Choose a theme for your remarks. Graduation is a time of passing from childhood into adulthood, taking on new responsibilities and discovering what sort of person you will become. Other themes include the value of education or the potential of your classmates. Your theme is the core of the entire speech.
Open your speech with an image or quote to invoke an immediate emotional response from your audience. This image or quote should feed directly into your theme and serve as the platform for launching your speech.
Make mention of the overarching theme in your introduction. This provides the audience with a reference point for the next few minutes of remarks.
Create a brief section on the past, including your class's accomplishments, notable events during your school years and the challenges they may have caused. In this section, you are reminding the class what has passed.
Talk about the act of graduating and what it means to the class. Address the event at which you are speaking and remind the audience of its importance.
Point your speech at the future. Look for challenges in the world and imagine the way your class will rise to meet them. Inspire your class to strive for great accomplishments and innovation.
Summarize your theme and the key points you made during your speech, then end with a strong closing sentence or quote. When you read the speech aloud, your closing statement should vividly mark the end of the speech.
Keep it short. Graduation ceremonies are long and your audience is captive. A brief but powerful speech is the strongest option; talk to school administration about time expectancies.