Congratulations - now you've got to give a graduation speech or valedictorian speech
The purpose of this Graduation speech is to thank your tutors for all their help and to look forward to the next stage of your education. Remember that your speech needs a beginning, a middle and an end.
Once you've written your speech, you'll need to practise it out loud.
Important wordsThe first thing you need to do is to pick out the important words and underline them. These are the words you'll need to make stand out and they're the words you need to make eye contact with the audience on.
Open your mouthNext you need to make sure that these important words can get out of your mouth. Most people mumble, especially if they're nervous. If you say a word with the 'eye' sound in it - I, my,high etc try to open your mouth wide enough that you can get three fingers in it vertically.
Voice exercises are a great way of improving this. Not too fastMost people giving a speech are so eager to get it finished that they speak much too quickly. Opening your mouth properly wil help to slow your speech down. You need to give the audience time to take in what you've just said.
VarietyYou need to use plenty of variety in your voice. Vary the pitch, the pace and the power of your voice. If you want to sound excited speak a little (not too much) quicker and if you want to sound serious speak a bit slower and with a lower pitch.
MistakesIf you do make a mistake don't say sorry. The chances are that no one noticed and if you say sorry you'll only draw attention to the fact that you went wrong.
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