Short answer: an awards ceremony works when people believe the awards are fair and the ceremony keeps moving. Settle the categories and judging criteria first, and tell staff what they are. Keep the number of categories small. For each winner, say briefly and specifically what they did. Plan every walk-on, handover and photo, because that’s where the time goes.
Categories and judging
- Fewer, better categories. Each extra award adds a couple of minutes of stage time and makes each one mean a little less.
- Written criteria. What does a winner have to have done, and in what period? Publish this when nominations open.
- A clear nomination process. Peer nominations, manager nominations or both. Say who can nominate and how.
- A judging panel. Several people, ideally from different teams, so no one person decides.
- Keep results confidential until the night, and limit who has the winners list.
Plan it in this order
- Categories, criteria and the judging panel
- Nominations open and close
- Judging, and winners confirmed
- Names checked for spelling, titles and pronunciation
- Trophies and certificates ordered. They take time to make and engrave, so order as soon as names are confirmed.
- Citations written, and any winner videos or slides made
- Presenters briefed on which awards they hand out
- Rehearsal on the stage, with the emcee, presenters and AV
Write short, specific citations
A good citation is 30 to 50 words. It says what the person did and what changed because of it. “Rebuilt the onboarding process, cutting new-hire setup from a week to two days” means more to the room than “for outstanding dedication and commitment”. Ask managers for the facts, then edit them into the same format for every award, so no winner sounds less important than another.
Check how to pronounce every winner’s name, and write it phonetically on the emcee’s script.
Stage flow for each award
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | Emcee announces the category; nominees shown on screen |
| 2 | Winner announced; walk-on music starts |
| 3 | Winner walks up by a set route, preferably one side of the stage |
| 4 | Presenter hands over the trophy at a marked spot |
| 5 | Photo on the mark, facing the photographer |
| 6 | Winner leaves by the other side |
Roughly two minutes per award is a realistic planning figure, so 15 awards is at least half an hour of stage time. If there are many awards, split them into blocks.
- Lay trophies out in running order on a numbered table backstage, with a person whose only job is handing the right one to the presenter.
- Brief the photographer with the running order and the winners’ names.
- Decide whether winners speak. If they do, ask them to keep it to thirty seconds, and tell them in advance.
Awards at a dinner and dance
If the awards are part of a dinner, put them in short blocks between courses rather than in one long session, and keep the biggest award for late in the evening. Our guide to planning a company dinner and dance has a sample run sheet.
Winners who can’t attend
Ask them for a short recorded thank-you to play on screen, or have a colleague collect the award on their behalf. For regional teams, livestreaming the ceremony lets them watch colleagues win.
Common questions
How many categories should we have?
Enough to recognise the work you most want to see more of, and few enough that each award feels special. For most companies that’s under fifteen.
Should winners know in advance?
Some companies tell winners beforehand so they’re sure to attend and can prepare a few words. Others keep it a surprise and make sure every nominee is invited. Either works; decide once and apply it to every category.
How long should the ceremony be?
Aim for under an hour of awards in total. If you need longer, break it up with a meal, a performance or a short video.
Do we need a professional emcee?
For a small internal ceremony, a confident colleague can host. For a large ceremony with many awards, a professional emcee keeps the timing and handles the unexpected.
Planning an awards night?
See how we run awards ceremonies, or tell us your date and number of awards.