

That helps you from getting overwhelmed at the moment and that also gives the school a chance to censor– I mean to approve of–your content. Most student graduation speeches are in manuscript format. Future: The challenge and a closing statement.Present: Opening statement and the thank you.Most all student graduation speeches include the past, present, and future format. Shared college experiences (on our campus it might be buying scantrons, hearing the bells of Old Main, and using Blackboard.

There is an entire chapter on how to brainstorm here. When brainstorming, write down everything you think of and don’t try to judge whether it should be included, just go with it. Sit down with friends and make a list of all the things that come to mind about the college experience.

This chapter will walk you through the essentials of giving a graduation speech and then give you several example speeches as samples of key elements. When thinking about giving a graduation speech, you have to ask, “What does the audience need from me?” They need you to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and focus on the future. I recently went to high school graduation and they had seven valedictorians so they had seven speakers–yes, it was as long as you can imagine. How you get there varies from place to place At the local high school, the valedictorian is often the speaker. At one college at our university, there is a speech contest to be the graduation speaker and at another college, it is someone who has been nominated by a faculty member. There are two main types of graduation speakers, the student speaker, and the headline speaker.
