Teachers are always giving speeches. They speak at graduations and at the school sports. They say a few words at prize-giving day too. Then there are teachers’ retirements, open house speeches and welcome back to school speeches. There are school concerts where they are expected to speak too. It’s no wonder that end of term speeches are really the end. What should they say and how do they find something new to say? Naturally it depends on the term in question. Christmas speeches can literally be about Christmas and what it means or the teacher may be called upon to give a happy holiday speech if that does not apply. At Easter and summer too he or she has to bid a fond farewell to the pupils and wish them well during the vacation. Naturally the teacher must refer to the term that has passed and the things the students have done during that term. He or she might amaze the students by saying that the teachers too are looking forward to getting away from them! After all pupils always think teachers have it easy while being a student is hard going. The teacher will have to include a few words of advice in the speech because no teacher worth his or her salt can avoid giving good advice. That goes with the territory. Whatever a teacher says though you can bet he or she will heave a sigh of relief as the say their “Au revoirs.” After all, despite what students may believe, they are only human.

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A challenge can be so many different things. It can be something as simple having your Christmas shopping done early and economically. For a sportsperson it can be winning the race, the championship or the league. If you are ill the challenge can simply be to get better as quickly as possible. The speaker who gives the message “Challenge yourself and reap the rewards” reaches out to every single one of us because we can all do with improving ourselves or our lives in some way. The businessman might, for instance, accept the challenge of change in business and in doing so ride out the recession. A teacher might respond to the challenge of having a very dull or indeed a very bright student in his class by helping each one of them to reach his or her potential. A soldier might challenge himself to save the life of a comrade injured in battle. For a lawyer the challenge could be to ensure an innocent prisoner walks free. For a government the challenge is surely to look after its people. So it’s a very worthwhile topic for a public speaker. In fact to sum it up for everyone in the audience all he has to say is “Life is a challenge, meet 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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Share your beliefs. That’s something every good speechwriter should do. If your daughter is sweet sixteen or you are speaking as the father of the bride you should share your belief that she is special in every way. If, as a student, you feel exams should be abolished you should share that belief too. Your classmates will undoubtedly agree with you whatever about your teachers. If you feel persistence, patience and passion are the secrets of success you should be able to convince others of the fact too. Every speaker who stands up in public should have a belief that he or she wants to share. If you think that euthanasia is murder not mercy convince others with your arguments. If you believe that soccer is the beautiful game tell the world about it. Even when you are speaking at a birthday party your belief that the birthday boy or girl deserves praise and good luck wishes should come across in your toast. If you are talking at a baptism your belief in the importance of the sacrament should feature in what you say. If you don’t have such a belief, don’t speak.

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September is the time of the year for new beginnings. It’s a time when people decide to take a night class where they can learn to swim for instance or to play a musical instrument. Others may decide it is time to get walking, get fit and have fun. The long nights of winter can be enhanced by using the time to do something for someone else. They might, for instance, volunteer to help at a local youth club, coach footballers or teach those who are illiterate. They could try their hand at fundraising for cancer. Others may decide it is time to work on their friendships and arrange to meet regularly for dinner or to play golf. Yet more may decide tor write to those with whom they may have lost contact. Alternatively they could take up hobbies such as knitting, chess or even war games. They might feel called to make a difference in their local community by joining a residents group or take an active part in the parents’ committee at their children’s school. They could even try to change the world by joining a political party. September is a time to tidy up the garden for winter and to start putting away those summer clothes. Those autumn leaves may be falling but in the spring a new season will start. So prepare for it by making September the time you begin something new and challenging.

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It’s a time for new starts and, of course that means speeches. September is a month when children go back to school and there will undoubtedly be thousands of welcome back to school speeches. Sometimes though it’s a new school and the head teacher will be giving an opening of a new school speech. In it he or she will undoubtedly speak of the role of education and what a difference it makes to society. Naturally too he or she will thank those responsible for helping to get the new school off the ground.  He or she will also mention the wonderful staff and what they hope to do with the pupils in the future with all the great new facilities. There are other fresh starts too. There may be a business launch where the owner will speak of his or her hopes for the future of that particular business. This might, for instance, be at the opening of a new gym or perhaps the opening of a new hotel. Obviously the speaker will speak of the excitement such an opening brings. The speaker will also mention the hard work and planning that preceded the time when the ribbon was cut. These speeches will be optimistic and motivational in tone and speak of what the new venture can offer clients. Speeches for such new starts should really be about someone’s dream coming true.

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Celebrate with a speech. Most of us would claim not to be public speakers but have you ever thought of how many times during a lifetime speeches are used by you are someone else? When a baby is born there is often a christening party or a baptismal party at which a parent or god parent speaks. In the Jewish tradition someone may speak at the Brit Milah. As children grow up their teachers will use welcome back to school speeches every year and of course there are those graduation speeches. Normally parents don’t speak at birthday parties but there are exceptions. They like to wish their daughters well when they reach sweet sixteen and of course there are also coming of age toasts. Then it’s time for those wedding speeches of all kinds and lots of people are roasted at their 50th birthdays. Retirement speeches then become a fact in your life. In between times you may speak as the incoming president of a sporting organisation or give the toast to the ladies at a social function. So you see speeches mark many occasions in our lives and of course funeral eulogies sum up those lives.

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Many students are waiting for exam results just now. They feel that their futures depend on those results. Is that really true? Then too with the world being such a fast changing place is studying for one particular career a good idea? History tells us that the Luddites rioted because machines were taking over their jobs in the textile trades. In transport canal barges were replaces by trains as a way of transport so bargees had to make way for train drivers. In more recent times printers have had to come to terms with computer technology replacing what they used to do? Being top of the class in science won’t necessary make you a kind and caring doctor in whom patients have trust and confidence. So is there not also a case for saying that exams should be abolished? Is there not a case for alternative ways of assessing potential for a particular job? Is continual assessment a better choice? Should psychological tests determine how suitable people are for a certain career? Entrepreneurs all over the world, many of whom took no exams whatsoever, have made fortunes. In such a fast paced society should adaptability be of more importance than exam results? Should team spirit be a plus rather than the ability to sit in an exam hall and remember chunks of information? How much of what students learn do they actually use later on in life? In fact is it time that education actually meant education for real life?

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During the vacation schools and cleaned and painted and the head teachers are busily writing the Welcome back to school speeches. These speeches are very important because they set the whole tone for the coming academic year. This is when new students are welcomed and every other student is encouraged to work hard, for his or her own sake. That’s important because trying to get students to study is difficult enough. If you can show them the benefit that they themselves will reap you have more chance of success. Schools are, however, much more than merely a place where students study. They are also a place where they grow and mature and have fun while doing so. They are a place where students learn self discipline and where they make friends for life. So that is the message teachers are trying to get across when they address the students who undoubtedly wish they were still on vacation. It’s a tough challenge but what they say in that speech can change attitudes and make a real difference.

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You never think of school principles as salespeople. Yet once a year they give a warm welcome to parent/teacher (Openhouse) meetings and it is at such meetings that they sell their school. Such teachers will obviously speak of the ethos of the school. They will speak of the advantages of sending students to that particular school. They will speak of the academic excellence there and woo them with the promise of individual attention for their offspring. What they will omit from their speech is any mention of problems the school may have. Instead they will speak encouragingly to those parents of parent/teacher collaboration and promise that bullying will be tackled immediately. They will sell their school as a safe, encouraging place for children where they will make friends and have lots of non academic activities such as sports. They will stress the excellence of their staff and the wonderful facilities available. Such teachers may have no place in the world of commerce but there is no doubt but that they could teach many sales executives a thing or two about pitching their product.

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