Speech guides › Colleague

How to write a retirement speech for a colleague

A retirement speech celebrates a career, but the best ones celebrate the person. Nobody remembers the list of job titles; they remember the story about the time she stayed until midnight to help a new hire, or the joke he told at every single team meeting.

Structure

  1. Set the scene: how long they've been here and what the place was like when they started.
  2. Their impact: one or two concrete achievements, in plain language.
  3. The person: a story that shows how they treated people.
  4. What's next: their plans — the garden, the grandkids, the boat — and a warm wish.
  5. A toast or round of applause.

Length

Three to five minutes for a party; one to two minutes for a quick office send-off.

Tips

  • Ask a few colleagues for stories beforehand — you'll get gold.
  • Keep work jargon out. Their family may be in the room.
  • Gentle jokes about their habits (the mug, the desk, the emails in all caps) work well. Jokes about age usually don't.

Example opening

When Margaret joined this company in 1994, our "computer system" was a filing cabinet and a fax machine that only worked if you hit it in exactly the right spot. Margaret was the only person who knew where that spot was…

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Frequently asked questions

What do you say in a retirement speech for your boss?

Focus on what they taught you and how they made people feel. Keep it warm and avoid anything that sounds like flattery for its own sake.

Should a retirement speech be funny?

Light humour helps, but finish on sincere thanks.