Speech

[Stick]

Alright, so when I received my Premier's Award, my principal strongly encouraged me to deliver a speech to my year level to spur them on to work harder as Year 12 starts to reach the pointy end. I was really hesitant about it and I declined his request because I realise that not all people have been brought up to value education and that they are not going to change their minds because of a 17 year old boy. My year level co-ordinator also approached me about it at the end of last term and despite my concerns, really pushed me to at least give it a shot, so I reluctantly agreed. The main reason why the staff have been to keen for me to pursue this is because our year level is by far the strongest cohort to ever have passed through our school doors, but there is a major culture of cruising by and apathy, even in Year 12. I guess I've deep down always wanted to address this and deliver such a presentation, but I know that it won't make any difference at all.

Anyway, I have to do it now regardless, so I might as well try to make my speech as effective as possible. I really don't know what to do though that will make a difference. Honestly, I just feel I'll be wasting my time and my breath. Any suggestions? :S

[alondouek]

1. Don't panic.

2. Keep it short, but make it meaningful and don't waffle.

3. Appeal to how people feel during VCE, address their fears and reassure them.

4. Congratulate them on making it thus far, wish them luck for the rest.

[lala1911]

1. Don't panic.

2. Keep it short, but make it meaningful and don't waffle.

3. Appeal to how people feel during VCE, address their fears and reassure them.

4. Congratulate them on making it thus far, wish them luck for the rest.

Exactly, and in addition to this I believe you should mention 1. the relief and happiness after achieving your ATAR goal, whether it's going to schoolies or studying something worthwhile at uni  2. appeal to the future, working hard now will make it easier for them to get to where they want to be in the future  3. mention that theres only a bit over three months until the first exam

[Stick]

Thanks. Is that really going to compel my audience though? :S

[werdna]

If you go in there thinking that you're not going to make a difference, I can almost guarantee that you won't make a difference. The key to a great (motivational) speech is your believability and your passion. The hard part is that you are addressing your peers. Make a speech in front of 200 teachers and you won't feel scared at all, but make a speech in front of 200 peers and you'll be shitting yourself... so make sure you have a grip on the nerves.

Because you're a year 12 student talking to fellow year 12s, be very careful with what you say and how you say it. You're talking to people who'll sit next to you in the class after the assembly. Be inspirational and say key words with conviction, but don't seem 'too' superior to them. To be able to capture their attention, you need to speak with experience and modesty yet be on the same level as them. It's a tricky one because this isn't the end of year speech where you could congratulate them etc... but it's a mid year one.

You sorta do and don't want to do the speech - if you want to create a strong impression, talk clearly, talk with conviction and don't seem/be too much 'better' than the rest of them! If you even change at last 1 student's approach to study, your work is done. Good luck!!!

Edit: also be very careful with your wording and presence, in that you *don't* seem like a teacher's pet. Be understanding and inclusive, rather than superior or angry/frustrated

[sin0001]

Be inspirational and say key words with conviction, but don't seem 'too' superior to them

Agreed. Don't assert your superiority and as alon said, make sure you have heaps of appeals and anecdotes in there so that your speech is relatable!

[götze]

"anecdotes " ahahahha he can just make reference to himself for getting a 50 in further

[Dayman]

The best way to win a crowd of  fellow "peers" is to really hit them with jokes/funny actions this will make you confident and relaxes the audience. Furthermore make sure you have a central theme this keeps the audience focus and can be really effective in getting your message across. Finally don't be afraid to be inventive if you don't really have material go to your 'funny' friend's house and work on the speech together without forgetting your message.

ps. when i mean "be inventive" i mean like act a certain way or wear a funny hat just as an example(don't do that! lol.) and do not try that empathetic stuff people love confident. Pull this off and you would be the... man. goodluck.

[brenden]

I shit you not, go with Pokemon.
My school was pretty "fuck you" towards school assemblies in general, so I've got a fair idea on what your cohort is like. If you go up there and just be like "yo, please try hard" - it's going to be something they've heard before.

Point 3 for Amalgam I think is key.  Take a look at the motivational rants I write (would be awesome ULP practice, just btw) -- there's always a connection of some sort. "At this time of year you feel like x" - to which the response will be "YES! YES! I DO FEEL LIKE X!"

But it's different with your cohort. I'd begin blase (however, I'm a speaker unlike many), sort of lulling them into a false sense of security, and getting them to laugh more than anything else, so they hardly expect your speech. Enter: Pokemon.

"You know, VCE is sort of like Pokemon. Everyone sort of has this underlying wish to be the best, but Team Rocket just said "dicks on you" and dug a trap hole called 'the ceebs'."

And so for a good portion of your speech they're having a giggle, and you've been working in some empathetic sort of "and it feels impossible" sort of stuff, and then you twist at the end and smash out the cliche stuff "Yo, it's possible, I did it <insert motivational message>"

[Mao]

I've given a couple of talks of a similar nature, here are what I learned:

- You are not trying to motivate the entire audience, you are trying to motivate the fringe cases.

- Keep it under 5 minutes. Keeping a talk interesting for over 5 minutes is difficult, especially in this kind of motivational talks where you aren't exactly presenting much information and you don't have a very impressive life story.

- "If I can do it, you can do it too" is cliche. If achieving for the sake of achieving is a motivator for these kids, then they would already be working hard and won't need your talk. Rather, you need to find a new source of motivation other than achieving for the sake of achieving.

- Don't write it like an essay. Write it like a conversation (though a one-sided conversation). Keep the language simple but proper, and try to minimise the use of references/analogies. These are much harder to follow in spoken language than written language.

- Jokes are absolutely necessary. Keep them going throughout the speech to keep the audience entertained. Once people start to lose focus, it's much harder to regain their attention.

- Words is only half the battle. Your tone, more than anything else, should be the biggest feature of a motivational speech. You need to be the most confident motherfucker there by a long shot.

[Professor Polonsky]

Definitely don't write it as an essay. It's my weakness with speeches, but an audience is not really going to be interested in 15 minutes of almost anyone reading an essay, no matter how good it is. You want to be sharp and to the point - but of course, that doesn't preclude from you from talking "smartly", and don't take it to mean that. Wit and humour can go a long way with an audience.

[Stick]

I really wish I could upvote you all here. Thanks so much for helping me out.

The other thing which I need to be careful about too is not to spend a lot of time doing this. At the end of the day, it's not something I'm going to be assessed on, and as some of you have pointed out, may only impact on a couple of people. Nonetheless, I will still put a lot of effort into this.

[vox nihili]

Aristotle (bear with me) outlined three essential elements to a speech.

Ethos is the connection with the audience
Pathos is the emotion
Logos is the intellectual argument

If you look at your speech from these three points, it can be particularly helpful. Especially with yours really. Remember your audience and work your audience is probably the best thing to do. That's what I've always found most effective. A speech is 50% speaker, 50% audience really. Hate to use him as an example, but think of how Hitler's speeches were received. 50% speaker: well, he was an outstanding orator so full marks there. 50% audience=hopelessly xenophobic Nazis, well full marks there too because of what he was talking about. Tallied up, one great speech with one great reception. You're obviously not launching international conflict (I hope), but the principle applies! Work your audience