Jun

Some advice I’d like to give to valedictorians.

I personally know at least two people who are gonna be valedictorians in their respective fields this year, so I hope they will allow me to share my views on what I think a valedictorian’s speech should be like.

I’ve never been a valedictorian myself, so it might seem quite impetuous of me to be sharing my views. But take it from the perspective of someone who has studied the craft of writing and has sat as an audience member long enough to at least have some valid views on the matter.

Also, I am usually right, most of the time, so it makes sense to trust me. LOL.

Keep it succinct. Use the recommended rate of 150 words per minute to help you keep track of what you have to say e.g. if you have 5 mins to speak, your speech should be 750 words long. Conversely, if your speech is 1500 words long, you’re gonna take 10 mins to speak; more if you consider all those pauses for breath that you’re gonna have to make.
Keep it sweet. All the speeches which I’ve heard from valedictorians seem to border on nostalgic, mushy, unfocused drivel. Try something different this time: try speaking from the heart about an issue that should matter to the group of people you’re talking to. Think about it in terms of extrapolation: the group of people are at x point in time; paint a picture of what they might be in x + y years’ time if they take your advice to be socially responsible and stop STOMP-ing, for example.
I want to cheat a bit and use Daren Shiau’s USP Commencement Address 2008 to illustrate my point, but I can’t find it online, so I’ll settle for second-best and ask you to read J. K. Rowling’s “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination” instead.

That’s all. I’m rather succinct and sweet myself, you know. LOL.

1081 days ago Short URL 4 Comments

IMHO

language/life/musings/speech/valedictorian/writing

Jun

<ADV> Blues in June.

From: Victor Chen
Date: June 3, 2009 5:38:11 PM GMT+08:00
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
Subject: Blues in June

Hi folks,

A conglomeration of industry-leaders in the blues scene have undertaken to synergise efforts and streamline knowledge management so as to leverage on core competencies and facilitate the development of blues appreciation in Singapore. In other words, we’ve decided to merge our mailing lists.

Some of you may have previously seen Louis playing with Chicken Shack Revival or leading the Tanglin CC blues jam while the rest would know me (Victor) from Malted Milk. The two of us also play together in a duo called Medium Rare, so we decided to put our mailing lists together to update all of you about the happenings with our blues bands.

For the month of June, Malted Milk plays at The Old Brown Shoe on Sat, 20 June 2009, starting at 2030hrs. Due to personal schedules, Medium Rare will not be playing this month but Louis has got something else cooking with Chicken Shack Revival, so watch out for that one!

Cheers,
Victor

1081 days ago Short URL Comments

Miscellany

blues/gigs/music

Jun

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