would anyone like to help with a graduation speech?

Wow, feels a lot different in front of all of you, I'm used to all the stuffed animals that would help me practice. Hopefully I can get more expressions out you all of you. I would like to start out by saying Congratulations to my fellow students.
You started with a joke, which is done often, and I think a good idea. I even think it's sorta cute--but I think an age appropriate joke--possibly centering on a teacher or something the class will all have reference to, may be even better. Who's introducing you? Or--is your school a big football or sports oriented school--or do you have a slave-driving bandleader... "Nice to see Coach So-in-so let the team off the practice field long enough to come to our little program...And, is that him? Hard to tell without his baseball cap...chewing tobacco..." Something familiar. Or turn to the dias with the teachers, and draw attention to them-- "take a long look... and pat yourselves on the back. You have survived one diabolical crew."

It has been an enjoyable ride through high school. We all can look back and laugh, cry, joke, and smile at all the times. We've gone through lots of things together, whether it was with one friend or with many. And we've made it through them stronger then when we started.
This is where you can make your speech memorable to your classmates. Was there some event that tied you together? An explosion in chemlab? A state championship? A snow in? Is your high school new? About to fall over? Discuss a few events...name names... Make it personal. It could add in to what you have here.

But moving on, we must now look forward to our futures and think about what we are going to do. Most of us are sitting here, and don't really know "what's next". We may know if we are going to college, the workforce, or neither. But none of us know if we are going to succeed or fall short. But how do we measure success? By what kind of job we have, what car we drive, what kind of house we live in, if we have kids, what our spouse looks like? The list can go on, but for every one of us, it's going to be different. If we all just keep striving for our dreams and remember to never give up, then we all will succeed. Every one of us here has what it takes to succeed, no matter how we measure it.

This is great stuff, but again, generic. You have a wonderful opportunity to speak to these people about the important issues facing your age group, as they are poised to go out into the world. What do you want to say? After you say, "How do you measure success?" Well, jay, how do YOU measure it? At that point, could you say, "For me, at the end of my life, I'd like it to be said that I..." ...and ask them to consider how they want to define themselves...? Or issue challenges-- to become politically active, or involved in solutions,... a few quotes from people you admire may give you the topic you want to pursue...

Another important thing to remember is to never forget where you came from, who taught us all we know, and why we are here. We can thank are families and teachers for this. They were and are always there for us, for whatever we need.

It is always gracious to thank people. Maybe you could think of some specific people, who have worked hard for your class--the parents who are always at the PTA meetings, or raising money for the band, or something... in addition to your sweet words above.
On behalf of the class of 2004 I would like to thank all of our teachers, coaches, parents, friends, pastors, and everyone else, for staying with us, and helping us get where we are. We couldn't have done it without you.

I'll end my speech with a quote from a Dr. Seuss book, "Congratulations! Today is your day! You're off to great places! You're off and away!"

That's cute--but you may want to choose a quote from a different source.