●
Paul Keating, Prime Minister
(Remembrance Day Speech: funeral service for the Unknown
Australian Soldier, 11 November 1993).
Listen (archive, mp3 file).
The
Remembrance Day "speech" is the stage of the Remembrance Day ceremony called
the "address". Some brief tips for those arranging for or preparing such an address
are provided in the
Commemorative address section of the DVA's pdf document 'Organising
a commemorative ceremony'.
Of course, remember to skim through the list of
speeches above for more ideas.
NEW! Using AI when preparing a Remembrance Day speech In preparing a Remembrance Day
speech, you can get help from AI (artificial intelligence) by using:
- a search engine with AI capability such as Google or
Bing,
which povides a short response, or
- a generative AI chatbot
such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, which provides a longer response.
Below
are examples of prompts you could copy and paste into such a
search engine or generative AI chatbot. ("Prompt" is a term commonly
used in the AI world to mean a request or a question.)
SUGGESTED AI PROMPTS - for COPYING AND PASTING
individually
Tip: 1. Highlight a paragraph (desktop computer users can left-click
three times). 2. Right-click on the paragraph, choose Copy.
3. In search engine or AI chatbot: right-click, Paste, press Enter.
SPEECH STRUCTURE AND APPROACH:
How do I write a Remembrance Day
speech?
SPEECH LENGTHS:
Please suggest the different lengths of
time that are appropriate for the different types of audiences being
given a Remembrance Day speech or talk.
WHAT IS BEING REMEMBERED:
What exactly is being remembered on Remembrance Day?
POTENTIAL SPEECH TOPICS:
Please provide a list of topics, grouped by theme, that could be
covered in a Remembrance Day speech.
QUOTATIONS TO CONSIDER - TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS:
What are some quotations, grouped into themes, that I could use
in a Remembrance Day speech to older children and young adults?
WAR AND THE PURPOSE OF REMEMBRANCE DAY - HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENTS:
Would you suggest some points I could make on the human
consequences of war and the purpose of Remembrance Day. I hope to
spend a total of only about two minutes on these topics as part of a
Remembrance Day speech to high school students. I am a school
principal.
STORIES FOR CHILDREN:
What are some stories I as a teacher could include in a
Remembrance Day talk to young children?
MISUNDERSTANDINGS BY CHILDREN:
What misunderstandings could occur in a Remembrance Day speech
or talk for an audience of children, and how could they be avoided?
RECENT EVENTS:
What events from the last 12 months could I incorporate into a
Remembrance Day speech?
SENIOR CITIZENS:
How could I present a Remembrance Day speech to a group of
elderly people who are a mixture of those who keenly look forward to
such a speech, those who have already heard scores of such speeches,
and those whose failing memory means they will feel they are hearing
such a speech for the first time. I am a defence forces veteran.
FIRST-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS:
Would you give me some tips on presenting a Remembrance Day
speech to a group that includes some adults and children who were
born overseas in non-English speaking countries. I am a politician.
INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS:
In a table, suggest comments that some people might be tempted
to make as part of a Remembrance Day speech but which would not be
appropriate, along with the reason they are inappropriate, and any
suggested replacement comment that most people would find
acceptable.
SENSITIVITIES:
What should a person writing a Remembrance Day speech for an
adult audience be sensitive to in order to ensure the speech shows
respect and avoids creating any issues?
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION:
What should the presenter, as distinct from the writer, of a
Remembrance Day speech do and say in order to avoid gaffes and make
the presentation as effective as possible?
PROTESTERS:
What could be said by the speech presenter if a protester
interrupts a Remembrance Day speech?
INTERRUPTIONS:
In a table, please provide the possible interruptions to a
Remembrance Day speech and what the presenter could say or do.
COINCIDING WITH A TRAGEDY:
What would be some appropriate things to say if a Remembrance
Day speech coincides with the news being dominated by reports of an
unrelated tragedy?
These are suggestions only. Of course, you can modify or expand these
suggested prompts to suit your own needs or make up your own.
And you can paste your prompt into multiple search engines or
AI bots if you wish to consider a range of responses. (By the
way, the short Google AI reponses make use of Google's Gemini generative AI
bot.)
WRITING THE PROMPT
It helps if you can be clear and specific
in your prompt, for example:
- State whether the audience
consists of chidren or older people.
- Indicate your role or
background, such as principal, student, teacher, armed forces veteran,
politician, retirement home coordinator, government official, currently
serving member of the defence force, member of the clergy, office manager,
business owner.
- Provide any boundaries such as time
available for the speech, a need to avoid complex terms, and whether you
need only a very short response or would appreciate a detailed response.
- Sometimes you need to mention your country.
- Request any special format such as setting out the response as
bullet points, or in paragraphs or in a table if appropriate.
Remember that AI bots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini allow you to engage
in a conversation with them in which you can be even more precise about
what you want as well as ask for additional ideas.
For
more tips on fine-tuning your prompts, copy and paste the following
prompt:
What are some tips on
writing AI prompts?
Activities involving speeches
Remembering and Commemorating (anzacday.org.au) Download the pdf file. This activity for students first presents two Anzac Day
speeches:
- Eulogy at the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier (Paul
Keating, Australian Prime Minister, 11 November 1993), and
- Eulogy at the Dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown New Zealand
Warrior (Dame Silvia Cartwright, New Zealand Governor-General, 11
November 2004).
The activity then presents Gallipoli in a Nation's Remembrance, an article
by Les Carlyon, along with nine questions for students to answer.
