School may be out but educators everywhere are already preparing speeches for upcoming parent/teacher meetings in the new term. University deans are practising their welcome to the faculty speeches at the beginning of the academic year. Then of course there is the need for head teachers to say a few words in their induction speeches for new staff. Teachers everywhere have the need to give welcoming speeches to their pupils at the re-opening of school. They may be deciding on how to motivate their pupils by addressing such words of wisdom as telling them to improve their concentration or telling them to say “No� and have the courage of their convictions. They may be explaining how much good grades matter or giving the age old advice that breakfast is the way to kick start your life. No matter what age the pupils are, or how they word it, teachers will always be getting across the same message to every student “Be yourself you are special�.

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I had a request today to write a welcome speech. I’ve written quite a few of these in my time and well I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing, if I didn’t make every speech I write different from the one before.

So I’m scratching my head trying to think of a new angle. And I think about all the welcome speeches I’ve sat through and had to listen to over the years. What connects them all?

The fact that I feel included is a start. A genuine welcome is another. There is something in there about my contribution, or what I’ll gain, the fun that I can expect to have, or the adventure that awaits. Pretty soon, if I put myself in the position of the audience, I’m getting the grid pattern.

The speech I want to give, is essentially this; it is the speech I would like to hear.

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