Alumni Banquet Speakers

The Terry Foundation exclusively features Terry Scholar Alumni as the main speakers during the Fall Banquets and the Fall Virtual Alumni Gathering.

If you are interested in sharing some wisdom and insights with our community, please read the following guidelines carefully and submit the Banquet Speaker Form between August 1st and August 29th. You may save the information outlined on this page by downloading the Speaker Guidelines document below.

Speaker Guidelines

Goals for Speeches

Banquet speeches should inspire and motivate our Scholars.
The theme for this year’s Terry Banquet speeches is “Leadership.” (See the Speaker Guidelines for more information.)
To accommodate the diverse crowd at each event, we request that speeches not be political or religious in nature.
Speeches should be limited to 10 – 15 minutes long.

Information Session

Wednesday, July 30th

The Foundation hosted a virtual information session to answer questions from Alumni who are interested in speaking at the Fall Banquets or at the Fall Virtual Alumni Gathering. Former speakers shared about their positive experiences, strategies for brainstorming speech topics, and how to overcome feelings of self-doubt.

View Information Session Recording

To Complete the Speaker Form

Reference the full Banquet Schedule and determine your availability for all events. (Banquets are 5:00pm – 7:30pm local time; Virtual Alumni Gathering is 6pm -7pm CST)
Review the Speaker Guidelines and the list of suggested topics and prepare an outline of your proposed speech
Locate your Terry ID# in our Banquet Speaker Invitation Email or look up your Terry ID# here.

Banquet Speaker Form

2025 Banquet Schedule

On-Campus Event Schedule

Arrival time 5:00pm – 5:15pm
Reception 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Dinner and Program 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Special Note:

Banquets in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area will be held in early October and at the end of October in Central Texas.

Week 1

Monday, September 29th – UT El Paso (El Paso, TX)

Thursday, October 2nd – Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX)

Week 2

Monday, October 6th – UT Arlington (Arlington, TX)

Tuesday, October 7th – UT Dallas (Richardson, TX)

Wednesday, October 8th – Texas Woman’s University (Denton, TX)

Thursday, October 9th – University of North Texas (Denton, TX)

Week 3

Tuesday, October 14th – Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)

Wednesday, October 15th– University of Houston (Houston, TX)

Week 4

Monday, October 27th – UT San Antonio (San Antonio, TX)

Wednesday, October 29th – UT Austin (Austin, TX)

Thursday, October 30th – Texas State University (San Marcos, TX)

Week 5

Thursday, November 6th – Fall Virtual Alumni Gathering (Zoom)

Virtual Alumni Gathering Details

Event Details and Schedule

Thursday, November 6th

Casual event hosted on Zoom
Appearances by family members and pets welcomed

Foundation Update 6:00pm – 6:20pm CST
Featured Speaker 6:20pm – 6:30pm CST
Small Group Chats 6:30pm – 7:00pm CST

Speaker Recruitment Timeline

August 1st – August 29th
The Foundation will open the Alumni Banquet Speaker sign-up form

August 30th to September 9th
The Foundation will contact potential speakers to request additional details, if necessary, and confirm speakers for the banquets and the Alumni Gathering.

Goal: all confirmed by September 9th.

September 10th Onward
The Foundation will work with each speaker to finalize their presentation and travel itinerary.

Required Speech Proposal

All potential speakers must present a speech proposal to the Foundation when they complete the signup form. All speech proposals must contain the following:

File saved with your first name and last name in the title (Microsoft Word Document or PDF).
Your name, Terry school, and Terry year at the top of the page.
A brief paragraph or outline of your speech’s main idea and why you chose your topic.

Your speech does not have to be completely finalized by the time you complete the sign-up form. The Foundation just needs a clear idea of what you would share at the banquet. If you are selected as a speaker, a Foundation representative will follow-up with you to confirm the specific details of your speech.

Potential Speech Topics

How do you define leadership and how has the leadership of others impacted you personally or professionally? What lessons have you learned?
Who have been influential leaders in your life, and how have their examples inspired you?
How have you discovered your individual abilities as a leader? Do you have stories or advice from your personal journey?
What advice would you give someone who is unsure about their ability to lead in a new space?
What are some misconceptions about leadership that you wish you had known as a student or young professional? How have you changed as a leader over time?
What would you tell your Terry Interview Panel and/or Mr. Terry about the way you have used the opportunities provided by the Terry Scholarship and applied your leadership abilities to impact others?

Things to Consider

Speakers should bear in mind the fact that college students, like all Americans, have faced many challenges over the past few years. Our Terry Scholar community is very diverse at all campuses, with students coming from different areas of Texas, different backgrounds (race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, etc.) and varying kinds of support systems.

Speakers should consider how their speech topics and remarks will be received by Scholars from all backgrounds and aim to be inclusive. Focus on the characteristics that all Terry Scholars have in common based on our selection process, which for over 35 years has resulted in a diverse background of highly driven and talented students who need help to accomplish their goals.