Consult the emcee beforehand, if possible, to learn whom they will be addressing, the type of occasion and the reason for their appearance. Even minimal knowledge of these factors beats having none at all, and greatly boosts your chances of writing a good memorable speech.
Set the tone for the emcee by writing a brief introduction. Include the emcee's name, as well as the title of their speech (if applicable) and the objectives, if they will appear at a seminar, corporate training session or other formal event. Keep your introduction at 30 to 60 seconds.This ensures a crisp, delivery that moves the speech along.
Follow a well-defined beginning, middle and end. Those points should be fully apparent to your audience and the emcee, particularly when the speaker pauses to deliver the next point. This is even more critical for seminars or training sessions, in which you will want the emcee to give a brief overview of the program.
Write in the active voice whenever possible, keeping subjects and verbs close together--saying "I think" is more effective than its passive cousin, "it is thought," for example. Too many expressions in the passive voice--such as "I have been," "this has," or "we were"--can bog down a speech in all the wrong places, and leave the audience shifting in its seats.
Vary the rhythms of your speech with a mixture of short and long phrases. Avoid overly technical terms or jargon, except in settings where everyone speaks it as a common language. Writing for the Association of Urban Planners calls for a different approach than a local politician speaking at a church banquet.
Do not be afraid to use cliches or repetitive phrases creatively to build a particular mood, or effect. This technique works especially well in political settings, in which the emcee might have to introduce several different people dedicating their energies to a single topic like health care reform, for example.
Always close your emcee's speech with a powerful example or anecdote that ties all the previous points together. This is important, since the audience wants to take one or two key moments home--and if they do, those impressions are better left near the end, where they matter most.
Run through the speech with your emcee before the big day, if possible, and tape it with a digital voice recorder, to hear how it flows overall. That will allow both of you to iron out any rough spots before the emcee hits the podium.