Commencement Speech template

Canonical template for the Commencement Speech format.

# Commencement Address: [Institution or Program], [Year]

## Opening: Locate the Moment
[Acknowledge the graduates and what this day marks. Establish your connection to this
community or this moment. Name the threshold they are crossing.]

## The Story or Lesson
[Offer a single anchoring story or hard-won truth. Make it personal enough to be
credible, broad enough to apply to the room. Show what you learned the harder way
than they need to.]

## The Charge
[Tell the graduates directly what you want them to do, become, or remember. Be
specific. The charge should feel earned, not generic - this is the gift the speech
has been building toward.]

## The Send-Off
[Close with brevity and warmth. A short line that echoes the opening or names the
road ahead. The room will carry this line out with them.]