It’s June again, and if you have young adults in your extended family, chances are you have been to a graduation ceremony or two, maybe even your own. If so, you may have heard speakers who inspired, and others who were quite forgettable. One thing is sure: in an age where the senior class may whip out their smart phones to tweet at the slightest provocation, a speaker can no longer count on her audience giving their polite attention while they are bored to tears.
Commencement speeches have a lot in common with other types of “one to many” communication. So even if you think there’s little chance you’ll ever be called on to speak to Harvard’s class of 2020, you may be able to use some suggestions for your next public address.
1. Engage the audience with humor, stories, unusual ideas. Startle them with something they don’t know.
2. Don’t give advice. At least, not as “advice.” Give the new graduates stories, based on your experience, that they will call to mind when the right time comes.
3. Speak to your audience: the graduates. Not the media, the parents, the administration, or the teachers.
4. Avoid cliches. “Today is the day you will enter the real world,” is advice you can get by Googling “graduation.” Give them something more personal.
5. Keep your speech under 18 minutes and mark it in advance with places where you can shorten if necessary, especially if there’s rain in the forecast. Not only is a speech that is too long inconsiderate of those that follow you, a concise, well-edited speech reflects much better on the speaker.
If you want some inspiration, here’s a list of some outstanding commencement speeches from 1936-2009
Tags: commencement address, communication, graduates, graduation, public address, public speaking, speech, speechwriting
