Writing a high school graduation speech: is audience participation a good idea?
Hello everyone,
I'm a senior in high school and am about to graduate in about a week. Since I'm salutatorian, I have to write a speech for the ceremony and speak to a decently large crowd of ~600 graduating seniors, a band, lots of teachers and school faculty, and literally thousands of friends, parents, and other families.
In an effort to make my speech unique and liven things up a bit, I included a short segment in my speech where the audience can participate in what I say by raising their hands in agreeance to the big idea of trying being nicer in the future. I was thinking this would be cool since usually, people zone-out at these type of ceremonies, and by participating in something, it may grab their attention and keep them listening to the very end.
However, I'm still unsure about it and have a few worries. This is my first time writing a major speech like this, so I have no idea if this type of strategy is even appropriate or a good idea in the first place. Would if the crowd gets confused and doesn't participate, or they simply refuse to raise their hands and make me look wrong and awkward?
It would greatly be appreciated if someone could give me their input on this, especially if they've done something like this before and have experience on how audiences react. Thank you!