Audience: employees and their families at a Christmas program
Message: We appreciate you and wish you a happy holiday.
Tone: informal
Timing: 2 minutes

We appreciate your coming tonight to enjoy the holidays for a brief few moments with us. And the effort, I understand, hasn’t been minimal. Nothing seems to destroy the Christmas spirit faster… than looking for a place to park—particularly tonight with such a crowd. The positive side to all that parking confusion, of course, is that we are growing and prospering as individuals and as a company.

This year we’ve added our new product line, the (name of line). Our customers have given every indication of loving its new design, the benefits, and its low price tag. So the Christmas spirit around here began early in the year.

But nothing—least of all an organization such as ours—thrives without men and women who care about their jobs all year long. You are those employees. I want to take this opportunity to tell you how much you mean to the company. The Christmas spirit that goes out with the dried up Christmas tree is just as worthless as the company that does not respect the dignity of each individual who contributes to its success. Each of you is unique. And you make a valuable contribution to our total effort.

Someone has said that the best Christmas or Chanukah gift of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another. That’s probably true.

And I would add: The next best thing is our program tonight. We hope you’ll agree. We have music, a story for our children, and a visit from Santa maybe later in the evening.

So put that overdue project out of your mind, along with the unwrapped presents. Relax and enjoy. We think the program will put a smile on your face, a lilt in your voice, and a song in your heart.

May the joy of the season make the holiday especially nice this year for you and your family.