn their attention in the first fifteen seconds.
The body: two or three points, each carried by a story
Keep the body to two or three points at most. There is a reason for that number. The rule of three, the idea that three is the most satisfying and persuasive count, traces back to Aristotle’s Rhetoric and still holds up today. More than three and your audience starts losing track.
Then carry each point with a story or a concrete example, not just a claim. People forget facts and remember stories. As I always tell my students, your own experiences are your most valuable material, because nobody can tell your story better than you. A point with a story behind it travels. A point on its own evaporates.
The close: restate the one message, then land it
Your close does two things. First, it restates your one core message so it is the last clear thought in the room. Second, it lands with something fitting for the occasion, a call to action at a corporate event, a toast at a wedding, a blessing at a thanksgiving, a word of comfort at a burial. Never end with “that is all, thank you” and a shrug. Write the last line as carefully as the first. The opening earns attention. The close earns memory.
How long should your speech be?
This is the question most guides ignore, and it is the one that saves you from the cardinal sin of going on too long. The maths is simple. Most people speak at around 130 to 150 words per minute. So a five-minute speech is roughly 650 to 750 words. A two-minute toast is around 300 words. Write to the word count and you will land on time.
Resist the urge to fill every minute they give you. Some of history’s most powerful speeches were short. The Gettysburg Address is just 271 words and runs about two minutes, and people still quote it more than a century and a half later. A short speech is not a weak one. Keeping it brief is how you show respect for your audience.
You may have heard that “audiences stop listening after ten minutes.” Treat that as a myth, not a rule. The research behind it does not hold up (Bradbury, 2016). What is true is that attention drifts when energy stays flat. So keep sections short, vary your pace and tone, and you can hold a room well past ten minutes.
For context, comprehension stays strong even at a fairly brisk pace, up to about 270 words per minute, and only drops off sharply near 315. Speaking too fast is rarely what loses a room. Speaking too long, with too little life, is what does it.
Write it the way you talk
A speech is written for the ear, not the eye. The single biggest improvement most people can make is to write the way they actually speak. Short sentences. Everyday words. Contractions like “I’m” and “you’ll” instead of stiff full forms. When you finish a draft, read it aloud. If you stumble over a sentence or run out of breath, rewrite it. If it sounds like a textbook, it will bore the room.
Cut the filler too. Phrases like “as we all know” and “without further ado” add nothing. Every line should either move your message forward or make the audience feel something.
One thing the foreign guides cannot teach you: code-switching that lands. A well-placed phrase in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, or Pidgin can warm a Nigerian room in a way pure English never will. A short Yoruba proverb to open a point, a line of Pidgin to share a laugh, a familiar greeting in the room’s own language. Used at the right moment, it tells the audience you are one of them. The key word is moment. Drop it in where it fits naturally, make sure the room understands it, and do not overdo it. A little goes a long way.
Speech examples and templates for Nigerian occasions
Below are short, usable example speeches for the occasions you are most likely to face, plus one fill-in-the-blank template you can reuse for almost anything. Treat them as starting points and pour your own stories into them.
Wedding speech or toast
Chairman of today’s occasion, our wonderful families of the bride and groom, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
I have known Tunde since our university days in Ife, and in all that time I have never seen him as calm as he was the morning he told me he had found Ada. He did not boast. He just smiled and said, “this one is different.” He was right.
Ada, you have not only gained a husband, you have gained a friend who will guard you fiercely. Tunde, you have married a woman with a brilliant mind and an even bigger heart.
So please, raise your glasses with me. To Tunde and Ada, may your home be full of laughter, your love grow deeper with every year, and your story be one your children are proud to tell. Cheers.
Notice it is short, it greets the room, it carries one story, and it ends on a clear toast. A wedding toast should run about two minutes, roughly 300 words.
Church or thanksgiving address
To the glory of God, our father in the Lord Pastor Emeka, the elders of this house, my brothers and sisters, I greet you in the mighty name of Jesus.
A year ago I stood in this same church with nothing but a prayer. I had lost my job, and I did not know how the rent would be paid. But God who answers prayer made a way where I could see none.
I am here today not to tell you how strong I am, but to tell you how faithful He is. If He did it for me, He can do it for you.
So let us not grow weary in giving thanks. Whatever you are believing God for, hold on. Your testimony is on the way. To God alone be all the glory.
Burial, remembrance, or tribute
On behalf of the family, I thank the chairman, our clergy, and every one of you who has come to stand with us today.
My father was not a wealthy man by the world’s measure, but he was rich in the things that last. He taught us that your name is the only property no one can take from you. He said it so often that we used to tease him about it. We are not teasing now. We are living it.
We will miss his laughter at the dinner table. We will miss his stubborn wisdom. But we take comfort in knowing he lived well and finished his course.
Rest now, Papa. We will carry your name with honour. Thank you, and God bless you all.
Keep a tribute dignified and brief. Focus on one or two true memories, then offer comfort.
Corporate or work presentation
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for your time. I will keep this focused.
Last quarter we lost three major clients, and every one of them left for the same reason: our response time. Not our pricing, not our quality. Our speed.
I have one proposal today. If we put a 24-hour response guarantee in place and resource it properly, we protect the revenue we still have and we win back trust we have lost. I will walk you through exactly what that takes in the next five minutes.
The bottom line is simple. We do not have a quality problem. We have a speed problem, and speed is something we can fix this month. Let me show you how.
A corporate speech makes one point, backs it with a real number, and ends with a clear next step.
Graduation, commencement, or motivational speech
This one does double duty. The same shape works as a commencement address, and with the school details swapped out, as a motivational speech for a conference opening or a youth event. If you have been asked for an inspirational speech and you are not sure where to start, lift this structure: name what the audience has come through, give them one charge to carry, then send them off with belief.
Chairman of this occasion, our distinguished Vice Chancellor, members of faculty, proud parents, and the graduating class of today, congratulations.
You did not get here by accident. You got here through reading nights, through NEPA taking the light at the worst possible time, through doubts you told no one about. And yet, here you stand.
Let me leave you with one thing. Out there, your certificate will open the first door. After that, it is your character and your courage that keep the doors open. Be the person people can trust with more.
Go and make us proud. The world has been waiting for exactly what you carry. Congratulations once again.
A motivational or inspirational speech lives or dies on one honest charge. A pile of borrowed quotes will not carry a room; a single true thing, said with conviction, will. Notice this one gives the audience just that, your character is what keeps the doors open, and it ends on belief. Whether you are sending off graduates or lifting a hall of young people, the move is the same: meet them where they are, then point them forward.
One reusable fill-in-the-blank template
For almost any occasion, you can drop your details into this skeleton:
Greeting: [Acknowledge the key people in order, then the room.]
Hook: [One short story, question, or vivid line that earns attention.]
Bridge: [One sentence stating why you are speaking and your one core message.]
Point 1: [Your first point, carried by a short story or example.]
Point 2: [Your second point, carried by a short story or example.]
Point 3 (optional): [Your third point, if you have one. Stop at three.]
Restate: [Say your one core message again, in fresh words.]
Land it: [Close with the right ending for the occasion: a toast, a blessing, a call to action, or a word of comfort.]
Common mistakes to avoid
A few errors show up again and again, and all of them are easy to fix.
- Going too long. The most common sin. Write to time and cut hard.
- No clear message. If you cannot say your point in one sentence, neither can your audience.
- Reading it word for word. A speech read off paper with no eye contact is a document, not a speech. Know it well enough to look up.
- A generic opening. Skip “I have been asked to say a few words.” Greet the room properly, then hook them.
- No rehearsal. Reading silently is not rehearsing. Say it out loud, on your feet, before the day.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a wedding speech be?
Aim for two to three minutes, which is roughly 300 to 450 words. A toast can be even shorter. Wedding guests are there to celebrate, not to sit through a lecture, so make your point, share one warm story, raise your glass, and sit down. Short and heartfelt always beats long and rambling.
Should I memorise my speech or use notes?
Use notes, but know your material well enough that the notes are a safety net, not a script. Memorise your opening line and your closing line word for word so you start and end strong. For the middle, work from short bullet points rather than full sentences, so you can keep eye contact and sound natural instead of recited.
How do I open a speech in Nigeria (the greeting order)?
Greet from the highest authority downward: the chairman of the occasion, then the celebrant or guest of honour, then any traditional rulers, then the clergy, then distinguished guests, and finally the general audience. For a small family event, simply greet the most senior people present, then everyone else. Where you can, name people rather than using “all protocols duly observed.”
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 650 to 750 words, based on an average speaking rate of 130 to 150 words per minute. If you tend to speak fast, aim for the higher end; if you speak slowly or expect applause and pauses, aim lower. The safest way to check is to read your draft aloud at your normal pace and time it.
How do I write a speech quickly?
Start with the fill-in-the-blank template above. Decide your one core message first, choose one story that proves it, then write your greeting, hook, that single point, and a strong close. You can draft a solid three-minute speech this way in under thirty minutes. Polish it by reading it aloud and cutting anything that does not serve your message.
Your words deserve to land
Writing a good speech is a skill, and like every skill it improves with practice and the right guidance. Get the foundations right, the audience, the one message, the open-body-close structure, the timing, and you will already be ahead of most speakers in any Nigerian room.
If you want to go further, I would love to help. My public speaking courses take you from nervous to natural, and the Prepare To Speak VIPS Framework in particular drills the structure-and-message skills this guide is built on. If writing the speech is only half the battle, my guide on how to speak with confidence in public will help you deliver it, and if nerves are the real issue, start with how to overcome stage fright.
For a deeper read on finding and using your voice, my book Mastery takes it further. Your words deserve to be heard, and remembered.