Occasional words

These speeches bring together selected addresses and remarks delivered at educational, civic, charitable and professional occasions.

A speech belongs first to the occasion for which it was written. Its language, emphasis and rhythm are shaped by the people in the room, the purpose of the gathering and the responsibilities of the speaker. Publishing a speech afterwards allows some of those ideas to travel further while preserving something of the original moment.

The subjects represented here include education, opportunity, belonging, professional responsibility, public service and the contribution that institutions can make to the lives around them. Some speeches celebrate a particular organisation or milestone. Others use an occasion to consider a wider question about leadership, community, kindness or the obligations that accompany public and professional life.

Although each speech has its own setting, several themes recur: the importance of widening opportunity, the value of institutions that create a genuine sense of belonging, and the difference individuals can make through sustained and thoughtful service.

These texts were written to be heard rather than read. They therefore retain some of the directness, repetition and cadence of spoken language. Where necessary, they have been lightly edited for publication, but their argument and character remain those of the original address.

Related personal essays can be found in Articles. The wider professional and voluntary work from which many of these themes emerge is explored through selected contributions and in my longer-form biography, Connected, not planned.