What to Say - Valedictorian Speech Script — Free Teleprompter

✏️

Fill in your details

The script updates automatically as you type, click Play in ScriptScroller when you're ready

›

Script text

Good [morning/afternoon], everyone. Staff, families, guests — and the class of [Year]. [Pause. Look up at your year group, not at the page.] I've been told a valedictorian speech is supposed to begin with a dictionary definition of the word "future". I'd like us all to agree that we're skipping that part. [Wait for the laugh.] Here is what I actually want to say. When we started here in [Starting Year], we were [honest description — e.g. considerably shorter and significantly more confident]. What changed us wasn't the timetable. It was [specific shared experience — e.g. the year everything moved online], and the fact that we got through it together. I keep thinking about [one specific, concrete moment everyone in the room will recognise — e.g. the morning the whole of Year 11 waited outside in the rain because nobody had the door code]. Nobody puts that in a yearbook. But that's the bit we'll remember. [To the staff and families.] To our teachers — thank you for [specific thing — e.g. staying long after you were paid to]. To our families — you carried more of this than we admitted at the time. [To the year group.] Class of [Year]: we're not walking out of here as a finished product. We're walking out with [the one honest thing you gained — e.g. some idea of how to start again when something doesn't work]. That's enough to begin with. Congratulations, all of us.

What you'll need to fill in

This script has 8 details to fill in before you read it. Have these to hand — the customizer above updates the script as you type:

morning/afternoon
Year
Starting Year
honest description
specific shared experience
one specific, concrete moment everyone i…
specific thing
the one honest thing you gained

It also contains 4 stage directions in grey. Those are instructions to you, not lines to say out loud — they mark where to pause, listen, or wait for a response.

243words

1 min 52 secread time

8to fill in

That timing assumes about 130 words a minute, which is a normal conversational pace. If you are presenting to a room you will likely go slower; if you are nervous you will go faster. Read it aloud once and time yourself before it matters.

When to use this script

Use this when the stakes are emotional and you will not get a second attempt. Wedding speeches, eulogies, and toasts are delivered once, in front of people who care, usually by someone who does not speak publicly very often. A script is not a crutch here — it is the thing that lets you get through the difficult sentence without losing the room or yourself.

It matters most in the passages you already know will be hard to say. Write those out fully and read them as written. Improvising through the emotional peak of a eulogy is how people end up unable to finish.

Making it sound like you

Replace every generic compliment with a specific story. "She was generous" is forgettable; the time she did the specific generous thing is not.
Use names and details freely. The audience knows these people, and the specifics are what make a speech feel like it was written for this occasion.
Cut the length by a third. Almost every speech at an event runs long, and the shorter version is almost always the better one.
Mark your pauses on the page. Prompted speech goes wrong when the text keeps moving and the speaker never breathes.

Reading it out loud

Print it or keep it on a device you can hold steadily — a phone at chest height is fine, and far better than trying to recall a paragraph while emotional. Use large text and short lines so you can find your place after looking up, because you will look up, and that is the point.

More on the setup side: Moving Text for Speeches, Teleprompter for iPhone & Mobile, What Is a Teleprompter? Complete Guide.

Questions about this script

How long does this valedictorian speech script take to read?

The script runs to about 243 words, which is roughly 1 min 52 sec at a normal speaking pace of around 130 words a minute. Your own pace will vary, so time one read-through before you rely on the number.

What do I need to prepare before using this script?

There are 8 details to fill in: morning/afternoon, Year, Starting Year, honest description, specific shared experience, one specific, concrete moment everyone i…, and a few more. Enter them in the customizer and the script updates as you type, then opens straight in the teleprompter.

Is it acceptable to read a wedding speech or eulogy?

Completely. Nobody at an emotional occasion has ever objected to a speaker holding notes. What people remember is whether the speech was specific and heartfelt, not whether it was memorised.

How long should an event speech be?

Shorter than you think. Three to five minutes is plenty for most toasts, which at normal speaking pace is roughly 400 to 650 words. Speeches at events almost never fail for being too short.

What to Say - Valedictorian Speech