Please help with graduation speech

[Lecia]

hello all... i am in desperate need of some help. i have been asked to speak at my classes graduation in july and try as i might i can't decide what to say. part of the difficulty lies in the fact that our graduation is for graduates of both the full time day and part-time evening weekend program so some of the 'inside jokes' i'd like to use i can't. i want my speech to be funny and inspirational/motivational. i want the graduates to walk away thinking the 10 minutes i spoke was worth their time.

what did people say at your graduation that stuck with you, made you laugh, or just brought a smile to your face??

any feedback is greatly appreciated.

thanks!

lecia

[anonymurse]

Make it short. If you have 10 minutes, take 3.

Break the ice by opening with a short very funny story where you're the butt of the joke. Don't bother if it's too long or not funny enough.

Don't use the time to thank anyone, you are speaking for the class, not yourself. Briefly cast the spell of siblinghood and unity even if you're convinced it's total horse hockey. It's part of the gig.

Finish by taking them to a higher plane in a simple way, tell them they're bigger than life. Maybe you'll want to give 'em St. Teresa's Prayer, which probably wasn't written by her, which is just as well because there are so many variations:

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which He radiates

compassion on this world;

Yours are the feet on which He is to go about doing good;

Yours are the hands he will use to bless others.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Thank them and get off the podium no longer than 5 seconds after they start clapping.

Don't ever think of yourself. Look into the eyes of one person at a time in the audience and speak to them, one on one.

[us4halls]

i would try to keep it as general as possible , myself i would kinda steer clear of religious stuff. maybe nurses creed or something like that may be good though

[SICUsForMe]

Whoops...