Werner Manke writes and speaks for many different events and occassions . He is in high demand because of his writing expertise. You can hire him by contacting him at: whmanke@telus.net.

Please view Manke's Short Stories, Poems and some of his speeches below.

Approximate time: 8 to 10 minutes

Parents, teachers, honored guests, Graduates
Tonight we celebrate your collective achievement, an achievement that spans thirteen years of time. We celebrate your efforts and commitment that have surpassed hardships and struggles, and we salute you for your accomplishment.

Parents
Tonight one of your crown jewels is on stage celebrating the completion of high school and the beginning of adult life. – When I watched them enter, they looked happy and eager. Their smiles rivaled the sparkle of rubies and diamonds.  They're raring to go because they look with anticipation to their tomorrows.

• You can be rightfully proud of your sons and daughters.
• Tomorrow for most of you will begin a new phase of your life
  - For some of you it will mark the first child flying the nest-and the feelings in your heart will be new to you.
  - For some it will mean one more done. – fewer meetings to attend and one less principal to deal with.
  - For still others it will mark the beginning of the empty nest-and your heart will wonder.
  - For all of you it will mean more access to your phone, more quiet time, more food in the fridge but a new set of worries. And even though you join your child in celebration, there will be sadness in your own heart as well.

• Although you are forever connected, your life will be different.
• Some days you will stop at their empty rooms and wonder, “What is he up to? Is she safe?
• You will draw comfort from the thought that they know you love them.

And you will realize that from now on the most precious gift you can give your child is your daily prayers.

Teachers
You have helped to polish these gems that are on display tonight.
     • Time will tell that some of you will have had a profound influence on how steady their walk is.
     • These students spent 12,000 hours with you in your schools where they have watched you and where you         have helped shape their future.
     • The brightness and the colors of their sparkle will reflect your efforts during the years you have polished and        guided them.  They may have been only diamonds in the rough when they came to your classes, but gems they        were, nevertheless.

The most valuable contribution you can make to them from now on is to continue to practice your profession with skill and dedication.

Community Members
You have provided the backdrop for this precious resource you see on stage.
     • You have watched them take shape, as they filled your neighborhood with play and laughter.
     • You quietly observed them grow and change in the safety of your community.
     • Your streets will not be the same tomorrow, as these young people leave and travel down life’s highway.

What can you give them?

You can give them an open door, a welcome and an invitation to come back to light the neighborhoods of your towns, villages and hamlets– for they are that unique material of which good communities are made.

Graduates
Have you ever studied the Opal?  An opal is a precious stone.
     • In its native environment an opal looks like a plain rock with no hint of brilliance or great worth.
     • But after it comes into the sunlight and is polished
          - It sparkles beautifully in shades of blue, green, red and yellow.
          - The opal took much time to form and it has to be carefully shaped and polished, but it is a gem of unique              beauty and its worth is very great.
          - When it sparkles it brings beauty, to its surrounding and joy to those to whom it belongs.
     • Jewelers say that the opal is a stone alive with beautiful fire.

Each of you is like the opal
     •Unique – formed and shaped over a long period of time – and priceless.
     • Do you realize that in the entire universe there is no one like you – there never has been – there never will be.      •You are a most precious jewel!
          - Like the opal, caring and skilled hands have brought you into the sunlight and polished you to sparkle in             your own brilliant colors.
          - Like the opal you can bring beauty to your surroundings and happiness to those you touch.

Approximate time: 1 to 2 minutes

You have completed your days of public schooling.  And you stand at the door of adult life.

In that life you will look forward to new achievement.  Kind Solomon, considered one of the wisest men who ever lived, had achieved great power, riches and fame.  Yet, when he came to the end of his life told us to seek wisdom more than power, riches and fame.

In that life you will also meet many challenges. An English proverb proclaims that “smooth seas never made a skilled mariner.”

In that life you will meet many kinds of people.  Erin Major reminds us that, “a candle loses none of its brilliance by lighting another candle.”

In this life you will sometimes lose your way.  When you do, remember Alison Bottke words.  “When you find yourself going in the wrong direction, remember God allows "U-turns".

In this life you will meet people who will not always value you, and you may even come to doubt yourself. At those times remember that in all the universe there has never been anyone quite like you and there never will be, and that makes you one of a kind, rare, beautiful and precious. 

Approximate time: 2 to 3 minutes

To help you on your journey I want to give you not a long speech, but a few gems of wisdom from famous people.

Ralfp Waldo Emerson discovered that “For every minute you’re angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness,”
He also said that “Nothing astonishes people more than common sense and plain dealings.”

Helen Keller reminds us that, “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Seneca told us that, “No wind is favorable for a person who does not know to what port to steer.”

Arnold Bennett found that, “It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is far better at the top.” 

According to the great German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Life leaps like a geyser for those willing to dig through rock.”

Likewise Samuel Johnson maintained that, “Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

I love to quote Albert Einstein.  “He claimed that genius is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration.”
He also said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

Hannah Moore tells us that, “Genius without spirituality is only a lamp inside a palace.  It casts no light to those outside.”
And from Aristotle we have this insight.  “Dignity does not consist of possessing honors, but in deserving them.”

Charles Spurgeon advises us with five words, “Of two evils, choose neither.”This next piece of wisdom I once saw on a bumper sticker. It read, “We get too soon old and too late smart.”

Finally, let me leave you with one of my own thoughts.  Dream big, hope always, enjoy family and others, love all that is good and noble and remember each of us gets to have only one life.