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OK, I know I don’t post much, but i could really use some advice. It appears I will have to give a graduation speech fairly soon, and I don’t want it to be a pile of terrible, hallmarky mess. Any suggestions? I am considering using a sermon by Fredrich Buechner (The Calling of Voices from the Hungering Dark)….But I am reallly open to suggestions. Any suggestions for talking in front of 8,000 people for a shy, quiet kid would also be helpful. Thanks

i’ll assume that this is a christian audience to whom you’ll be speaking and recommend kirstin’s article, [i:d97dabead5]against indifference[/i:d97dabead5], which was recently published in [i:d97dabead5]comment[/i:d97dabead5], the journal of the work research foundation in canada.

it’s basically a rallying cry for christians to get involved with culture. maybe you can pull some ideas from there.

good luck!

thanks for the plug, rob. i would also recommend [i:189f720d03]Oh, The Places You’ll Go![/i:189f720d03] by Dr. Seuss. it was originally written as a graduation speech. here’s a bit from the Amazon.com review:

yet honest, and always rhythmically rollicking, [/i>Oh, the Places You’ll Go![i] is a perfect sendoff for children, 1 to 100, entering any new phase of their lives. Kindergartners, graduate students, newlyweds, newly employeds—all will glean shiny pearls of wisdom about the big, bountiful future. The incomparable Dr. Seuss rejoices in the potential everyone has to fulfill their wildest dreams: “You’ll be on your way up! / You’ll be seeing great sights! / You’ll join the high fliers / who soar to high heights.” At the same time, he won’t delude the starry-eyed upstart about the pitfalls of life: “You can get all hung up / in a prickle-ly perch. / And your gang will fly on. / You’ll be left in a Lurch.”

But fear not! Dr. Seuss, with his inimitable illustrations and exhilarating rhymes, is convinced (“98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed”) that success is imminent. As long as you remember “to be dexterous and deft. And NEVER mix up your right foot with your left,” things should work out. [/i:189f720d03]

your local independent bookstore might very well have it in stock for the season. i haven’t read the Buechner sermon, but anything by him seems like a good choice.

advice for speaking—keep a moderate and even pace, don’t forget to smile and look up often, practice enough to be comfortable with the words (change any sentences you trip over repeatedly), and don’t be afraid to mess up. the audience likes to know a speaker is human.

also, speaking is easier if you have a clear mind, so if you can, take some time beforehand to be still, quiet and breathe deeply away from the speech—don’t rehearse the speech until the last possible second or your mind will jump ahead instead of staying with the words. the more you can be present with what you’re saying, the better.

I’d forego Dr. Seuss, even though he’s completely appropriate in this situation. Quoting him has become overdone since that book hit the book stores as a “graduation gift” in the early 1990s.

Talk more slowly than you do normally. Nerves have a tendency to make people rush their normal speech pace. And don’t punctuate your thoughts with “… um …” People do that, too, without realizing it. Particularly intelligent people, I’ve noticed.

Good luck! I bet you’ll do great.

Thanks for all the input. THe audience is not officially Christian, but I live in the Bible Belt so most everyone will be at least nominally a Christian. I had thought about the Dr. Seuss book, but I want to do something different. I refuse to quote John Lennon, or “The Road not Taken.” Anyway, thanks alot, I’ll tell you all how it goes.