 Your life will be filled with many special occasions – club events, family celebrations, reunions, organization meetings, sports, events, graduations, weddings, special community celebrations and many others. At many events like this there is a speaker and someday that speaker may be you.

 They recognize and honor the achievements of individuals and groups.

 A eulogy is a commemorative speech honoring someone who has died.  You pay tribute to the life and deeds of the deceased.  This can be an intense speech and may be difficult because it involves emotions

 Express your deepest sorrow that the person has died.  Remember his/her unique life and achievements  Help the entire audience mourn the loss.

 If this person was a relative or a friend, express your personal grief and deep sense of loss. If you didn’t know the person well, offer your sympathy to the family and friends.

 Share memories about this person’s life-things that are meaningful to you personally and to the assembled group. Mention the person’s unique qualities, achievements, and behavior or attitudes that were memorable for those who knew this person well. Use specific examples and anecdotes.

 Describe ways in which this person will live on in memories of those who loved him/her, through his or her achievements, or in the afterlife.

 Though time might be short, gather information and specific anecdotes about this person from relatives and friends.

 If you share humorous stories, choose them and your words carefully so as not to convey disrespect or to offend anyone.

 If your emotions overwhelm you as you speak, don’t worry about it. Lower your head and take time to recover. The audience will understand and sympathize.

 Be sensitive to the religious and cultural beliefs of the deceased, of his/her family, and of those attending the service.

 This type of speech opens an event of conference. The topic usually correlates with the subject or theme of the event.  A keynote speech is a major speaking engagement as a keynote speaker your goal is to energize your listeners and make them enthusiastic about attending the conference.

 A keynote speech may be informational, giving people facts or a perspective to think about it. It may be persuasive, motivating people to care about something, to embrace a point of view, or to act. It may also be entertaining, the tone of this type of speech may be light or serious depending on the event.

 Warmly greet and thank the person who introduced you.  Engage audience interest and attention with anecdote, quotation, case history, example or statistic relevant to the topic.  Focus on the topic of this conference and explain its value to the audience members.

 Launch into your content. If it’s an informative speech this may include an overview of current events or developments in your field, an outline of common problems and possible solutions, or a proposed direction or vision for the future.

 Give an overview of the conference to come inspiring the audience to take advantage of the events surrounding the conference or meeting to follow.

 Attempt to write exciting vigorous speech. Your job is to motivate.  Keep your content relevant to the conference topic, broad enough in scope to ac as an overall introduction to the event, yet specific enough to interest and inspire the audience.  Consider using high interest media aids including computer based presentation programs, video, or multimedia.

 Graduation from high school, trade school, college, or graduate school is a special milestone in one’s life. Graduation ceremonies always include a commencement speech that honors graduates and sends them out into the world.

 The goal of this type of speech is to lead the audience in commending the graduates for their achievements and in helping them to envision their futures.  The tone should be serious and formal. Projective a positive attitude.

 You usually can select the theme to your speech unless the class has some type of theme already picked out.  Possible things to discuss, the role of technology, life long learning, service to the community, life after high school, the importance of sound values

 Thank the person who introduced you and the institution that invited you to speak.  Express your genuine pleasure at being invited to address the audience.

 Heartily congratulate graduates for reaching this milestone – completing their graduation requirements and meeting their educational goals.

 Talk about what graduation means – a point in time that marks the end of one period of life and the beginning of a new stage. Explain why this occasion should be thought about in a serious and respectful way. Relate anecdotes about what graduation meant to you.

 Launch into your topic and close with an inspirational message, quotation or sendoff.

 Take time to write a unique, thoughtful, and fast moving speech. Remember that you have an obligation to say something interesting.  Avoid clichés and trite statements and expressions.  Show your great respect for this institution and for the graduates  Honor the assembled family and friends who helped the graduates reach this difficult goal.