Below is the full speech, laid out the way it would appear on cue cards: one beat per card, each with a short heading so you can see where you are at a glance. Read it through once for the shape, then use the notes underneath to make it yours.
The speech
Good morning, teachers and students. Hands up if you have ever had a great idea for this school and had no idea who to tell. [PAUSE] Keep your hand up if you still have that idea. I’m Jamie, from Year 11, and I want to be the person you tell.
For the last three years I have been on the student council. I helped run the book swap that now happens every term, I organised the Year 9 fundraiser for the local animal shelter, and I have spent a lot of lunchtimes listening to what students actually want.
My first idea is a student ideas box, online and on paper, that the council reads every fortnight. Every month I will report back at assembly on what we have done with your ideas, and what we couldn’t do and why.
My second idea is a buddy programme for new students. Starting at a new school is hard. I want every new student to have someone from their year who shows them around, sits with them at lunch and makes sure they are not alone in their first week.
A captain does not run a school alone. I will work with the vice captains, the house leaders and every year group representative, and I will make sure the younger years have a real voice on the council, not just a seat at the end of the table.
I won’t promise you longer lunch breaks or no homework. You would know I couldn’t deliver them. What I can promise is that I will listen, I will turn up, and I will be honest with you about what is possible.
So, if you have an idea, I want to hear it. If you want a school where every student feels heard, vote Jamie for school captain. Thank you.
Open this speech as cue cards to edit it, change the text size and print it.
Make it your own
- Replace the examples with real things you have done, even small ones. Specific beats impressive.
- Only promise what a student leader can actually deliver. Teachers in the audience notice.
- Practise the opening question until you can say it without looking at the card.
- Most schools give two or three minutes. Time yourself with the speech timer before the day.
- In the US this is often called a student body president or class president speech; the structure is the same.
Work through the cards in order. For each one, ask what job it is doing (introducing you, showing a trait, thanking people, asking the room to act) and write your own version that does the same job. Keep each card to one idea. If a card gets too long to glance at, split it in two.
How to deliver it
Rehearse out loud at least three times, standing up, holding the cards you will use on the day. The first run is for finding the awkward sentences, the second for timing, and the third for looking up. Try to say the first line of each card while looking at the audience, then glance down only to find the next prompt.
Slow down more than feels natural, especially after a punchline or an emotional line. Cues in square brackets, such as [PAUSE], are reminders for you, not words to say. Number your cards, hold them at chest height, and move each finished card to the back of the stack. If you are using a microphone, hold it in one hand and the cards in the other.
For more on this kind of speech, read the school captain speech guide, or go back to all speech examples.