It also meant 16 recollections of “when we were younger” or “highlights from childhood/high school/last week.” And 16 pieces of advice on how to be a) happy, b) successful, c) kind to others or d) all of the above. And 16 sets of quotations from famous literary or historical figures, including William James, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gandhi.

In addition to the overuse of quotations, the characteristic each speech had in common was self-absorption—what speakers wanted to say, not what the audience needed to hear. Think of how many senior leader remarks you’ve witnessed (or maybe even written) that have been like that. Now think of how boring that is for employees.

The most popular quotation was from Sir Winston Churchill. (You know, the British politician and prime minister, who lived from 1874 – 1965). No fewer than three speakers used the same Churchill remark: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

It’s an okay quote, I guess, although not really on target, and a quick Google search yields Churchillisms that are more graduation-appropriate (“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”), more provocative (“Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”), and a lot more funny (“From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.”).

It’s probably not surprising that three people wrote the Churchill quotation into their speeches, or that the principal who reviewed all the speeches didn’t catch the duplication. The biggest surprise is that after the first speaker used the quotation, the other two didn’t change their remarks: They just went ahead and said “Beginning of the end. End of the beginning” as planned.

Why? Because the other speakers weren’t listening. No one was, really—certainly not the seniors, who were thinking about the party afterwards. Not the parents, who were waiting for their child’s name to be called. Not the rest of the audience, or the band, or the chorus, or the pretty little birds up there in the tree, framed against the fading light of the summer evening sky.

If the speeches had really been for any of us, they would have been short. They would have been free of rhetoric, quotations or literary references. They would have been intensely personal, the way these kids actually speak to one another: “I’m proud of you, and of me. At times it’s been hard, but we’ve had some great times. I’m ready to go, but I’ll miss you just the same.”

That would have been meaningful. And if anyone had done that, I would have cried real tears, tears of joy, not tears of relief when the ceremony finally, finally came to an end.

Are your speakers (senior leaders and others) satisfying their own needs to talk, and not focused on the needs of the audience? Remember what Churchill said: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”

*The speakers: class president, student council president, valedictorian, newspaper editor, class corresponding secretary, first and second vice presidents of the board of education, class recording secretary, class advisors (2), faculty speaker, principal, superintendent of schools, president of the board of education, salutatorian, and class treasurer.