When making an award presentation, it's important to remember that this may be the one opportunity your recipient is publicly recognized by his or her employer. To make the award memorable and effective, plan both the award design and the award ceremony ahead of time. Your careful planning will ensure that the value of the award is clearly expressed and communicated. The award recipients will appreciate the extra steps that went into making their moment of recognition special. Here are are few awards ceremony presentation tips to ensure your next award presentation is handled professionally.
Designing the Award
The options for designing a custom award are endless. Planning an award design takes time and creativity. You’ll want to enlist an awards vendor to help you make decisions on the award design, what materials will be used to make the award, and how the award will be manufactured.
Contact or email Levy Recognition with your request. We’ll ask you a few questions to help us understand your employee awards event and the type of award you want. We will show all of the design possibilities, material choices, and discuss any other details you have in mind for the awards. Our team will design and manufacture the corporate awards to your specifications. Provide us with the recipient names and what they are being recognized for and we’ll personalize each award. Once the awards are produced and approved, it’s time to prepare for the awards presentation.
What to Inscribe on the Award
It can be challenging to write the inscription for employee awards. The awards can focus on individuals that contribute to a particular work project, a particular goal, or a certain number of years of service. The award can also symbolize the end of a well-fought competition in which a winner has been selected. The awards can be given to an individual or a team. Wording on the award can be reflective of the occasion it is being presented at or be just for fun and feature humorous anecdotes about the recipient or your company.
Still not sure what to say? Use our Five W’s to Recognition to help you map out how to recognize your employees for the things they are doing every day. Download our Handbook for Happy Employees for this and other award ideas.
Presenting the Award
It’s time to present the award! All eyes are on you and it’s time to show your employees the recognition they have earned. There are still a few things you should do before presenting employee awards in front of a crowd. Before your presentation, be sure to create a script. Many people are uncomfortable at an award ceremony in front of a crowd, and "winging it" can result in things being said which unintentionally take away from the value of a company awards ceremony. Unless the award is for a single recipient and meant to be a surprise as to who the winner is, you may want to inform recipient of the award and what to expect during the award presentation.
Announcing the award recipients can be a challenge if you are not prepared. Many people don't know what to say to present an award. First, you’ll want to talk about the background of the award, why it is so important, and provide examples of what the winner(s) has/have done to achieve the award. If the award is being given to multiple recipients, be sure to ask guests to hold their applause until all the names have been read and each recipient has been recognized. Announce recipient names slowly and clearly so that everyone in attendance can hear them. When the award recipient has made it to the stage, back away from the podium, shake hands and congratulate the recipient, pause for a photo while presenting the recipient with the trophy or plaque.
If the nominees for the award haven’t been told in advance that they have won, it’s important you build suspense and excitement as you present the award. As with other award presentations, explain the background of the award and discuss why each nominee was considered for the award. Just before announcing the winner, list a few key examples as to why the recipient was chosen over the others. Once the winner’s name has been announced, lead the applause and invite them up to you to receive their award.
Employee recognition is an important part of what makes a business successful. As an employer, you should be rehearsed in how to give employee recognition. Knowing what to say and how to present an award makes the award presentation more meaningful and creates more impact than presentations that are “winged.” Your employees will appreciate the extra thought that went into planning the event and you might save yourself from the awkward embarrassment of being on stage with nothing to say. We hope our awards and presentation ideas help you plan a successful event.
For more help and information on selecting and designing your custom awards, contact Levy Recognition.