How to Write a Graduation Speech – Tips From The Best Speakers

It isn’t easy to compose a speech that will surprise all guests. Expressing your thoughts is a good skill, but what if no ideas come to mind? We know the secrets to help you create the perfect graduation speech, and people will remember your words for many years to come. Perhaps you can inspire some of the students.

Immediately, we note that you are not the president of the United States or Steve Jobs. You don’t need to reassure people worried about economic decline, alien invasion, or a flight to Mars. Also, you do not need to invent something new and implement it. Your task is to be sincere and share your experience.

We can assume that you will be giving a speech at a diploma speech or a party. In any case, our advice will be helpful for each of you. Of course, we do not insist that you compose a speech-based only on our ideas. We have made recommendations, and it’s up to you to decide what to apply.

Say Thanks Friends And Teachers For Support

During your time at school, you could have made many friends. Teachers also helped you with problems. If you have these points in mind, share them in your graduation speech. Most likely, parents and guests do not know about these people, which is an excellent opportunity to introduce them to the general public. 

Say thank you to all the people who helped you, supported you, and made your studies enjoyable. Perhaps one of the teachers helped you to look at learning with different eyes and opened the doors to the world of science. Maybe your physical education teacher has inspired you to go to teacher training college or connect with sports. It can be anyone – your task is to highlight this person. In the end, you can advise your guests to find the same person who made your life better.

Don’t Turn Speech into Chronological Storytelling

You are a graduate – what emotions will overwhelm you? You are most likely excited, happy, and a little confused. You may get lost in the stream of thoughts and turn the speech into a chronological story. Note that guests are not interested in knowing why you came to graduation and how you studied. However, you can make an observation speech. For example, instead of sitting over a blank piece of paper, go and chat with classmates. 

Find out what events from school time they remember. Ask them what made them happy. Or ask them to share what inspired them during their studies. The graduation speech should not revolve around you but events or people. Tell the audience about each of the classmates and what school means to them. This will remind your classmates of the brightest events.

Use Google

Google is not only a source for homework. Google is a source of inspiration. On the Internet, you can search for speeches of famous people, find chips and hooks. For example, open a YouTube video with a speech from your favorite actor or comedian. The most sensitive speeches are always spoken by Al Pacino, Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio. Why don’t you take inspiration from these great people? Do you want to touch the notes of the soul of every guest? Open Winston Churchill’s famous speech “We Will Never Give Up.” Learning from the best is the right choice.

Talk Briefly But About Important

The alumni’s speech is the most striking event, so take it responsibly. We recommend that you do not drag out your speech for ten or more minutes. The people who came to the prize have put their business aside, so they are not interested in listening to boring and long stories. Your task is to celebrate your achievements, experience or to highlight someone from your classmates. If people look at the time and think about when your talk will end, this is a bad sign. 

It would help if you didn’t talk about everything at once. Your speech should not be longer than 5 minutes. It’s enough time for you to joke or talk about the most critical points. Imagine watching a YouTube video. How long have you been focused on information? Most likely just a couple of minutes. Learning from your feelings, putting yourself in the shoes of others is an excellent way to create great speech.

Don’t Speak Topics That You Will Be Ashamed Of In Ten Years

Your speech should not be embarrassing about you. In other words, if you feel that you are ashamed of some words, it is better to remove them from your speech. Chances are, after you finish your speech, you will regret what you said and have bad memories of your prom. Most students can be excellent examples of speakers. Despite this, every year, there are those students who can embarrass teachers or parents. If you do not want to allow such events, control all your words. Don’t know how to motivate yourself? Consider if you could show this speech to your children. If yes, you did it. If something turns you off, edit your speech.

Inspire Your Classmates

A graduation speech is not just a statement that you are happy to receive your diploma and leave school. Tell your guests what the school has given you and how you will apply it in the future. You can also share ideas for where you plan to apply. Perhaps a classmate who has doubts about choosing a college or university will be able to be inspired by your ideas. If you want all your classmates to listen to you with admiration, tell you what the transition stage into adulthood means for you.

Never Cling To Famous Quotes

Leave authoritative quotes for essays. There is no place for quotes from writers or scientists in the graduation speech. Even if you like the book and want to retell it, you shouldn’t. People want to hear your opinions, ideas, and whatever you think. 

They can read other people’s views for themselves. It doesn’t matter to them what the president, psychologist, or king thinks about education. If you want to start your presentation with a quote, it is better to use the statements of your teachers or classmates. Surely you remember the phases of the teachers that made you smile. For example, many teachers say, “Who is going to the blackboard? A forest of hands!” Or do you remember some jokes from your classmates? The graduation speech is the best place to talk about it.

H2 Don’t Write On Too Banal Topic

If your classmates know in advance what you want to say in your graduation speech, then what’s the use? Show yourself on the other side. Show that people can expect something unusual from you. Be original. The expected speeches will not set you apart from others.

Tell In Detail

The details will help make your story more vivid. Let’s consider this phrase: “In the first grade, we were not confident in ourselves. We were always lost in big school and were afraid to express our thoughts.” There is nothing original in the given phrase, and the story sounds very generalized. 

Let’s look at one more example: “I admire how we all changed after coming to school. I remember how on the first day, it was hard for me to reach the locker door. I thought that all high school students are people who are at least 25 years old. I thought that all footballers are evil jocks with no brains. In search of an English class, I had to get lost twice and ask the teachers for help. However, after so many years, I am proud to inform all of you that I can get to the locker, football players are very smart and capable, and I don’t need the help of teachers to find a class. I got many skills over time, and I can’t even imagine how my life will change in the future. “In this example, everything is written in detail, and it is of interest since everyone wants to know what will happen next.

Make Your Last Words In School Memorable

All your speech should be memorable, and you should come to a final phrase that will make a big difference to you. Your last phrase should be immortalized in the memory of the guests. You can end your story with a quote (teachers or classmates), a rhetorical question, or motivational words. Share a wise phrase with your guests that will make your classmates think about the future. Encourage classmates to take action. For example, see each other in ten years or keep in touch for many more years.

How To Make A Virtual Graduation Speech?

Since COVID-19 seizes the whole world, many schools have canceled the prom or postponed it to another time. However, some schools hold virtual graduation evenings. If your school is one of them, we have prepared tips on making your virtual prom speech as comfortable as possible.

First, if you already have a written speech, we recommend re-reading it and making corrections. For example, due to technological complexity, many students may not be able to deliver a speech. Therefore, shorten your speech so that other alumni have time to share their thoughts.

Don’t forget about your appearance. Even though prom is going to be virtual, you have to make sure you look funky. Check if people can see you well in the camera and the light is falling correctly. If the light is behind you, then the audience will see a black spot, but not you. Make sure the background is clean and not distracting. When you give a speech, look at the camera, but not at the screen. Use gestures to make your speech livelier.

Be aware of the technical issues. Check if the microphone and camera are working well. Before the official event, rehearse to make sure everything works. We also recommend that you place the camera on a flat surface not to look skewed.

Example of a Good Graduation Speech

We’ve put together a good graduation speech so you can get inspired:

“We all admired the “time capsule” in childhood. We wrote lists of things to do in the future, packed notes in beautiful bottles, added a few photos, buried them in a secluded place with one goal – to convey a message to descendants. This is one of the bright childhood memories related to the school.

It was interesting, fun, and sometimes boring to study. Gradually, we learned more and more about the world that surrounds us, learned to count, comprehend the secrets of the universe, conducted experiments in physics and chemistry lessons, learned poetry, and got acquainted with authors’ works. In our free hours, we learned to build friendships, grew older, and walked with classmates.

Today we are graduates. We can hardly be called children. We are ready to go into adulthood, to plunge headlong into the world of responsibility and duties, but we are not afraid. The teachers taught us not to be afraid of problems, overcoming them with ease and with our heads held high. Thank you, dear teachers, for your patience, support, understanding, advice, and knowledge. You have become our second parents. I promise you will be proud of us all!“

The Final Insight

Crafting the graduation speech is very important for a student. It’s a chance to remember the past years, to give thanks to different people and even to motivate somebody. So it should be prepared very carefully and scrupulously. Use all our tips to make your graduation speech amazing!