Norton Field Guide for Speaking 8.5
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This document provides guidance on accepting an award, with key points including expressing gratitude, praising the sponsoring organization, and potentially advocating for a related cause. It recommends considering the context of the award, knowing expectations, and being prepared to speak without notes. Speakers should emphasize the importance of the award and thank influential supporters while staying within time limits. The document offers tips for impromptu acceptance speeches and choosing an appropriate language style.
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Norton Field Guide for Speaking 8.5
- 1. Chapter 8.5 Accepting an Award Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company
- 2. Introduction • Accepting an award involves expressing your gratitude for whatever honor you’re receiving and acknowledging its significance • It is also an occasion to praise the organization or group that sponsors the award and hosts the event • It may even be an opportunity for you to raise awareness about a cause or principle you believe in 2
- 3. Key Features • Acceptances often follow rules and traditions • Acceptances express gratitude first and foremost • Acceptances often praise the award giver • Acceptances may advocate a related cause 3
- 4. A Brief Guide to Accepting an Award • Consider the rhetorical situation • Know what’s expected, just in case • Apply impromptu speaking strategies if caught off-guard • Use appropriate language styles 4
- 5. Consider the Rhetorical Situation • Occasion: You are being honored with a gift or award in recognition of a specific achievement or overall excellence • Speaker: Use your high initial credibility to deliver an appropriate and meaningful acceptance speech • Audience: Connect with them and show them you are grateful, delighted, and honored by the award • Purpose: Thank the sponsor and the people who helped you earn the award, and explain the value of the organization and its mission • Content: Express gratitude and explain the worth of the award • Delivery: The most memorable acceptance speakers use very few or no notes at all 5
- 6. Know What’s Expected, Just in Case • If you know you will be receiving an award and have never attended the event, find out what is expected of recipients • Make sure you can answer the following questions: • Should you acknowledge the presenter? • Whom should you thank? • If known, are you expected to acknowledge the other nominees by name or as a group? • What is the time limit? • Even if you are not announced as the winner in advance, as a nominee, you should prepare and practice remarks—just in case 6
- 7. Apply Impromptu Speaking Strategies if Caught Off-Guard • Use impromptu speaking strategies and skills to think about what you want to say and the people you need to thank • Apply a ready-to-use impromptu speaking format to organize your remarks • Make sure you emphasize the importance of the award and its purpose 7
- 8. Use Appropriate Language Styles • Consider which of the four core speaking styles are most appropriate • Your analysis of the rhetorical situation should help you make informed choices about the language you use when accepting an award 8
- 9. Keep in Mind . . . • Limit the Number of Thank-Yous: Name only the key people who were most influential in supporting you and the mission of your work as well as key sponsors • Honor the Time Limit: Prepare and practice your remarks in advance so you know you can say what’s important in the time you have • Speak from the Heart: Speak authentically and share how you feel at the moment and why the award has value for both you and the audience • Speak with Few or No Notes: Consider memorizing your presentation, but bring your notes or manuscript with you in case you need them 9
- 10. Notable Speaker: Berta Cáceres, Part 1
- 11. Notable Speaker: Berta Cáceres, Part 2 11
- 12. Credits This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 8.5. For more resources, please visit The Norton Field Guide to Speaking: http://digital.wwnorton.com/nfgspeaking. Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company
Editor's Notes
- Search Terms To locate a video of this presentation online, enter the following key words into a search engine: Berta Cáceres Goldman Prize acceptance speech 2015. The video is approximately 3:00 minutes in length. Photo credit: Courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize
- Acceptance Speech: 2015 Goldman Prize In 2015, Berta Cáceres received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, which honors the achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental activists from around the world. Cáceres cofounded COPINH (the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras). Among many other efforts, she led a grassroots campaign against Sinohydro, the world’s largest dam developer, to terminate its contract for construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dams project in Indigenous Lenca people territory. Challenging such a powerful transnational corporation cost Cáceres her life. She was murdered in March 2016. In 2018, seven men who had been hired by the company constructing the dam were convicted of her murder and sentenced to thirty to fifty years.5 Other than beginning with “Gracias, Buenos noches,” Cáceres does not repeat the word “gracias” (thank you) until the very end of her speech. Nor does she explain the importance of the award. The audience knew why she’d won. They were there to thank her. Her final full sentence recognizes and dedicates the award to people “who gave their lives” to the struggle. And then she ends with “muchas gracias” (thank you very much). Cáceres uses a manuscript—as do most speakers accepting highly prestigious and visible awards. Her vocal and physical delivery animates her message, emphasizes critical sentences, and reveals her uncompromising and emotional dedication to a cause. Cáceres speaks in Spanish. Even if you don’t understand Spanish, watch and listen to how she emphasizes what seem to be powerful phrases and the way her voice and movements highlight her devotion and fearlessness to a cause. What follows is the translation. If you know Spanish, you will appreciate the strength, resolve, and marvel of her message. For readers who do not know Spanish or need a translation to ensure better comprehension, the translation captures her skillful use of stylistic devices (repetition, alliteration, metaphor, and the rule of three). Consider the power of “¡Despertemos! ¡Despertemos Humanidad! Ya no hay tiempo.” (Let us wake up! Let us wake up, humanity! We’re out of time.) Her heroic call is similar to Greta Thunburg’s entreaties about climate change. In our world-views, we are beings who come from the Earth, from the water, and from corn. The Lenca people are ancestral guardians of the rivers, in turn protected by the spirits of young girls, who teach us that giving our lives in various ways for the protection of the rivers is giving our lives for the well-being of humanity and of this planet. COPINH, walking alongside people struggling for their emancipation, validates this commitment to continue protecting our waters, the rivers, our shared resources and nature in general, as well as our rights as a people. Let us wake up! Let us wake up, humankind! We’re out of time. We must shake our conscience free of the rapacious capitalism, racism and patriarchy that will only assure our own self destruction. The Gualcarque River has called upon us, as have other gravely threatened rivers. We must answer their call. Our Mother Earth—militarized, fenced in, poisoned, a place where basic rights are systematically violated— demands that we take action. Let us build societies that are able to coexist in a dignifi ed way . . . in a way that protects life. Let us come together and remain hopeful as we defend and care for the blood of this earth and of its spirits. I dedicate this award to all the rebels out there, to my mother, to the Lenca people, to Rio Blanco and to the martyrs who gave their lives in the struggle to defend our natural resources. Thank you very much.6 Photo credit: Collection Christophel/Alamy Stock Photo