SpeechesMorning assembly speech on the habit of reading
A ready speech for a student, as the short talk in the morning assembly. Use the short version when you have about a minute, and the full version when you have about three. Both are our own writing; change them freely.
Short speech (1 minute)
86 words · about 1 minute at a calm pace
Good morning, everyone. My talk today is about one small habit: reading. Not the reading we do for exams, but reading for joy. A book lets us live many lives while sitting in one place. It gives us new words, new ideas and a quiet mind. You do not need a big library. Start with ten pages a day of any story you like. In a year, that is more than three thousand pages. Pick up a book today. Thank you, and have a good day.
Full speech (3 minutes)
300 words · about 2 minutes at a calm pace
Good morning, respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends. I have two minutes this morning, and I want to use them to ask you one question: when did you last read something that was not in your syllabus?
We all read. We read chapters before a test and messages on a phone. But reading for pleasure is different. It is opening a storybook only because you want to know what happens next. Sadly, it is a habit that is disappearing, pushed out by short videos that last fifteen seconds and leave nothing behind.
Why does reading matter? First, it builds our language without our noticing. A child who reads stories never has to learn lists of words; the words simply stay. Second, it trains attention. To follow a story for an hour is exercise for the mind, just as running is exercise for the legs. Third, it makes us kinder. When we read about a girl in another country or a boy in another century, we feel what they feel. We learn that our way of living is not the only way.
Some of you will say, "I do not have time." Let us do the sum. Ten pages take about fifteen minutes. Ten pages a day make three hundred pages a month. That is one full book every month and twelve books in a year, in the time we spend scrolling before we sleep.
So here is my small suggestion. Go to the school library this week and borrow one book, any book: an adventure, a biography, a comic, a book of puzzles. Keep it by your pillow. Read ten pages before you sleep. Then tell a friend about it.
A reader lives a thousand lives. I wish you many good books. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.
Make it yours
A ready speech gets you started; your own details make people listen. Before you use this one:
- An assembly talk must be short: two minutes, three at the most.
- Ask the opening question and wait two seconds before you go on.
- Name one book you actually enjoyed; a real example convinces more than any argument.
- Add one true detail from your own school, office or family. It is the line people will remember.
- Read it aloud with a timer and cut what you do not need. The speech timer shows the time for any draft.
More help: how to deliver a speech, how to overcome stage fear and other opening and closing lines.