Sample Speech

I’d like to start my speech by introducing myself. My name is Jennifer Leigh Brenner. I am from Houston, Texas, and a senior majoring in history. What I would like to talk to you about tonight is something very exciting. It’s something some of you might have already done, many of you plan to do it, and all of you have at least thought about it. What I am talking about is touring Europe.

This summer my best friend and I took the plunge with little money and almost no preparations. We backpacked across western Europe touring the countries of England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. I gained many pearls of important tips to future travelers. Not only were these three tips important in planning a successful trip, but they were also helpful in everyday life. Thus my purposes here are twofold, first to help you to travel better and second, to throw a few helpful hints your way that you can put on a refrigerator magnet with all your other favorite sayings to help improve your life.

The first tip and probably the most important of the three is choose your companions wisely. I chose my best “girl” friend as my traveling companion. I chose her to go with because I thought that she possessed certain important qualities that would help us, such as inner strength, organization, and the ability to think fast on her feet. What I didn’t bargain for, however, was that in the face of danger and/or highly stressful situations, these qualities would deflate like a popped balloon. In effect, I ended up dragging her through Europe. Perhaps if I would have chosen a more intimate companion, such as a spouse, had I been married, or a member of my immediate family, I would have had a better idea of how they would react under stressful circumstances. So remember, choose companions who will be a strength to you and not a hindrance.

The second tip for a joyous adventure is to always plan ahead. Everyone encouraged us to plan nothing and just fly by the seat of our pants—which we did. The fallacy in that is sleeping on a street corner and constantly worrying that a cop will pick you up, haul you to prison, and throw away the key is not appealing to everyone. Impromptu is not the way to go for a novice traveler. You will have to plan at some point—the question is whether you would rather do it from the comfort of your own home or while you are standing at a train station in a country where you do not know the language, you’re carrying a heavy pack, and large men are leering at you with greedy eyes.

When we traveled to Rome, we missed the stop and were halfway to Naples before we realized it. When we finally got back to Rome, it was ten o’clock at night, and not only did we not have a place to stay, but we had no Italian currency—all of the places of exchange were closed. We ended up paying far too much for a hotel with our credit cards and experiencing some pretty tense moments of anxiety. The Roman train station is not the place to be stranded at in the middle of the night. Plan ahead, especially if you are a first-time traveler. Don’t worry about chasing adventure—it will find you.

Finally, my last tip is that if you have a dream, go for it! My mother always says that dreams are accomplished by putting one foot in front of the other. Don’t let any minor inconveniences (such as the ones I have just described) stop you from enjoying and accomplishing your dreams. Traveling through Europe was vigorous and taxing; however, one has only to stroll the gardens of Versailles or see Michelangelo’s David one time to make it all worthwhile. More importantly, going to Europe helped me to see that the only person who is allowing my dreams to sit year after year behind that dank curtain of unfeasibility is me. Anything is possible, especially when you choose your companions wisely, plan ahead, and go for your dreams. I would like to leave you with the words of a great poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, who said, “Of all sad words of tongue and pen—the saddest are these—it might have been.”