Hear ye!
With all eyes on you, what do you most want to say?
If you were given a big platform from which to speak, what is the single message you’d want to deliver, and why should you be the one to deliver it?
Today, write your message, and remember: we could all say a lot about a lot of things, but in this speech, you have to stay super focused on your one message.
Be sure to explain why you’re the person we should all listen to (sentences like, “As a professor of diaspora studies, I….”), and to leave people with a conclusion of what action you most want them to do after listening to your speech. If applicable, include data or evidence to help bolster your point. And, write it like a speech, with gravitas, and even read it back to yourself aloud after you write it to make sure it lands like you want it to land.
(Whatever you end up doing with the piece, do at least consider that, because you stuck to a single point, and because each word after your thesis statement was in support of it, you do now potentially have a stand-alone persuasive piece, an op-ed or letter to the editor on your hands. Submit that sucker!)
