How to Write a Good Commencement Speech

Graduation speeches can inspire graduates.

Schools often reserve the honor of speaking at a graduation ceremony for the highest achieving students. If your school selects you to speak at graduation, give yourself plenty of time to write your speech. Write with your audience in mind, crafting a concise speech that reflects on your experiences with your classmates. A good graduation speech thanks the faculty and families while inspiring your classmates to strive for success in the future.

Instructions

1. Write an outline. The Harvard University Extension School suggests that graduation speeches include five sections. Include a brief introduction, background about your topic, the main body that states important information, theories or assessments that strengthen your position and a conclusion that sums up your thoughts.

2. Consider your audience. Your graduation speech audience will range from fellow graduates to teachers, family members and friends. Unite these disparate audience subsets by speaking about topics that cross generations. For example, you can write about how your experiences have prepared you and your peers for college and beyond, which is a universal theme. Avoid references that only your classmates will understand. As you write, ask yourself if your topics are too current for older audience members.

3. Select a theme. Develop a thesis for your speech, much as you would for a research paper. Make sure that each of your points relates to this general theme. You can identify the right theme by asking yourself what you want your audience to feel from your speech---motivated, inspired or encouraged. Write freely with this theme in mind.

4. Use anecdotes for a personal touch. You don't want to write a stilted speech, so inject some personal reflections about your time at the school into your speech. You can even add some humor to add a lighthearted touch to your speech, but include the right balance of humor and sincerity. However, be sure to write about personal experiences that inspire your classmates, not ones that focus the speech on you.

5. Avoid wordiness. When writing your speech, keep in mind that your audience will listen to---not read---your speech. Use short, simple sentences to convey your information. If you tend to write lengthy sentences, break them down into multiple sentences so that you audience can follow you.

6. Include transitions. Your audience can follow your speech if you use transitions like "first," "next" and "finally." Transitions allow you to shift from one idea to the next seamlessly. For example, if your introduction welcomes the audience, you can use "first" to introduce the first idea in the main body of your speech.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid cliches. The Harvard Commencement Office suggests that graduation speeches not use phrases like "dawn of a new day," "incumbent upon" or "critical decision."

• Keep it brief. You will lose your audience if your speech is repetitive and drags on too long. Write your speech with a time frame in mind, and practice the speech aloud to ensure it falls within that time.

References

• Harvard University Extension School: Commencement Speech Guidelines
• Bridgewater State College: Student Speaker Guidelines
• Point Loma Nazarene University: Tips For Good Writing