Farewell, Farewell, We Bid You All a Last Farewell

April 15, 2010 in Products | No comments

The French say Adieu while we say goodbye. Whatever way we say it farewell means going from one place, position or relationship to another. We may be leaving a job, we may be moving house or we may simply be moving on. Whatever we are doing a farewell speech is often part of the proceedings. Such a speech may be poignant or powerful. It should say “We will miss you”.

Take the case of the person who is retiring from an office after forty years. His boss or a colleague will usually say what a wonderful worker he or she was. He will talk of his or her contribution to the business. If he is a good speaker his farewell speech will reflect on those personal incidents that happened during the retiree’s working life. Such a farewell speech should be positive about the future saying that retirement is the start of a new life.

When a friend or neighbour is leaving an area there is often a farewell party for them and again somebody usually says a few words of farewell. Again the speaker may reflect on incidents that have happened over the years. Mainly though such a speech merely says “We wish you well wherever you go”.

Then there are changes of command speeches. Such speeches will reflect on the loyalty and courage of the troops an officer is leaving behind. They will speak of the camaraderie of military life and of duty and what it means. He will usually refer to the challenges ahead and wish the new commanding officer every good wish in his post. Such a farewell speech will usually be general rather than specific. On the other hand if an officer is saying farewell to a friend the speech may be very personal and very pointed indeed.

There are, of course, all sorts of different farewell functions and all sorts of people leaving. A civil servant may be going on Sabbatical or a member of the clergy may be leaving a parish. The more they were respected and admired the more likely that friends will gather to express their appreciation of what they have meant and to say “We hope your future will meet your expectations” or “Have a really good time.” Quite often what the speaker is really saying is “Farewell, until we meet again”.

Niamh Crowe
Copyright Speechwriters 1994-2007
marketing@speech-writers.com
Tel. +353 1 8333599

Niamh Crowe has written farewell speeches for 20 years. Her site has thousands of speeches for every event and occasion including birthdays, weddings and farewell speeches etc.