Listen to a conversation between a student and an employee in the student affairs office.

(man) Um, hi, I’d like to ask about something my professor mentioned to me. I’m going to be graduating this spring and she says something about a student commencement speech that it’s an opportunity I should look into.

(woman) Sure, I can help you with that.

(man) Great! I studied English Composition and I really want to be a speech writer, so this English professor of mine, she told me about that about the speech for the graduation ceremony this spring.

She said it’s a real honor to be chosen for that and it’d be a great way for me to, uh, to use what I’ve learned.

(woman) It certainly is an honor and it’s a way to, uh, to represent your graduating class and also really inspire them for the future.

And the speech itself will be short, only about four minutes long, so you’d need to stick closely to your main point; concentrate on deliver a clear direct message.

(man) Yeah, the only thing is I’ve never given a speech in front of a large group of people before.

I want to write the speeches not deliver them.

So I was wondering if I could just write a speech and then someone else could deliver it.

(woman) Uh, sorry, but, it doesn’t work that way. The person chosen as a student commencement speaker writes the speech and delivers it.

But the university really works with you to prepare you. You’d work with a speech coach and do a lot of practice so you’d definitely be ready.

(man) Well, if that’s the case then I’d like to go for it.

(woman) Great! Now to apply there’s an application form.(man) Of course(woman) And you’d need a letter of intent, you know, explaining why you want to give the student commencement speech and why you think you should be chosen and also you’ll need to sketch up a broad outline of the speech you’ll give if you were chosen.

(man) Oh, I thought the entire speech would have to be written before the speaker’s been chosen. That’s what my professor said, the one who told me about this. She said she used to help students write their commencement speeches.

(woman) That was the way we did it but, well, that changed a few years back.

(man) Ah, I see. Uh, is there anything else I need to include? My resume or something?

(woman) Your resume, no, but you’ll need to provide a list of the classes you’ve taken, a transcript actually with your grades on it and besides the transcript, uh, two letters of reference and, um, there might be something else. I can’t think off the top of my head.

But you can find the application form online along with an application check list and information about the selection process. They’re all on the student affairs Web site.