Graduation party toast from parents

Make this speech your own

Copy the script into your own document, then replace every bracketed marker with a true detail. The examples below are fictional prompts, not facts about anyone. Change or remove any sentence that does not fit your graduate.

The // mark means pause; do not read it aloud. Use the default script, or swap in one of the openings or closings below. Do not add every alternative to the same speech.

With the fictional examples filled in, the default script is 361 words. At 125 words per minute, that is about three minutes. Your own details and pauses will change the time, so read your finished version aloud and time it.

Details to gather

GRADUATE — What name does your graduate want you to use? Fictional example: Avery

SCHOOL — What school or program are they graduating from? Fictional example: Central High

[EARLY_MEMORY] — What early memory shows who they were even then? Write two or three sentences. Fictional example: On the first day of kindergarten, Avery marched in without looking back, then came home and gave us a full report on the class hamster.

[MIDDLE_YEARS] — What filled the years in between? Name two or three things. Fictional example: science fairs, a short but enthusiastic career in the school band and a learner's permit that tested all of our nerves

[HARD_PART] — What challenge did they work through? Describe the effort, not a grade. Fictional example: the junior year when everything seemed to happen at once, and Avery learned to ask for help

PROUD — What moment that nobody gave an award for made you proudest? Fictional example: finding out Avery had been tutoring younger students every week without telling us

THANKS — Who helped along the way? Fictional example: the teachers, coaches and friends who believed in Avery, and both sets of grandparents

NEXT — What comes next for them? Fictional example: studying engineering in the fall

WISH — What do you wish for them? Fictional example: work you love, friends who make you laugh and a phone that occasionally calls home

Welcome everyone

Thank you all for coming to celebrate GRADUATE. We won't keep you from the food for long, but we couldn't let today pass without saying a few words. //

Start at the beginning

We'll start at the beginning. [EARLY_MEMORY] // We knew right then that this kid was going to meet the world head-on. We just didn't know how fast the years would go. // Somewhere between that first day and this one, there were [MIDDLE_YEARS]. We blinked, and suddenly our kid was the one explaining our phones to us. //

Honor the effort

Graduating from SCHOOL didn't happen by accident. There was [HARD_PART]. // We saw the late nights, the early mornings and the moments when it would have been easy to quit. We watched GRADUATE keep going when it would have been easier to stop, and that's the part we're proudest of. Not the grades. The persistence. //

Name a proud moment

And then there are the moments nobody hands out awards for, like PROUD. Those told us more about who GRADUATE is becoming than any report card ever could. //

Thank the people who helped

We also want to thank THANKS. It took a lot of people to get here, and many of you are in this room. Thank you for showing up for our kid. //

Look ahead

Next comes NEXT. GRADUATE, we couldn't be prouder of you, and we can't wait to see what you do. There will be new challenges ahead, and we know you're ready for them. And if you ever need us, you know where to find us. The fridge will be full. //

Close with the toast

So please join us. To GRADUATE: we wish you WISH. Congratulations, graduate.

Two optional openings

Hi, everyone. If you don't know us, we're GRADUATE's parents, and we promise to embarrass our graduate only a little.

Thank you for being here. Before we eat, we'd like to say a few words about the reason we're all together.

Two optional closings

To GRADUATE, with all our love and pride. Congratulations.

Please join us in congratulating GRADUATE. The best is still ahead.

Prepare a version you can say

If two parents are speaking, split the beats in advance: one takes the early memory and the effort, the other takes the proud moment, the thanks and the toast.

Look at your graduate for the proud moment and the toast.

For a cue card, write: beginning, effort, proud, thanks, next, toast.

Proud without embarrassing them

Choose stories your graduate would be happy for their friends to hear. Leave out grades, rejections, comparisons with siblings and any baby story they've asked you not to tell.

Keep the toast suitable for every age in the room, with no reference to drinking.

Questions before the day

How long should a parent's graduation party toast be? This script runs about three minutes. Ask your graduate whether they'd like it shorter.

What do parents say in a graduation toast? Share an early memory, honor the work it took, name a moment you're proud of, thank the people who helped and wish them well.

Can both parents give the toast together? Yes. Split the beats ahead of time and practice the hand-offs.