Elementary principal graduation speech3/29/2024 But you'll also want to choose a story that will emotionally connect with the audience. If you can't think of one, consider a time you watched first-hand as someone else made a significant choice and what it taught you.Ī story depends on a goal and a tough choice (remember dilemma?)-that's what creates the significance. When I help students with speeches or any kind of personal narrative writing, I always ask them to make a list of moments where they made a choice that changed their lives for better or worse. Usually, you want a true story, a personal story for this kind of speech. Stories are how the human brain makes sense of the world we're hardwired to remember stories.ĭig into your personal experiences, school memories, or other life experience. Sure, a lot of speeches rely on favorite quotes, but those are easily forgettable. Here's where most speeches go wrong: they don't ground the remarks in a story. When my student gave his speech about his builder friend, he knew he was speaking to his peers, but he had an awareness that their families and teachers were also present. Who are they? What are they celebrating? How can you meet their expectations for the day and commemorate them in a special way? Just like when you write a story, take time to think about the target audience. Consider the occasion and audienceĪ speech for an elementary promotion ceremony has a much different focus and audience than one for a post-graduate ceremony. 5 Steps to Write a Memorable Graduation Speech 1. If you're asked to be a commencement speaker, here are a few storytelling principles that will help you write a great graduation speech. It reminded me that human experience is best related not in quippy inspirational quotes strung together, but in stories. When I saw the student speaker later, I thanked him for his speech, for sharing his love for his friend, for his story that struck such a hopeful note. I couldn't stop the tears flowing down my cheeks. The entire stadium went wild as the student graduation speech ended. The speaker closed with a challenge to his fellow students to remember their peer and to be builders-people who create things that outlast them. He shifted from that childhood game to the class memories they had built together as students through the years, continuing to develop the theme of building a life.Īnd then he revealed that his childhood friend-his fellow builder-should have been sitting with their graduating class that day. We laughed at his vivid imagery, each remembering our own toy trucks and shovels and play. He recounted their exploits in the sand box: moving dirt, building small stick structures, and working together to make something new. One in particular always leaps to my mind.Ī few years ago, a high school senior who had been selected by his peers as a graduation speaker told a story about playing a game with a childhood friend-a game where they pretended to be construction workers. Out of all those school graduation speeches I've heard, I can honestly say I only remember one or two. Today let's look at how to use storytelling to write a memorable graduation speech. The secret to writing a memorable graduation speech? Storytelling. But more often than not, they fall pieced together clichés and motivational quotes. But how to write a graduation speech that doesn't bore, drag, or flop? Here's a secret: use your storytelling skills to write a great graduation speech.Īs a teacher, I have probably heard close to a hundred commencement speeches-those five to twenty minute addresses full of life lessons, inspirational quotes and if we're lucky, funny stories. If you're lucky enough to be asked to speak at a commencement ceremony, at any level, you know the pressure of writing a memorable speech with broad appeal that fits within the time constraints.
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