high school speeches

A guest speaker has a great opportunity at a High School Graduation to make a positive impression on the graduates. They are all at a time of enormous transition which can lead them in many potential directions. They are saying goodbye, they may soon be leaving friends and family behind to head off to college, and they are possibly trying to make sense of the future.

Guest speakers can struggle to nail down the right topic and material but hopefully they will realise that they have been invited to speak because they can do the job!

One possible way forward is to use the speech to help the student see that no matter what way ahead they are following, they will do it so much better if they keep a positive mindset. You can find material from the school about what they have learned on this already, some good stories of the benefits of being positive and also your own stories.


Starting the speech in the past you can note that the school has a great Principal and staff. In fact they all go the extra mile to make sure you have learned your work and will achieve great grades in a strong positive environment. There will be individual stories of triumph against adversity, people pulling back from difficult grades and those who with the school’s help turned a bad attitude into a real positive.

For the regular student they too will perhaps not realise how successful they have become, they have worked very, very hard to get to graduation and they will now have that all important success to look back on with pride. This success and a positive attitude can be launch pads for a glorious future.

If you have a story of your own time ion school, how you were as a person, did you get good grades, did you struggle, did you turn into a real positive force? Is there any material there?

Of course it is important to wish the students all the best, they deserve their big party day and they will have a great one.

For the future, reinforce the benefits of this positive way of life, taking on challenges and using the lessons of the past to bring even more success to each student. Hopefully you have a great story of how you used a positive way of thinking in your business and college life.


Wish them the best of luck for the future.