Baccalaureate:
Shoot for around a five-minute speech. My advice on the speeches: The baccalaureate speech is a speech about faith. It’s not a sermon. Don’t preach. The best ones come from someone’s own personal experience. Some ways to approach the speech: ---Times when faith has meant the most to you. ---The people in your life who’ve helped build your faith. . . .family, friends, people in your church. ---The events that have brought your class together through their faith in God. ---What role your family has played. ---How living in the Triopia community has helped strengthen your faith. The main thing is, make it personal if you want people to listen. Even if you have a few ideas, you’re welcome to email them to me and I’ll help you flesh out your speech. ken@bradbury.cc We’ll practice some time on the week of graduation.
The Prayers: make them direct, simple, and honest. Legally this must be called “Opening” and “Closing” and we can’t tell you to pray. But that’s what been done in the past.
The Introductions: Shoot for 1-2 min. Briefly cover all the necessary ground (what they’ve done, etc.) but dwell especially on the personal qualities. For example, A wide smile, a helping hand, and one mean competitor on the football field. That pretty much sums up our next speaker. Griffin will be headed to the University of Illinois this fall hoping to major in ________. I got to know him pretty well as Matt Burrus,Griffin and I traveled to the Fiesta Bowl last year. At Triopia he’s also took part in _____(list activities). But more than anything else, I’d like you to welcome my good friend….Griffin Greene. (Something like that.. cover the accomplishments but make it PERSONAL..make the audience want to hear the speaker.) Just make sure that the last thing you say is the speaker’s name.
Baccalaureate order: Processional (music to enter…usually played live… ) Opening…senior Music… I’d suggest having Elisabeth play and sing one of her songs of faith and have some of you sing along. Introduction of Speakers…..senior Addresses ……. seniors Closing ……. senior Recessional (same deal as the processional)
I think that only 2 speakers will be an awfully short ceremony. Have you thought about Sydney Meyer or Kenzi Miller? That idea of someone writing Braden’s speech for him really poses a problem. Nothing against the kid…I barely know him. But boy…a baccalaureate speech that someone else has written? That’s just weird.
These speeches are usually written out and read. The best way to do this is to have the speakers send me what they’ve written and I’ll give them suggestions on punching them up a little….even if they send me A LITTLE….even some ideas. The only thing I don’t like about helping with these speeches is when speakers put this off, I get something from them at the last minute, there’s not enough time to fix them, and they come off as weak. Please don’t let that happen….I trust you. You’re a sharp lady.