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Most of your speech should explore one topic, or several related topics that follow a theme. What this theme is depends on the nature of the speech. Graduation speeches often have a theme about memories or the future, school election speeches convince people you'll make good decisions if elected, and class assignment speeches usually argue a controversial point.  If you're not sure which theme to choose, write down or summarize a few stories and statements you could include in your speech. Pick the ones you like best and see if there's a unifying theme to tie them together. See What to Do and What Not to Do for more advice on themes. If you enjoy making people laugh, write a funny speech. If you are a serious person, create moments that will cause reflection. Remember to end on an inspirational and uplifting note, especially for commencement speeches. Avoid long, meandering sentences and overcomplicated arguments. Unlike when writing an essay, you'll have difficulty explaining technical terms or referring back to your earlier points. Keep each sentence easy to follow. If younger kids will be present, make sure to use words and concepts they can understand.  Don't interrupt one point with a clause, or section set aside by commas or parentheses. Instead of saying "Our tennis and basketball teams, which we all know won the regional championships two years ago, need increased funding to compete," say "Our tennis and basketball teams both won the regional championships two years ago. Now we need to increase their funding to compete with other schools." You can reference your school's slang once or twice to get a laugh, but don't overdo it, especially if there are parents in the audience. You can write a whole rough draft, or come up with several separate stories and inspirational statements that fit your theme. Stick to your own ideas and specific detail. People will enjoy and remember original and detailed sentiments more than generic phrases such as "I will make our school proud" or "Our class will go on to do great things."  Find a broad message that your whole audience can connect to their own life, but still deals with a specific idea. For instance: "Become an even better version of the hero who inspired you." (But don't steal your "original" idea from this website!) Your stories can be specific incidents in your life or from history, but you should connect them to a more general idea. For instance, you could tell a story about your sibling's hospital visit, then go on to talk about overcoming fear and hardship in general. If you like what you're writing but it doesn't fit the theme you had planned, it's fine to adjust your topic or switch it entirely. Switch back and forth between writing stories and brainstorming a theme if you keep getting stuck. Pick an engaging and on-theme story to lead with, one that will grab your audience's attention and prepare it for the overall tone and message. Pay extra attention to the first sentence:  Surprise your audience by diving right into a tough story. "When I was ten years old, I lost my father." Make your audience laugh by telling a joke, especially one that everyone in the room will get. "Hello everyone. Let's have a round of applause for the guy who installed air conditioning." Start with a grand, thought-provoking statement. "Our galaxy contains billions of earth-like planets, and we're only just beginning to discover them." Most likely, someone else will introduce you, and many of your classmates know you already. Unless you're asked specifically to introduce yourself, you can get right to the good stuff. Your audience should know what your overarching theme is before you've finished your first few sentences. State exactly what you're talking about or at least suggest it strongly right at the beginning. To use an example from earlier, if your theme is "Become an even better version of the hero who inspired you," you could begin your speech with two or three sentence about your hero, then say "You all have heroes who inspire you, but you don't have to just follow them. You can become even greater than the people you look up to." Don't jump straight from a joke to a story about surviving a car crash. Think about what the audience is feeling and expecting after each section. It's good to surprise them, but do it with your ideas, not by confusing them with a completely different topic. Include phrases such as "Now I'd like to talk about..." and "But we should also remember..." when moving on to your next idea. A good joke or an idea that makes people think are two good ways to end a speech, depending on the overall mood. If you're arguing a point, summarize it briefly and end by restating your position firmly.  Build up to a big ending, then crack a joke to wrap up a funny speech. "And I know when you walk to the ballot box tomorrow, you'll be ready to do the right thing. Protect the interests of yourself and your school by washing your hands afterward. Do you know how many people touch that thing?" If you're giving a commencement speech, leave people feeling excited or awed about the future. This is a big moment and you have the power to help them realize it. "Years from now, you will be the father or mother your kid looks up to. The writer who changes the way we think. The inventor who creates new ways to live. Come up to the stage and start becoming heroes!" Congratulations, you've finished your first draft. Wait, the work isn't over yet! To write a good speech, you will need to work on it, think about it, and maybe even rewrite the whole thing. Have a teacher, family member, or trusted friend check it over for grammar mistakes and offer feedback. Spelling isn't as important, since you'll be speaking out loud. Bringing in maps, pictures, or other materials is most practical and useful for speeches given as class assignments, since you'll have something to write on and don't need to transport your materials outside the classroom. You won't need anything like this for a graduation speech. If your topic involves a lot of numbers, plan to write them on the board so your audience can remember them. No one wants to listen to you read an essay out loud. You'll need to become familiar enough with what you wrote to deliver it confidently while looking at your audience. It is a good idea to write down notes on small index cards to jog your memory. Your notes are there to remind you what to say next and of important facts. "Move on to bear wrestling story (guy's name is Paul Bunyan)" is the level of detail you need.
Choose a topic or theme. Pick a tone that makes you comfortable. Use short sentences, and avoid words your audience won't understand. Write down original stories and messages. Find a gripping way to begin your speech. Make the theme clear. Move from one idea to the next in a natural order. End with a memorable statement that captures your speech. Edit and polish it as much as possible. Consider visual aids. Turn the speech into note cards, then practice!