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Speech by Ali Terai

2019 Telstra Business Awards - Future Golf. Ali Terai (CEO) Acceptance Speech
Transcript
Highlights
Wow! Well, it's an absolute honor to win this award, and I'm really glad that we ditched the golf polo shirts and hired these tuxes. Um, Future Golf launched back in twenty fourteen when we both had hair. Um, the idea was really simple, you know, could we, could we do something with golf that changed it, that allowed and introduced a younger generation to get into the game? And it was pretty much that simple. You know, we wanted to make golf less intimidating, we wanted to make it more accessible and more flexible. And very early on in our journey, there was a funny moment. We were trying to get our first partners on board, and I spoke to this industry stalwart, and he was very honest with me, and he said,"Ali, this is by far the stupidest idea that I've ever heard. And no one will wanna do this, and if you guys are around in three months, I will eat my hat." So I was like: Alright, you're probably right. And we weren't getting many members joining up. Our events were very poorly attended and, yeah, things were sucking quite, quite incredibly. And worst of all, it didn't look like anyone was gonna be eating their hat. Tonight, hopefully, he can eat his hat. Um, that was a horrible joke. So I guess ultimately we just didn't really care what anyone thought about our idea. Uh, we were stupid as the idea was, and we just wanted to do something that we're passionate about. We wanted to play golf with our mates, we wanted to build something, we wanted to learn. We, we copped the failures, and, uh, it, it's just amazing to be able to do this with such a passionate team and to do something that we really do enjoy. Now, finally, I just wanted to thank our team. Um, we've got some of our team here today, both past and present. I wanted to thank our wives, Chantelle and Rox, just for supporting us and allowing us to do something that we really care about and to follow our dreams. And to all the other finalists, congratulations for following your dreams. Cheers.
Speech Summary

This lands as a lively, likeable acceptance speech with a clear origin story and a memorable “hat” callback that gives the win a satisfying payoff. Your warmth toward the team and families comes through, and the mission for Future Golf is easy to understand.

Speaking Pace

Average Pace

183 WPM

Too Fast

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Good
Perfect
Min: 112 WPMMax: 237 WPM
Delivery

7 notable moments in your vocal delivery

Excellent (4)

Needs Work (3)

Rhetorical Highlights

You used 6 techniques that made your speech engaging

Improved Version
370281 words (-24%)

Using Story Arc

Setup → Conflict → Resolution

Wow, it’s an absolute honor to win this award. And I’m really glad we ditched the golf polo shirts and hired these tuxes. Future Golf launched back in 2014, when we both had hair. The idea was simple: could we do something with golf that changed it, and helped a younger generation get into the game? We wanted to make golf less intimidating, more accessible, and more flexible. Early on, we had a moment that still makes me laugh. We were trying to sign our first partners, and I spoke to an industry stalwart who was very honest. He said, “Ali, this is by far the stupidest idea that I’ve ever heard. No one will want to do this. And if you guys are around in three months, I will eat my hat.” And honestly, it felt like he might be right. We weren’t getting many members. Our events were poorly attended. Things were sucking, quite incredibly. Worst of all, it didn’t look like anyone was going to be eating their hat. Tonight, hopefully, he can eat his hat. But ultimately, we didn’t care what anyone thought about the idea. We cared about building something we were passionate about. We wanted to play golf with our mates, build something, and learn. We copped the failures, kept going, and it’s amazing to be here and to do this with such a passionate team, doing something we genuinely enjoy. Finally, thank you to our team, past and present. Thanks to our wives, Chantelle and Rox, for supporting us and backing what we care about, and for letting us follow our dreams. And to all the other finalists, congratulations on following your dreams. Cheers.

Setup

Wow, it’s an absolute honor to win this award. And I’m really glad we ditched the golf polo shirts and hired these tuxes. Future Golf launched back in 2014, when we both had hair. The idea was simple: could we do something with golf that changed it, and helped a younger generation get into the game? We wanted to make golf less intimidating, more accessible, and more flexible.

Conflict

Early on, we had a moment that still makes me laugh. We were trying to sign our first partners, and I spoke to an industry stalwart who was very honest. He said, “Ali, this is by far the stupidest idea that I’ve ever heard. No one will want to do this. And if you guys are around in three months, I will eat my hat.” And honestly, it felt like he might be right. We weren’t getting many members. Our events were poorly attended. Things were sucking, quite incredibly. Worst of all, it didn’t look like anyone was going to be eating their hat.

Resolution

Tonight, hopefully, he can eat his hat. But ultimately, we didn’t care what anyone thought about the idea. We cared about building something we were passionate about. We wanted to play golf with our mates, build something, and learn. We copped the failures, kept going, and it’s amazing to be here and to do this with such a passionate team, doing something we genuinely enjoy. Finally, thank you to our team, past and present. Thanks to our wives, Chantelle and Rox, for supporting us and backing what we care about, and for letting us follow our dreams. And to all the other finalists, congratulations on following your dreams. Cheers.

Weak Words

3 words weakening your message

Minimizers
just wanted2
Hedging
I guess1
Filler Words
8
TOTAL
um4
uh2
you know1
yeah1