Speech 3

Special Occasion—What You Mean to Me:

The goal of this speech is to explain why someone is important to you.  What are their strengths and what have you learned from them?  What should others know about this person?  This person could be a mentor, a friend, guardian, teacher, an expert in the field you are interested in studying, or a role model.  The speech may be given in the style of an introduction, a toast, a commemorative, or a eulogy.  (Think: how would the tone and approach differ?)

FIRST, THINK:

Randi Lee: Best friend since birth, one year younger than me, amazing, funny, crazy, caring, my other-half, bubbly, outgoing, athletic, always there for me

Todd Boothby: Family friend, premier soccer coach, mentor, caring, funny, friendly, easy-going, knows when to be serious, athletic

NEXT, BRAINSTORM:

Todd Boothby: Nickname, always there for me, help with soccer, go to with high school problems, Tom

Randi Lee: Best Friend since birth, parents were best friends in college, soccer, grade below, live close, same school

NEXT, NARROW:

Todd Boothby

NEXT, OUTLINE:

Introduction: 

  • Make a toast 
  • Todd Boothby 
  • Family friend and soccer coach
  • Retiring from being a coach 

Background: 

  • Known him since I was young 
  • Played travel soccer with his daughter 
  • 8th grade-Velocity-Premier soccer club 

Nickname: (It was during this time that I came up with his infamous nickname, Spiffy) 

  • One day in 8th grade, we were learning 1920’s slang 
  • Came across the word spiffy-snazzy, well-dressed, sharp 
  • Being the annoying 8th grader I was, I thought this word was so cool and used it all the time 
  • That night at soccer practice, he walked in and my friend and I said that he was looking spiffy 
  • Laughed and made a joke out of it 
  • It caught on and he seemed to like it, so it stuck 
  • Told ourselves that we would from that point on call him Spiffy 

Soccer: (Soccer was where we really started to grow our relationship) 

  • He helped me improve so much over the years 
  • Always knew the answer to any soccer questions I had 
  • However, there is one soccer problem that he helped me through that I can’t thank him enough about 
  • During my sophomore year of high school, I was told by my doctor that I could no longer play soccer for the time being 
  • Spiffy helped me through this tough time by keeping me on track and not letting me get my hopes down 
  • Kept me on the team and made me feel like I was still a major part of the team 
  • Coach Tom passed away 
  • Took the lead and helped our team grieve 
  • Motivated us to go to his visiting hours 

Conclusion: (So I want to make a toast to Spiffy) 

  • For always being there for me and being a great mentor
  • I hope you all have a mentor in your life to get you through thick and thin 
  • Thank you for everything Spiffy!