Domestic violence is not a private matter it’s a public disgrace. Unfortunately those who suffer often suffer in silence and it is only when things get out of hand that the truth surfaces. There are many misconceptions about domestic violence. One is that it is a working class phenomenon. This is definitely not the case because barristers, doctors and other professionals are often perpetrators. Police records will verify this. The wives and partners of these bullies are often too ashamed to let their circle of friends know what is happening behind closed and often posh doors.
The other misconception is that it is always women who are the victims. Hard as it may be for most of us to believe men are often the victims and women the abusers. The reasons the men who are normally physically stronger cannot seem to defend themselves are probably twofold. The majority of men have been reared to believe it is wrong to hit a woman and if they do there is a good possibility that they would do even greater damage than a woman does. The other is that men are ashamed to admit being abused by a woman.
What is unbelievable is that victims are prepared to suffer because of the children or because of false pride and surely we are all to blame for their misery. Our education system quite rightly speaks out about bullying in school but are children ever taught that is it wrong for mammy or daddy to bully at home? Are they ever taught that there is help available to their mother or father if needed? Governments should provide more, easily visible safe havens for victims. We should all know where they are.
Those who use violence have to know they are beyond the pale. They shouldn’t be able to hide behind our indifference. They should pay the penalty for their cruelty and that will only happen when victims are assured of our sympathy and help. In some countries smoking has become socially unacceptable. It’s time that the same applied to domestic violence.

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A captivating start is essential but the whole answer is, of course, that your speech should answer their needs.  Depending on that audience you should be able to give them information that will prove useful to them.
Naturally then you will need to know your audience. If you are speaking to parents of elementary school children they might want suggestions as to where they can send their children for further education. Your speech could explain how many schools there are in the area and tell what they offer. Parents whose children love music might intend sending their child to one school but find out from you that only half of those school pupils graduated, perhaps because of the time devoted to music. You could tell them about travel arrangements to each school and about the ratio of teachers to students. You might mention how much social work the children did or what sort of sports they played in different schools. You would thus be meeting the needs of parents who have to make a decision regarding their child’s schooling.
The same applies to any audience. Find out what their worry or concern is and address it. It’s simple but it works.

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The Irish Government is making plans to raise the retirement age to sixty eight. Ministers are saying that a low birth rate makes it uneconomical for taxpayers to support pensioners from the existing retirement age of 65. Falling birth rates elsewhere mean this is likely to happen in other countries too.
This will mean, of course that their will be less retirement functions and less retirement speeches. Add the recession into the equation and you will see that retirement will not be celebrated in the way it once was.  So if whether it is Retirement of Army Officer speeches TO Officer who is retiring, the  retirement of business partner or the retirement of a teacher the farewell functions are likely to be more low key.
That is not to say that there will be no parties and no speeches. It is unlikely that the boss will let a long time employee leave without saying a few words. It is unlikely too that if your father retires and you are having a family party that you will not toast his retirement. So the need for speeches will go on. Retirement speeches should encompass the working life of the retiree. They should speak of his talents and skills and what he has given to the company. The speaker should also make an effort to find out about the retiree’s foibles and hobbies. Above all the speaker should certainly try to discover the plans the retiree has for the future. Then and only then will he be able to speak convincingly of a happy retirement.

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Speeches for social functions such as a club or association’s annual dinner call for a different kind of speech. Such speeches need to be polished and professional rather than personal although of course they do need to ensure that your audience feel a welcome part of the occasion. Take the introductory speeches for Guest speaker for instance. You will need to have done your homework and be able to introduce such speakers with confidence, knowing their background and what it is in particular that makes them the ideal speaker for the event.
Your brief may be to give a toast to the ladies and if that is the case your speech should be gracious and light-hearted and, of course, self-deprecating if you are a man. Alternatively, you may be asked to give a toast to the guests. This is usually quite a general speech but you can make it stand out from the norm if you can link it to the particular occasion. If it is an academic gathering for instance you might include a suitable quote from a Greek philosopher.
You may be asked to give a vote of thanks to a guest speaker. Again it should be gracious and obviously it should refer to what he or she has said. You can use words like “stimulating” and “interesting” but preferably while you might prepare the outline of the speech in advance you would also have to leave some gaps that you can fill in when you have heard the speaker actually speaking. Finally if you are the M.C. for the function your closing speech should sum up the occasion with warmth and wit.

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Each Club or society has its own protocol. If, however, you are an officer of such a club it’s quite likely that on some occasion you may have to give a speech. You might, for instance, be giving an incoming club officer‘s inaugural speech in a fraternal club or speaking as the outgoing President of a professional organisation. It’s possible that you may, as an official, be speaking at the opening of a clubhouse. Whatever the occasion your speech should sell your club or association to all those present.
This may seem unnecessary if they are already members of the club or society. Yet you are giving them a reminder of the work the club or association actually does. You are telling them what has been accomplished and what lies ahead. Your speech should make them proud to belong.
You should express how honoured you are to be speaking on such an occasion. If you are an incoming officer you should give thanks for being elected and say that you are conscious of the trust that is being placed in your abilities. You should outline your own dreams and plans for the future and what you hope to do. As an outgoing officer you should, of course, express your thanks to those who helped you in your work during your term of office. No matter what the occasion is a few gracious words of thanks to all those involved in running the club or association is absolutely essential. Basically such speeches are about what can be or what needs to be accomplished in the future. So your speech should be both positive and practical. Above all they should express your pride in being a member.

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Being an M.C. means that you have to set the tone for a particular function. It is up to you to welcome guests or delegates and give them that feel good factor. Your job is to create a spirit of anticipation ahead of a social event or conference.
Of course there are dozens of different kinds of functions and what you say depends on what they are. You might be welcoming guests to a function where the business person of the year is receiving an award. It could be that you have been asked to be an M.C. at a book launch. You might be giving a welcome to guests at a social function. No matter what the occasion is what you say is very important.
So give a warm welcome and make whatever is going to happen next sound promising. It is always good to be topical so make some mention of a topical event if you can. You are not a comedian but a light hearted remark or two will add to the occasion. Obviously it is essential that you give outany safety notices that are important or any details of what the audience has to do.
The Irish have a saying that a good start is half the business and so if you do your job as M.C. well the function is already half way to being a success. When it comes to closing the event you should comment on successful the occasion has been, thanks to the participation of the audience or delegates. You thank the participants and the organizers and express the wish that all those present will meet again at another such successful occasion. Finally you should wish all those listening a safe journey home. Finally remember that being a good M.C. is all about creating and maintaining the right atmosphere.

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We’re in a recession and we don’t really care about the environment we just want jobs. That’s the message the American people are giving President Obama according to opinion polls recently published. Environmental concerns came way down on the list.
We are very concerned about terrorism but fail to ask ourselves if we are fanning the flames of terrorism. Then too despite being concerned about crime we seem to fail to recognise that prison is not the only punishment for crime. We worry about energy but fail to recognise the fact that Nuclear Power – is a sensitive issue.
Health Care - Our costly crisis is even further down on our list of priorities although, in conscience it should be a huge concern to every right thinking person.
We also fail to recognize the fact that Immigrants and Illegal Aliens are a part of us. Despite the fact that the world has had huge hurricanes and earthquakes lately global warming comes way down on our list of priorities.
Isn’t it time we got those priorities right? Our very world is in danger and we don’t seem to care. It’s time we got our act together and dealt with climate change before we have no fresh water, no clean air and no possibility that any of our other concerns will matter. Besides, tackling those environmental problems will give those jobs we so desperately need. So let’s look at that list again and put the environment right where it matters most, at the top of the list.

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St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us and Irish Government officials are flying to the four corners of the earth. They are going to represent Ireland abroad. They hope, by their visits, to increase trade and to awaken interest in Irish tourism. That’s a far cry from the real meaning of St. Patrick’s message to the Irish so long ago. It was he who brought Christianity to Ireland.  It was he who lifted the shamrock and explained that the three leaves on one stem represented the three people in one God. What has that to do with green porter and lavish parades?
The fact that the officials fly to so many places does show, though, the impact the Irish have had around the world. Whether those ministers go to Africa or American some Irishman or woman has been there before them. Today they may be bringing the latest technology but they have always brought caring and compassion to the poor and the deprived.  In that age old tradition of caring and Christianity today many of the volunteers in Haiti are Irish.
So  St. Patrick’s Day is a day to celebrate one’s Irishness.   It is a day to remember home and what it means. It is a day when Irish emigrants all over the world remember their roots. So if they celebrate with dinners and dances and drinks well it’s just because they are Irish and it’s their national feast day.

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Timing and topicality are two of the most important rules when giving a speech. Sometimes you are given a certain time for which you have to speak and if that is the case you speech should last the length you have been given. Radio stations use as a guideline 180 words a minute and so that is a useful guideline for the public speaker as well. Obviously some people will speak faster than others but it should be remembered that you should not talk too fast when giving your address. Of course you should not speak too slowly either or you will lose the attention of your audience.
It goes without saying that topicality is equally important and it helps a speech greatly if your audience recognises that your speech, whatever the topic, has some connection with a recent happening. If you are giving an informative speech on buttons, for instance, you might mention that the Parish collections showing just now have an emphasis on buttons this year. Mention of global warming or marine pollution can be added to most speeches nowadays because the environment is so topical and it affects us in every sphere of our lives. So it doesn’t matter if you are talking at a business conference or a resident’s association meeting you can link it to some environmental point. However if you are talking about a subject such as it pays to have passion a mention of someone who is known to be passionate about something will add to your speech. You might, for example, mention President Obama’s passion for the reform of the Health Service. Get the timing right and the topicality and you are well on the way to giving a speech that will make them sit up and take notice.

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Most of us have been told there is nothing new under the sun. That can make it awkward for speechwriters who are trying to write a speech. They may, understandably, feel that there is nothing new to be said at all.
A speech is a very personal  thing, though, and so, whatever the topic, they should write it from their own perspective. A business person may want to speak about innovation and with a clever twist of words he can say make innovation your business. In a time of recession he may want to take the angle companies don’t succeed in business people do.
A good speech is all about the angle you take and the perspective you have. If you are speaking about mirrors you should try to speak as thought you were explaining mirrors to someone living in a jungle who had never seen one. In other words you speech should not just state the obvious. It should intrigue.
If you are speaking about health instead of speaking about cancer or hearth disease why not speak about feet: a question of mutual support. It’s a more unusual topic and everyone has feet. A very good rule when writing a speech is to write one about something that applies to everyone in the audience.
Everything has not been said yet. You can choose to speak from your own heart or your own perspective. Get your message across - clear communications count.

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