Graduation and Insert Interesting Tidbit
Valedictory speech
My fellow graduates, over the last four years here at [Insert name of school.], we have learned a lot. Mr. [Insert name of math teacher.] has taught us how to [Insert a complicated sounding math thing.]. Ms. [Insert name of English teacher.] taught us [Insert interesting tidbit from a favorite piece of literature.]. And Mr. [Insert name of widely known funny, popular teacher.] has taught us [Insert something odd that parents might be surprised to learn. For example maybe he taught you how to swear in Portuguese. Or maybe he taught you the best way to approach a girl at a dance. Make it funny but revealing about a beloved teacher.].
And all of this knowledge will no doubt be valuable to us as we go forward in life. But I think that the most important thing that we have learned over the last four years is [Insert major theme. Keep the theme simple. Good themes include "How to build relationships and rely on each other," "How to Work Together as a Community," "How to respect each other's differences," and "How much we need each other to succeed." Don't worry if it's corny. If it's from the heart, go for it.].
Over the next few minutes, I'd like to talk about what we've learned the people we have to thank, and the people we have to remember. [Notice that you're setting up a little three-part structure, letting your listeners know where the speech is going.]
I told you that the most important thing that we learned was [Restate the theme.].
Let me give you just a couple of examples of what I'm talking about. [Give three or four quick and fun examples that bring in as many of your classmates' names as possible. People love hearing their names. One of the examples might sound like this. "In ninth grade with our first pizza drive, we raised a lot of money for homecoming. It was a true team success. John Smith was our pizza baker. Cindy Jones showed us how to track and spend the money. Fred Williams played a critical role in getting people to turn out for
My fellow graduates, over the last four years here at [Insert name of school.], we have learned a lot. Mr. [Insert name of math teacher.] has taught us how to [Insert a complicated sounding math thing.]. Ms. [Insert name of English teacher.] taught us [Insert interesting tidbit from a favorite piece of literature.]. And Mr. [Insert name of widely known funny, popular teacher.] has taught us [Insert something odd that parents might be surprised to learn. For example maybe he taught you how to swear in Portuguese. Or maybe he taught you the best way to approach a girl at a dance. Make it funny but revealing about a beloved teacher.].
And all of this knowledge will no doubt be valuable to us as we go forward in life. But I think that the most important thing that we have learned over the last four years is [Insert major theme. Keep the theme simple. Good themes include "How to build relationships and rely on each other," "How to Work Together as a Community," "How to respect each other's differences," and "How much we need each other to succeed." Don't worry if it's corny. If it's from the heart, go for it.].
Over the next few minutes, I'd like to talk about what we've learned the people we have to thank, and the people we have to remember. [Notice that you're setting up a little three-part structure, letting your listeners know where the speech is going.]
I told you that the most important thing that we learned was [Restate the theme.].
Let me give you just a couple of examples of what I'm talking about. [Give three or four quick and fun examples that bring in as many of your classmates' names as possible. People love hearing their names. One of the examples might sound like this. "In ninth grade with our first pizza drive, we raised a lot of money for homecoming. It was a true team success. John Smith was our pizza baker. Cindy Jones showed us how to track and spend the money. Fred Williams played a critical role in getting people to turn out for