Graduation Speeches
What is a graduation speech? A speech delivered at graduation, duh.
What is its purpose? While commencement speeches may have many purposes (to inform, to entertain, to inspire, to warn, to reminisce, or all of the above), these speeches usually have many things in common.
They are generally addressed to the graduating students themselves, with the understanding that friends, parents, and grandparents are listening in and expect the speech to not only entertain, but to contain some dignity appropriate to the occasion (grandma might have flown thousands of miles to see little Janie graduate).
The parts of the speech are generally as follows:
OPENING:
Usually begins with something like “graduating class of 2001,” or “friends, family, and faculty, etc.” or “
An entertaining opening captivates the audience’s attention and gives them some idea about the theme of your speech. The opening may be an entertaining story, a surprising statement, or humorous anecdote. Jokes or quotes could work, but they have to be fresh and especially pertinent to the speech. Don’t talk about how much trouble you had coming up with the speech – boring!
BODY:
The commencement is one of those pivotal moments that is a celebration of the past (a time to reflect and reminisce) and a look into the future; so, a good graduation speech will take the audience on a fairly brief trip down memory lane and then tell the audience what it all means to them today – as they sit in the hot, cramped gym.
After bringing them up to the present, give them a look into the future. You may either offer advice if you have any to give (or you find people you admire that have advice to give), inspiration to keep going, perspective on how their past relates to their concerns for the future, or a truthful assessment of reality (as long as it is not TOO depressing and ends hopefully).
CLOSING:
End with a reiteration of your main theme (life is like a candle, life is a school musical, life is like our favorite songs – whatever) and end with the things that you really want the audience to understand and take home with them. Use vivid and concise language.
MISC:
Humor works, but don’t use too much sarcasm or people will think you are cynical and negative
Try to say things in a different way and avoid the usual clichés. It’s hard to avoid saying what thousands have said before you, but the more specific you are with your memories and observations, the better chance you’ll have to sound fresh and new.
Often it’s a good idea to hit on one general theme and keep referring to it throughout your speech in order to give the audience signposts.
Make sure that your beginning and ending is interesting
Keep your remarks brief – any speech past 10 minutes in a graduation ceremony is beyond endurance.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Write a three minute graduation speech that contains an entertaining opening, some memories of the past, some lines telling the audience what the past means to the present, some advice for or a look into the future, an entertaining or memorable ending.