Studies show that only 37.9% of 232 Standford alumni could remember the contents of their speech. A graduation speech seems like one of the most important milestones of a student’s life. However, how do you write one that you and your peers will remember?
A graduation speech celebrates experiences and achievements as a student. Send your peers away into your futures with a speech that is sure to inspire. Read on to learn how to write a graduation speech that you’ll remember for years to come.
Tips on How to Write a Graduation Speech
Many factors affect the outcome of your speech. It includes the use of elements, organization of thoughts, and its essence. Here are tips on how to write a graduation speech.
- Identify the Key Elements in a Speech
Incorporating key elements create a powerful and notable speech. It makes a difference in how people receive your remark. With this, it’s vital to learn the different elements in writing a graduation speech.
Timing, brevity, and reflection are the key elements in creating a speech. You can include memories, achievements, and endeavors as well.
Timing refers to the delivery of an address within a period. Brevity encourages you to create a concise speech you must deliver in an allotted time. Reflection assesses significant events and determines how they affected your journey.
- Decide on a Theme
A theme adds appeal to your speech. It links your points together to create a cohesive remark. With this, use a motivational quotation or metaphor as your theme.
You can work with a single theme or incorporate several ideas. Ensure to infuse related quotations to avoid confusion and deliver a clear message. Choose a theme that resonates and allow your speech to revolve around it.
The common themes you can use are overcoming obstacles and paths through life. You can use memorable experiences or examples to prove your point. You can create your quote and use a famous line to support your idea.
- Create an Outline
How to write a graduation speech? Create an outline to ensure you discuss all essential points. It allows you to include the necessary key elements as well.
An outline is a guide that sequences the information and guarantees a smooth flow. Thus, consider the introduction, body, and conclusion of your speech.
Determine how to create a striking introduction that grabs people’s attention.
Ensure the body keeps the interest of your audience throughout the speech. Outlining and structuring produce an interesting speech. It allows the audience to follow through and makes the delivery easier.
You can hire a ghostwriter for speech writing services if you find it hard to collate your ideas. Ensure to provide clear instructions to keep them on the topic.
- Edit Your Speech
Review the draft you created and make changes if needed. You can ask for help from a teacher, family member, or a friend to give their comments on what to keep and remove. Doing so allows you to improve your graduation speech.
Practice your speech aloud to internalize its message and check for any repetitions. Then, you can add or cut parts. Ensure to keep your graduation address brief and direct as well.
Content of Your Graduation Speech
A speech covers many topics. Each subject contributes to producing a powerful message. Continue reading to find out the coverage to include in your graduation address.
- Start With Gratitude
Expressing gratitude before you start your speech shows respect. Start by thanking the host for introducing you to the audience. Give recognition to the service they provide to the school as well.
Proceed to show gratitude towards the school principal or university dean. Then, thank the administration and faculty next. You can thank them for guaranteeing the institution provides academic excellence.
Express your appreciation for parents and fellow students as well. However, keep it short to avoid consuming the time allotted for the graduation speech.
- Share a Motivational Quote
Begin your graduation speech with your theme. State the motivational quote you created and link it to your experiences as a student. A personal narrative can grab everyone’s attention, bringing the class together.
You can use a famous quotation and paraphrase to make it yours as well. Use it to express your anticipation for future endeavors. Ensure your fellow graduates can relate to your narrative.
It can encourage them to look forward to the next chapter of their lives.
- Provide Good Advice
You can include good advice when writing a graduation speech. Share the knowledge and guidelines you put together. You can add the expectations set to happen anytime soon as well.
Point out that it’s up to them how they handle situations. Remind your fellow students to instill a receptive mindset and allow growth. Ensure to keep a positive tone when sharing advice.
- Tell Stories of Your Student Journey
A story is an essential element of how to write a graduation speech. A study shows 63% of students remember stories in remarks. With this, tell stories and recall memories of your journey as a student.
Choose a significant event where most of you participated, such as a sports festival. It allows fellow graduates to relate and reminisce the memory. Thus, creating a bond between you and the audience.
Storytelling makes the delivery easy as well. You don’t need to memorize the whole narrative if you remember the event by heart. Sharing stories add inspiration and emotion to your speech, too.
Reiterate the theme before you conclude your speech. Provide more context showing its relatability and significance.
- Call to Action
Incorporate a call to action to end your speech. The CTA must give a definite task to get results. With this, leave a striking sentence to encourage graduates to move and make a difference.
Writing a Graduation Speech
Create a speech that can leave a positive impression on your audience. You must aim to provide a worth-remembering address that you can recall. Follow the tips and cover the topics on how to write a graduation speech.
It ensures to produce a clear and powerful message that everyone can remember. Start working on your speech now. You can check and browse our main page for more helpful blogs!