And the Winner is... a Great Acceptance Speech!

LONDON, February 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

There's nothing like a smattering of gongs and glitter to shake us civilians out of our winter gloom. With the Baftas kicking things off on Sunday, followed by the Brits and the Oscars later this month, awards season is upon us. And nobody is more excited than the team at Great Speech Writing.

Because once we've gorged ourselves on the tantrums and tiaras, it's time for 'that' speech. Or, more accurately, the 60 seconds of unscripted prime-time telly awarded to the winners in their moment of black-tie glory. And we're guessing there'll be more than a handful of blubbers who rue the day they didn't get a few tips from the experts.

The thing is, it's so easy to get it wrong. Take Tom Hanks's four-minute gushathon in which he outed his gay high-school drama teacher, or Sally Field's cringey "You like me, you really like me!" But even they scored better than Gwyneth Paltrow's sobbing sermon, or 11-year-old Anna Paquin, who was too nervous to speak at all.

Over the years, we've sat through political rants, smutty jokes, drunken slurring, even snogs!  Not to mention pages and pages of dreary thank-yous. There have been speeches that never seem to end (Greer Garson rambled for six minutes at the 1942 Academy Awards) and curt one-liners that shortchange the audience (Joe Pesci used a measly six words to accept his 1990 Oscar gong).

But just occasionally a savvy luvvie gets it right. And, when they do, you can be sure they've done their homework. Colin Firth's self-deprecating, pithy speech at last year's Oscars sounded off the cuff but most likely took weeks to prepare. So to help this year's nominees get ready for the podium, we've put together 10 tips for an Oscar acceptance speech! We explain how to write - and deliver - a winning winner's speech - and offer advice on how to stay blub-free on the big day!

NOTES FOR EDITORS

For general advice about writing and giving speeches, visit http://www.greatspeechwriting.com.

Lawrence Bernstein  founded and runs Great Speech Writing. He is experienced in live TV and radio. He is available for articles and interviews on the subject of speechwriting in the run up to and aftermath of this year's Baftas, Brits and Oscars.

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