5/31/2021 By University Frames

How to Impress Your Audience with an Excellent Graduation Speech

Writing a graduation speech can be daunting. It takes a lot of creativity and brainstorming to develop a graduation speech that impresses the audience. Commencement or graduation ceremonies also mark a transitional period in one's life. Throughout school years, you make many new friends, experience several things for the first time, learn new skills and discover your inner self. Expressing all these aspects of life in a single graduation speech could seem very challenging. How can you possibly explain what these experiences mean to you? How do you properly bid adieu to your peers?

Here’s a guide to writing the best graduation speech that would have a long-lasting impact on your audience.

1. Begin the Commencement Speech with a Thank You Note

You have successfully graduated and there was a lot of support and guidance from other people. Show some humility and gratitude towards them by beginning your speech with a thank you note addressed to those who changed your life for the better.

It's always great to recognize the hard work of your parents and friends. But what might be more impactful is to thank that one specific person who stood by your side at the worst times. It can be your dad, mom, faculty members or counselor. Thank them in front of everyone and encourage others to find a mentor who would be instrumental in shaping their personality.

2. Don't Make the Speech All About Yourself

Yes, the day you graduate would definitely mark a new beginning. You are experiencing several emotions which you would want to share with the audience. But, no one wants to hear a speech that's all about you and how you graduated successfully while others did not. Although you can share some unique life experiences, avoid making it a self-revolving and "all about me" speech.

One great graduation speech idea is to write an emotionally honest note that moves your audience and leaves them with long-lasting memories.

3. Keep the Commencement Speech under 20 Minutes

That's right! Even though you are on cloud nine on your graduation day and all that excitement comes out in the speech, don't forget to be precise and professional in your approach. Do all it takes to keep the commencement speech short and crisp while effectively speaking your mind and being true to the audience. Your audience would love to experience the celebration with you, provided you don't drag it over 20 minutes.

4. Don't Say Anything That You End up Regretting Later

Schools typically select graduation speakers who have high academic achievements. However, there are some exceptional instances where kids openly call out faculty, criticize the school authority, or make inappropriate jokes. Focus on writing a speech that you would be able to pass on to your children in the future.

5. Motivate Your Peers

Commencement does not just revolve around finally getting your diploma but also indicates the beginning of a new journey and getting ready for new challenges and rewards. Your speech should leave a powerful impact on your peers and make them feel like they can overcome any challenges once they have graduated.

6. Don't Speak the Obvious

If you give a generic graduation speech and say the obvious, then what's the point of everyone showing up to the ceremony? If there are certain things that audiences expect to hear, then chances are they have already heard them, and hence there is no point in adding them to your speech. Just keep the speech authenticated and unique.

7. Hook in Your Listeners

As you commence your speech, there would be several students who are distracted by the surroundings, hardly paying any attention to what you have to say. You would need a good hook to get noticed. Being spontaneous and using humor is, of course, very effective. Still, a good commencement speech resolves issues like - What the students might not know? What unique experience of yours would intrigue them? What might be most important to graduates in five or fifty years? Give them the facts, and they are all ears!

8. Speak Clear and Confidently

Even if you speak for few minutes, just be careful of making sense of things that come out of your mouth and are easily conveyed to the audience.

9. End Your Graduation Speech with Important Points

The content of your graduation speech should lead to the final point, which is the most critical part. This is usually the line which people tend to remember for a long period. You can use quotes or words of wisdom to give your speech a memorable end.

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