Custom medals are often a great way to acknowledge achievement in a variety of areas including sports, business, and charity. Whatever the type of event or category of award, a personalized design is often highly appreciated and gives much room for creativity. When presenting personalized medals to their recipients, there are a few rules you should follow.
Research The Person
It is customary when presenting an award to say something about the person receiving it and why. If you are the person doing the presenting, ensure that you do enough research into the person to find enough complimentary things to say about them. Focus on areas that best relate to the award being given. Pick out the best highlights to use in your speech. Remember to also recognize the efforts of others in the person’s team, department, or other units. Recognizing their contributions will help salve disappointment and give them the motivation to do better next time to also win.
Also, ensure you get the title and pronunciation of the person’s name correct. This can be especially important if they have an unusual or foreign name you are unfamiliar with. With everything being memorialized in video, you do not want to embarrass them or yourself by calling them by a name they do not recognize.
Practice Your Presentation
Take time to figure out what you are going to say and rehearse it. This is to allow you to gain more confidence when you finally do the presentation and time it. All ceremonies will have a program and you do not want to overstay your welcome on the podium. Rehearsal in front of another person will also help in picking out possible mistakes in your speech and correct them in good time.
Part of the presentation will also be the handing over of the custom medals to recipients. You need to rehearse how this will work, from calling out the person’s name, to waiting for them to step up to the podium, and even posing for the cameras. The best practice is to have them stand to your left, hold the award in your left hand, and shake hands with the right. Be sure to smile and stand tall for pictures. Ideally, personalized medals should be in some form of presentation box to make them better visible when taking pictures and video. You may then need to take the medal out of the box and possibly hang it around the recipient’s neck.