Game respect game. Future NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Peyton Manning announced his retirement earlier this week, and the entire sports community is using this moment to celebrate his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
As a storyteller (and a speech writer), I wanted to pause to celebrate his well-written and gratifying retirement speech. There\u2019s a lot to like and learn from Manning\u2019s goodbye speech, from the way it was organized to his use of repetition to a flourish that will likely be quoted for years to come.<\/p>\n
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1. Start with a story<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn my very first NFL game, I completed my first pass to Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk. I threw a touchdown in that same game to Marvin Harrison, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this August.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s how Manning opened his remarks. No \u201cthank you all for coming.\u201d No \u201cthis is an emotional day for me and my family.\u201d Manning just went straight into a story, and he never slowed down from there. Jumping right into narrative made for a compelling speech from the first sentence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. Reel them in with emotion<\/strong><\/p>\n “\u2026 when the game was over I had the chance to shake Johnny Unitas\u2019 hand. He told me, ‘Peyton, you stay at it. I\u2019m pulling for you.\u2019 Well, I have stayed at it. I\u2019ve stayed at it for 18 years and I hope that old No. 19 is up there with his flat top and maybe his black high tops on and I hope he knows that I have stayed at it, and maybe he\u2019s even a little proud of me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n During the underlined section of these remarks, Manning was visibly choked up. This was the first of several (possibly a dozen) moments where Manning seemed on the verge of tears. This vulnerability is engrossing. The audience feels that intense emotion, and they\u2019re invested in the outcome of the speech.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. Comedy gives them a breather<\/strong><\/p>\n As one of the few athletes that has a nice sense of comedic timing, I was surprised Manning didn\u2019t use humor more often, but he did land two nice jokes during his 11-minute speech. The first was a playful jab at his younger brother Eli, and the second was a story about his daughter Mosley that ended with an unexpected punch line related to reporter sources. Both moments were classic Manning, and they gave the audience a second to exhale and enjoy the moment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4. Repetition creates tempo, builds momentum<\/strong><\/p>\n With only a few minutes remaining in his remarks, Manning started to rattle off the things he\u2019ll miss from the NFL. By my count, there are at least 14 things Manning chose to list, but there was undoubtedly more to choose from. Nevertheless, his speech gathered momentum in this section, as he painted the picture of his storied career with a few colorful images. Repetition like this can help speechwriters maintain the attention of the audience, especially as means to create momentum for a flourish at the end. There\u2019s no way to measure this, but I suspect this is the part of Manning\u2019s speech that most people will remember.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5. Look to the future<\/strong><\/p>\n As we near the conclusion in any speech, the audience wants to know what\u2019s next: For Manning: “I\u2019m totally convinced that the end of my football career is just the beginning of something I haven\u2019t even discovered yet. Life is not shrinking for me, it\u2019s morphing into a whole new world of possibilities.\u201d This perception shift offers the speaker and audience a glace at the finish line.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6. Conclude with a clean flourish<\/strong><\/p>\n As a religious man and athlete, it made sense for Manning to incorporate scripture into his remarks. The memorable flourish, however, was the final line of his speech, which I suspect will be quoted by football people for years to come: “There\u2019s a scripture reading, 2 Timothy 4:7: \u2018I have fought the good fight and I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.\u2019 Well, I\u2019ve fought a good fight. I\u2019ve finished my football race and after 18 years, it\u2019s time. <\/span>God bless all of you and God bless football.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n