My graduation speech!

Not sure what to say at this point.

Should Vonderjohn write the whole speech out or use notes? I vote for notes.

grrr grrr wrangle wrangle

some personalities are destined to clash. nothing more than harmless entertainment.


i think Vonderjohn's gone (singing john, john, he's long gone, gone to indiana ain't never comin' home -- mr. waits sang that, and deep it is, it is), but i still vote for writing the thing out. could even do it in columns, one with the speech written out, one with the general outline. some people have fierce stagefright, and if vj turns out to be one of those, i fear he might be lost without a text to fall back on.

anyway, at my high school it was a moot point: they demanded to see the entire text of the speech ahead of time. i think i made a couple of people nervous when i went up and announced that the speech title in the program wouldn't apply to what i was going to talk about (i'd already had some small run-ins for revealing in the school paper that the school board had discussed and decided issues before a public meeting, which is illegal; for distributing a broadsheet of several people's poetry, some of which -- my own -- was deemed profane; and for sporting a 'legalize marijuana' shirt -- i was high as a kite and ditching class when they found me, but didn't see any trouble on either of those counts) but it wasn't that bad. i was respectful. really, i toed the line most of the time, but it doesn't take much to make dimwitted rural high school administrators nervous.

Hmm....that one was from Rain Dogs? I still vote for notes, but I always work on the fly...

Yep, sure was.

I've known professional actors -- and very experienced ones, at that -- who would piss their pants if they had to speak in public from notes. I'm no stranger to public speaking, and I think that for the majority of people notes would suffice and indeed make for the better speech, but not having any contact with the person seeking the advice I'm going for the safer measure. After all, a failure at this event will be much more notable than a success; family will be proud whether the speech is well-delivered or not, and the humiliation at a crash-and-burn would be great.

For those able to ad-lib through any situation, notes are fine. But for the majority of us, a formal speech is a bit more intimidating. Although I remember a presentation I made without notes, and my boss told me it was one of the best I've made. c.i.

anybody who wants a real good laugh should read a short story by Robert Benchley. the story, called, The treasurers report" is written as a speech given by a substitute treasurer of some unnamed organization. The real treasurer apparently got sick and this sub got thrown in. So, like any good substitute, this guy had no clue about the subject and the result is a funny , almost ad-lib speech wherein pretty much every mistake of presentation skills is made.

Hey Farmerman, Somewhere in my over-stocked bookcases is a copy of The Benchley Roundup. I think the Treasurer's Report is in there. I'm a Benchley fan. I'm remembering a ways back on abuzz that you were planning to make a speech. You wanted input from different people. You and I got into a discussion of barn owls. I wondered where barn owls go when there aren't any barns. Is this ringing a bell?

Patiodog, your point is well taken about the notes. If he freezes, he's a goner. But if you write something out and then read it, it sounds stilted. Writing has a more formal and structured approach to language than just plain talking.

c.i. Some of us are better at thinking on our feet than others.

I used to love making presentations--speeches. One of my natural highs. Must have been the adrenaline.

roberta, yeh I recall. Didnt we agree to call them MALL OWLS?
I sometimes have to deliver speeches and I nEVER go , without a net. I always have my points on cards and sTICK TO EM. where many people go wrong is to have a speech commited to memory and then get nervous and forget everything.
cArds with the speech points (in order) never fails me.
I never bet on anything so having speech outlined as a net, means that, even if I totally blank out I have my place .
pS--i usually have questions after talks and thats where the extemp comes in, cuz you cannot ever prepare for the types of questions you get. I usually have typical question areas in cards of diff colors and after my talk I put my speech away and pull out my QA topics. Most often , no matter what, we seem to forget a point in response, and later wish wed have remembered. So i usually make up typicals and try to steer the audience questions that way. Of course, Im shuffeling through cards but usually it looks like Im merely checking references. my wife has said that I appear comfortable up there, however Im always on edge. I also find every opportunity to slip in humor and keep words simple because studies have shown that the simpler you speak (and write), the more people think you know of what you speak. That was on a Ray Suarez, Science Friday NPR segment a few years ago

roberta. I had to check back re my post in buzz. you were the lady with the insane cat. Im still not fully up to speed here about
How can one tell?

I still have my klepto Coon Cat and we got anew one from a building my company was going to implode. She was in the elevator shaft and it took a bunch of us to resacue it. now about 7 months later, this kitty has decided to allow us to work for her.

Hows yours holding up in these stressful times? any Catatonic episodes? get it a cat scan.

Here I am!
Alright ...
First of all I'd like to thank you all for every single word you posted, I read them all and im grateful for everyone's concern. Here are my comments on a few :

Roberta, thank you for pointing out the mistakes I had in my first post in this thread. I learned.
Please do point out any mistake I might have at anytime.

ehBeth, you did not sound rude at all, not from my view So no worries about that. Thanks for the concern anyway.

By the way it's nice to see some of you people recalling their graduation ceremonies and the valedictorians at that time. Turning this thread into a memoriable spot in this forum wouldn't a problem I suppose

Oh, and for those who were wondering: No, English is not my first language, neither am I an English expert..im just a student like any other.

"most people will not remember who gave the valedictory speech" ... "It'll all be forgotten as soon as everybody stands up to leave the hall"

Well, this is very true. But the fact is that im honestly not concerned about what the people will remember from the speech. The speech im going to give will be primarily directed towards my fellow students, and to my parents. As for the audience, all what I care about is that they understand what im saying, and that they don't get bored during the time im giving the speech. That's it.

About writing speeches in full or in notes..well..im going to try both ways, and im going to practice at home, the easier and the most convenient one to read will be the one i'll keep.

Thank you cavfancier, farmerman, Roberta, patiodog and all the others for the valuable advice you gave me here, I'll be considering the points that you pondered.

About being sober..well..i'll give it a try, but I'd rather just be myself you know ..

Running for a political office in the future? Sure why not? I have a wide interest in politics and I am very active in that field...besides that im planning to go for political science in college. So there's no joke about me coming back here to check for some advice Very possible indeed. hehe

Right, I'd forgotten about the kitten you rescued. Glad she's hale and hearty.

I looooooooooooooove giving speeches. Love it. I never work from notes, never practice, much less have the whole thing written out. I always prepare exhaustively in a general way -- commit all of the information I need to have to memory -- and if it is the sort of venue/ type of speech that lends itself, I have overheads or a PowerPoint presentation, which functions like notes -- blahbedy blah, change slide, read it, a-ha, blahbedy blah. What I love about giving speeches, though, is connecting with the audience, seeing their eyes light up, getting laughs, getting questions, and all of that seems to go much better if it is as off-the-cuff as possible. I've seen videos of myself giving a presentation (analagous to listening to an audiotape, since that presentation was in sign, though I do both voice and sign presentations) and was like WHOA! Where did that come from? It's all about being in the moment, for me, or else it gets bo-ring.

Oh hi vonderjohn, didn't see you there. Good luck!!

vonderjohn, How about showing us a draft of your notes? Promise I won't critique it. c.i.

Farmerman, LOL, yes, that rarest of species--the mall owl. Yes, I still have the insane cat. Would that he were catatonic. I could use the rest. He's large and funny and crazy as a loon. I'm glad to hear that you rescued a critter and that he's agreed to let you take care of him. All my cats have been rescued. One might hope for a bit of gratitude, but not from felines.

Soz and Farmerman, Depending on the kind of presentation I was making, I either went with what was in my head (small and informal) or cards with key words on them for large gatherings. I also loved the sense of flying. Communicating with the audience. Sensing their reactions. Responding to their questions at the end. The more questions I was asked, the better I got. I felt in the zone.

Vonderjohn, I'm glad that you found the advice and reminiscences here helpful. If you want to check in with us once you've gotten yourself organized, please do. We're all rooting for you. Wish I could be there to hear you.

A politician? This will be a good starting point for you.

Good luck!!!!!

I just KNOW there is some sort of Benchley/owl THING - a connection- Boida - WHAT IS IT? Waaaah! I know you will know.

Vonderjohn - you have been sweet and patient with us! PLEASE let us know how it goes?

This is yet another thing soz and I have in common. I also get into a zone when making speeches. I'm not quite sure why.

And - speech-making and presentation-giving are fantastic skills to have, even if you don't go into Politics. There's a huge number of people out in the world who are terrified of speaking in public. You can often make a better living if you can make presentations with finesse.

I tend to be nervous when I speak but Im always monitoring my skills by asking . I also do something which makes me more comfortable, I actually leave the podium and sometimes the stage. I need to look at peoples eyes.

Another thing that I feel is overlooked quite often, KNOW WHEN TO STOP!. Nothing ruins an otherwise good speech by going on and on and on. Ive given papers wherein a symposium schedule is so f*ed up by previous speakers taking 10 extra minutes and the moderators dont usually do a good job at moderating and shutting down some of the airbags.

I CAME BACK FROM THE FUTURE TO EDIT MY POSTS OF THE PAST

Peoples have ayes? Oh, yes, ay farmerman, good point....heh heh...yes yes, keeping it short and sweet is always best. Hope we hear how it goes for our valedictorian.

Sorry, Deb. I can't find my Benchley book, and my memory is not what it used to be. I've let you down. Forgive me.