1) Brainstorm. Start with a list of everything that you can think of that you may want to include in your speech. This is a stage where you generate ideas, so turn off your censor/editor and WRITE EVERYTHING down that you can think of. Even if your ideas are dumb, they may help you think of other ideas after you have something written down. Set a time limit for brainstorming so that you have to think quickly. try 2-5 minutes.
2) Pick your best idea and start with that. In a speech, it's good to start with something unusual, something memorable, funny, etc. Don't start with the boring stuff. You want people to lean in to listen.
3) If you're trying to think of an approach to start, you could begin with:
- Your first impressions of the two people.
- Accomplishments that people may not know about the people.
- Statistics about how many students they've impacted, or some accomplishments of the students they've instructed.
- Point out/remind people of a lovable/quirky trait about the people. Like a common phrase they use or their trademark green sweater and purple tie, who knows? (Be careful not to offend)
4) After you have a rough draft of the speech, read it out loud. If it doesn't sound like you're having a normal conversation, edit it so that it sounds like you're talking to someone.
5) Rehearse the speech to a person who doesn't know the people. Ask for honest feedback about areas that could be improved/shortened/lengthened.
6) Rehearse the speech to a person who does know the people. Ask if it's a speech that honors them, and again honest feedback for improvement.
7) More ideas on brainstorming: When I was a writing tutor, I often had to get students to brainstorm on a topic that they felt stumped on. I'd ask them some questions about their topics similar to the following prompts.
Try any of these prompts to get you going, and freewrite about them:
- If each people was a color, what color would he/she be and why?
- What would your grandmother have to say about these people?
- Name some traits about these people that you wish you had.
- Name some things about these people that most people don't have.
- Why could this people never be replaced?
- List some things about these people that students may not know.
- If the people was a character from Shakespeare/Bible/Dickens/ (other classic literature), who would he/she be, and why?
- If the people was a character from The Real World/The O.C./Survivor/Desperate Housewives/(Other popular show), who would he/she be, and why?