Life is a challenge-meet it. That’s the kind of message teachers need to give their pupils more often. Pupils spend so much time in school that teachers have more opportunity of inspiring those students than even their parents. So they can encourage them never to give up on their dreams or to strive for excellence. They can suggest that they look at things differently or suggest that they turn their thoughts into action. Of course parents teach by example but teachers have students in a more formal setting and they expect teachers to make inspirational or motivational suggestions. They are, if you like, a captive audience and something a teacher says may just strike a chord. Telling them to make a random act of kindness every day might just encourage them to make that a habit for life. Subjects like these are ideal topics for discussion and of course if you can get them talking about what they can achieve they could develop a totally different outlook on life. So if you are a teacher risk it, a risk is worth taking.

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Mothers really matter but how often do we tell them so? Most people buy their mother a gift on mother’s day but that is all. How much better if they expressed, publicly, their love and affection for her. Of course on Women’s Day speeches are often given in praise of women but that’s not personal enough. It applies to women generally and not to your particular mom. A mother’s 60t birthday or indeed any birthday is the ideal opportunity to say how much she means. Mothers often work hard double jobbing at home and in their careers. So when she retires is an opportune time to have a party and give a mother’s retirement speech. Both of these occasions are times when family and friends gather and she will be especially touched when you tell them what a wonderful mother she is. So don’t leave it until you are giving your mother’s eulogy. It’s fine to praise her then but it would be much better to do it when she’s alive to hear it.

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Teachers have a lot to say and it’s not always about the subject they are teaching. They speak at open-house meetings and give welcome back to high school speeches. They often have to speak at a school prize-giving, a welcome to a school show or even on a school sports day. The big problem them is that they attend so many of these functions and have to speak repeatedly. Obviously they have to keep to the theme of the occasion but how can they do that and say something new and interesting? It is a fact too that the same parents will be attending the school for years while their offspring progress and they won’t want to hear the same things over and over again. Teachers often have to give motivational speeches to their students and wonder how they can say something that the student will remember for life. This is particularly true when they are speaking at a graduation ceremony. The opening of such speeches is critical. If they can say something that will capture the imagination of the audience at the beginning they will usually have them hooked. Nobody expects a world changing speech on most school occasions but they have to be relevant to the age group in question. Welcome back to elementary school speeches for instance have to be simple enough for the students to grasp while a dean speaking at the anniversary of a university or college will naturally have to pitch his or her speech to more mature students or even past pupils. So know your audience, try to be topical and add a little humour and try again next year!

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The month of November is the month that Catholics remember their dead. It’s a co-incidence then that Veteran’s Day is also held in November although the reason for that is that the First World War ended in the Armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. It too is a day for remembrance. It is a day when we recall all those who have served their country. Veterans Day is the day when we say “Thank you” to those who have done their duty. Whatever our religious beliefs or practices we pay public and private tribute to those who have served in the forces. We lay wreaths at the tomb of the unknown soldier and we stand shoulder to shoulder with those who have been bereaved. Veterans Day is a time when we recognise the fact that the past makes us what we are today. In a world where danger is always present it is a reminder that there are those willing to act in defence of their country and in the pursuit of freedom. It is no wonder they deserve to be remembered with public pomp and ceremony. they deserve to be remembered in the stillness of or hearts.

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Has it ever occurred to you how much influence a speech can have? Think how Hitler persuaded the German people to go to war. Think too how Churchill persuaded the British people to continue the war effort despite being bombed and blitzed. Remember how Martin Luther King shared his dream and how John F. Kennedy persuaded the American people to look into their hearts and see what they could do for their country. These are, of course, speeches that were made by famous people. Most of us are unlikely to change the fate of a nation. We can though, if we are enthusiastic enough, give a speech that changes beliefs or inspires an audience in some way. Obviously the speaker has to be convinced that the message he or she is giving is very important. Naturally too he or she has to have the urge to spread that message to everyone who hears it. You may be a conservationist who feels that a good public transport should totally replace private cars. Maybe you think that stem cell research is wrong. You could be against the proposal for a nuclear reactor in your area. If you feel passionately enough about the subject and you have your facts right you too can make an inspiring or motivational speech. If you can make your side of the argument convincing, your speech interesting and your sincerity apparent you may well change minds and hearts.

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Commit a random act of kindness each day. That’s a worthwhile challenge if ever there was one. In our busy lives we don’t think of others as much as we ought. Certainly we don’t usually make a conscious decision to do something worthwhile for them. How long is it, for instance, since you have phoned an elderly aunt who would love to hear from you? Have you visited the hospital to see that colleague who is ill? These are, of course, only two of the numerous options available to us. Your random act of kindness could be as simple as ushering someone ahead of you in the queue at the check-out in the store. It could mean helping an elderly neighbour by cutting his or her lawn when you are doing your own. It could mean simply paying a well deserved compliment. Have you a friend who is going to an important function? Why not help her to choose a suitable dress? If you know someone who is out of work why not pass on his or her name to a would be employer? Every day there are countless opportunities to do kindnesses for others. Pay the shoe shine boy to polish your shoes instead of doing them yourself. Put some money in a poor box. Pay a surprise visit to someone who is lonely. You can commit an act of kindness for a stranger or someone who is close to you. How long is it, for instance, since you have said a sincere thank you to someone instead of taking their efforts on your behalf for granted? The list of opportunities is endless. If you haven’t time or money to spare perhaps you could simply say a prayer for someone who needs one.

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Strive for excellence you’ll be glad you did. Most of us would prefer to do things properly but sometimes we give up rather than keep trying. Yet the satisfaction you get from doing something well is tremendous. Ask any athlete who has won a race how it feels and he or she will tell you that all the effort and training was worthwhile. The same applies to anything we do. Take painting a room for instance. We can simply slap on a coat of paint or we can do the job properly by sanding the doors or washing the skirting boards before we start. We should, of course, recognise our own limitations. We have not all been born with the musical abilities of Mozart and we cannot all paint masterpieces like Van Gogh. No matter what we do though we should do it to the best of our ability. Persistence, patience and passion are the secrets of success in every field. That includes public speaking. So if you are writing a speech for instance it means doing your homework and checking your facts. It means finding suitable quotations and writing a speech suited to the particular audience in question. Then you have to practise until you can deliver that speech professionally. You may not be an orator like President Kennedy but if you strive to write an excellent speech and you have the passion for your subject you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you have done as well as you possibly can.

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Never give up on your dreams. That’s good motivational advice whether to a class of youngsters or to more disillusioned adults. It encourages them to believe in their dreams and to follow them. It convinces them that their dreams are worthwhile. If they have doubts and fears they will undoubtedly feel better if you can convince them that that is normal. We all need those dreams and hopes because without them there is no better future. So any teacher or public speaker who can convey that message is re-awakening perhaps forgotten dreams or reinforcing the message that it pays to have passion There are, of course too those other dreams that are part of the cycle of sleep. Fortunes have been made by those who claim to be able to interpret them and certainly some are so re-occurring that those who have them feel there must be some meaning in them. Whether or not these are a way of reliving something that actually happened or something you read about is open for discussion. Certainly a war film that showed torture scenes might give you nightmares afterwards. It’s definitely possible that you will wake up screaming. Generally, though, dreams slip away from us when we awake especially the ones where something nice was just going to happen.  These seem to vanish in the morning mist. So there are two different kinds of dreams, one important to our daily lives and one that is part of the night.

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What is the secret of giving an inspirational speech? It’s making your audience believe that they can do or achieve something special. Your might suggest, for instance, that they should turn their thoughts into action. After all how many of us think about doing something and never actually getting around to it? You might convince them that it pays to have passion because without a passionate belief in what we are doing it can never amount to anything. There is an old saying that worry is like a rocking chair it gives us something to do but gets us nowhere. We might inspire people by saying to them that the secret to tackling worry is don’t worry-just act. Inspirational speeches should inspire people to be different or better in some way. Few of us will inspire as many people as, say, Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela when we give our speeches. If, however, we manage to convince our audience to treat life as the great adventure it is we will certain have achieved our aim in inspiring our audience look at life in a different way.

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Be brilliant-unlock your potential. That’s the message we should be trying to get out to all those who are unemployed at the moment. In fact it’s the message we all need to know about. The world seems to be divided into two categories the confident and those lacking in confidence. That means that approximately 50% of people do not have any self esteem. They do not believe they have inner resources. They are not sure they have anything to offer the world. They certainly don’t believe they are brilliant. That is not to say that unlocking their potential will ensure that they all become brain surgeons or actuaries. It is not to say that they will rule the world or create millions of jobs. If you say to them though “Fix your focus and achieve your goals” you will be helping them to achieve their own particular type of brilliance. They may never shine on a world stage but they can shine locally. Instead of being President of America they can make their contribution in their district council meetings. If we tell them “It pays to have passion” we are giving them a tool to help unlock their own brilliance. So if you are lucky enough to have self confidence and to be an achiever share the message with someone who hasn’t. Help them to help themselves.

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