This post is by Richard McKeown, an executive communications coach, a conference speaker and a workshop leader specializing in presentation training, media training, crisis-communications strategy and leadership development.
It’s another day at the office, and you’re going through the mail. You begin reading a letter from the high school, community college or university you attended back in the day. “On behalf of the board of directors, it is my honor as its president to extend an invitation for you to serve as commencement speaker for our graduating class of 2011.”
The invitation usually gets one of two responses: “Wow, what an honor!” or “Why would they want me?” Whatever the response, another question enters your mind: “What in the world am I going to say?”
Here are some guidelines to make your comments relevant and memorable.
- Keep your remarks brief. Who hasn’t endured a graduation speech and thought, “I wonder when this is going to be over?!” The length of a graduation speech should not be its most memorable aspect, but too often it is. Think in the 10-minute range — 15 max — bearing in mind that no one gets into trouble for speaking too short.
- Organize around a theme and a few supporting points. This approach will help you in preparation, and the audience will better retain your comments. Ask yourself, “What answer would I want someone to give when asked “So, what was the speech was about?’ ” The answer you want — ideally expressed in a single sentence — can serve as your theme, or at least its essence. Once you have a theme, which you might want to suggest as the title of your remarks in the printed program, support it with three points.
- Focus on what you’ve learned, not what you’ve done. Graduation day is about the students and their future, not you and your past. This is not to diminish your possibly substantial and impressive accomplishments, but they should speak for themselves and be covered by the person who introduces you. In fact, when you submit biographical information to the institution before graduation day, enumerate a few of the accomplishments that prompted the invitation for you speak. It is likely that they will be used verbatim in the introduction and perhaps even in the event’s printed program. Use your time to share valuable nuggets you have learned in your career, be they guiding principles, mistakes to avoid, effective decision-making … things graduates can apply moving forward, no matter their career path.
- Avoid attempts at humor. You shouldn’t start with a joke. Or end with one. Or even stick one in the middle. Humor’s risks far outweigh its benefits. This is not to say that you shouldn’t inject some humanity and personality into your comments. You should, but only as they relate to your message, and your audience. Anecdotes, illustrations, personal references, yes. Humor for humor’s sake, no.
- Plan your delivery as carefully as your message. Audiences remember how something is said longer than they recall what is said. This has become increasingly so in today’s visual society. If a message is not conveyed in a compelling manner, its chances of being absorbed, much less remembered, drop dramatically. I am not saying that style is more important than substance, but for that substance to have impact, at least as much thought and planning need to be given to a talk’s delivery as its content. Thus, you should do at least one complete run-through in a setting that replicates as much as possible the commencement venue. Videotape yourself, paying particular attention to how well you convey key points supporting your theme.
- Do not use a script. Nothing, absolutely nothing, turns an audience off faster than being read to in the flat, uninspiring tone that a script prompts. If you are going to use a script, why not just e-mail it to everyone? Use notes, but organize them around your central theme and key points. It is perfectly fine to refer to notes but only to get a thought, not every word and syllable. You should know the topic. Whether you verbally cross every T and dot every I doesn’t matter — conveying your primary message and the points that support it does.
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Good advice, and I'd agree with every point except #4 — "avoid attempts at humor." Every memorable graduation speech I can recall, even great eulogies, incorporate humor that isn't forced or off-color.
Obviously one should not be telling knock-knock jokes, but the fact is people want to be entertained even while they're being inspired (or educated or consoled). Emotion is the conduit to retention (not to mention attention), and humor is a powerful way to anchor your points.
Again, the other tips were quite valuable, and unfortunately still quite lacking in many presentations, so I hope this gets widely read!
I would caution speakers against telling jokes (a better term, I think, than "humor" for the point Richard is making). Jokes run the risk of falling flat, especially if the speaker messes up the punch line, or offending. On the other hand, audiences appreciate a good chuckle, a bit of levity, to counter what can become excessive solemnity.
Points both well taken. Seems to be agreement that "jokes" are the risks…not necessarily humor and humanity. The primary risks of "jokes"…which is what the author seems to be referencing…is that their impact is dependent on the teller's effectiveness, and the audience's appreciation of it.
I don't think jokes or humor are the risk. I think that point should be more about an invitation to be yourself and be mindful of the audience and its mindset. If humor is organic to who you are, then follow instincts. If its not then dont do it. Also know your audience and conditions. The conditions or events leading up the event may or may not be conducive to humor. In short, I love all the other points but am not sure we can have a blanket point that recommends against or for humor. I think that is fundamentally up to the individual, that person's personality and judgment.
Agreed with Victor on the humor point – and I would add that self-deprecating humor is typically useful as it brings out a more human side and you're not inadvertently stepping on a landmine by joking about something else. The other points are great and I use most of them when I speak in public.
Boy, too bad Mike Repole, who sold Vitamin Water and now owns Energy Kitchen didn't see this. He broke most of these rules at St. John's University's commencement. It would have been misery if we weren't sitting in the rain, but even worse because it was pouring. He seemed to ramble and focus on numbers such as how much he sold companies for, donated to St. John's, and worst of all, boasted about his lousy 2.0 GPA several times. He managed to insult a bishops, the faculty, the students, the parents, and a host of others before he made a sharp turn and suddenly decided to use the rules above. Final analysis, he must be surrounded by sicophants and toadies who laugh at everything he says. Yesteday, he was not funny. Yesterday, he got booed.