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Your Favourite Commencement Speech

bradl

bradl

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 16, 2008
5,969
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I thought I'd put this to an open-ended poll, to see which one you'd like, and why.

As it's that time of the year again, NPR recently hand-picked over 300 College Commencement addresses going back to 1774 and posted them in a searchable page online. The speeches included are from people from all over the celebrity spectrum, from Bill Cosby, to Hank Aaron, current and former Presidents, Kermit the Frog, Mother Teresa, Steve Jobs, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Tim Cook, Chuck Norris, Angela Ahrendts, Alan Alda, Seth MacFarlane, JK Rowling, Glenn Beck, Dolly Parton, Bill Clinton (you know how he loves podiums! ), Denzel Washington, etc... all over the map. Right now, I'm watching the full post of Seth MacFarlane's speech, and it's hilarious.

which one is your favourite? and why? I know that with over 300 to choose from, it's hard to put together a poll, but have a read or watch some of the videos of the speeches, and tell us what you think the best is.

BL.
 
I loved the Peter Dinklage speech. Timothy Shriver was mine. He was quite good. The Jobs at Stanford one has become iconic at this point.
 
The commencement speech delivered by J. K. Rowling at Harvard in 2008 was pretty impressive.

Entitled: "The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination" she raised the sort of issues not usually addressed (let alone acknowledged) in such speeches (nor, indeed, to such an audience.)
 
What I noticed by browsing through some of these was the presentation. Jobs, for being such a dynamic keynote presenter, stood there and read his, barely looking up. Conan O'Brian came off like a standup comic (go figure), but his message hit home. Church Norris seemed a bit meandering. Adam Savage was very relatable to the audience. I'll have to take some time and listen to a few more.

Thanks for the link!
 
Adam Savage's speech for Sarah Lawrence's Class of 2012.

http://www.slc.edu/news-events/even...adam-savage-commencement-keynote-address.html

My favorite bits:

I mean, I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.
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Be kind to everyone. I can't stress this enough. I actually say it every chance I get, but it remains true. Kindness will pay back inestimable dividends. Don't believe me? I'll wager that at some point you'll have the opportunity to work for someone who used to be your assistant, or hire someone who used to be your boss. Both have happened to me. Be nice.
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I'm sorry to tell you that you will hurt people that you love, and you will help people you detest. This is called being human, and it happens to everyone, whether you like it or not. Nobody escapes.
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Conan O'Brien's was pretty impressive to me. I always liked his quote -

"But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."

J.K. Rowling's might be the best overall.

Jobs' was pretty great as well.

I'm sure there are plenty of equally awesome speeches from non-mega celebrities that deserve some attention too.
 
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