7/24/2019 Some Suggestions on Writing a Commencement Speech - Humanity.org

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Some suggestions on writing a commencement speech

The commencement speech is a resurgent artform. It is a cooling oasis from the siroccos of information blowing

through modern life.

Yes, many speakers still think the occasion is about them; many still seek to inspire with uninspiring words; and,

inevitably, half the audience is hung over and inattentive. Nevertheless, each year more men and women are

delivering pointed, memorable, and profoundly inspirational messages, keyed to the graduates and grounded in the

wider reality ofpositive change speeches happily and necessarily relevant, in fact and in promise, to all humanity.

rom twenty-three yearsof analy!ing commencement addresses, I offer five suggestions on how to "oin those who do

it best, those who see clearly into the eyes and the hearts of young men and women eager to apply whatever it is they

have learned in whatever honorable way they can to whatever it is that is out there.

#1 HONOR THE OCCASION

#on$t be fooled or lulled by the celebratory bravado of the day. %onoring the occasionmeans honoring the graduates.

Yes, there is confidence, optimism and good cheer under those mortarboards, but there also is insecurity, fear,

ambivalence and ignorance. You have accepted a responsibility to offer all the inspiration, hope, information, humor,

idealism, common sense or advice you can summon. &hatever style and substance you choose, make it about their

lives, not yours. Your target audience is not the parents, the media, the teachers, or yourself; it$s the

graduates, e'clusively.

(ost speakers inherently )get* that a commencement is an intimate occasion, not a public one. The best speakers

understand that they therefore are deeply responsible to their audience. Your challenge is to memoriali!e the occasion

with as compelling and inspiring a message as you can muster, avoiding the lethal temptations of political persuasion,

of complacency, or of an unrestrained ego.

#2 KEEP IT UNDER 18 MINUTES

+ut. dit. +hop. #elete. #o the hard work of being precise. (ake your speech less than - minutes long, not a second

more. Your audience wants to get on with the celebrations / not to mention discovering that wicked and0or wonderful

world you have "ust described. There is nothing worth saying in a commencement speech that takes more than -

minutes / evenGeorge Marshall, the only professional soldier ever to win the Nobel 1eace 1ri!e, outlined nothing

less than the crucial, comple' challenge of restoring &estern urope in only -- minutes.

#3 BE UTTERLY YOURSELF

You are a virtuoso for those few minutes. The stage is all yours. You will claim success by how well the graduates

listen and how well they connect to you. 2now what you are saying. eel it in your heart more than your head, for

that$s where the graduates will hear you best. motional honesty works well in any speech. It is particularly

compelling on graduation day.

3o say what you know and what is truly important to you. The best irony of commencement speaking is that you do not

have to be wise about the future; you do not have to try to make it timeless. 3imply by being present, personal and

honest and working as hard as you can to make it intriguing and useful, your chances of being heard and remembered

vastly increase. +ommencement speaking is self4e'pression of the best kind, underscored with the possibility of giving

something enduringly positive to the leadersof the ne't generation.

#4 STARTLE THEM

5s you are being introduced, the graduates, understandably, are distracted by many different things, most having

nothing to do with you. You need to startle them, to command their attention. %umor, anecdote, spontaneity, of course,

are effective; but also ask yourself6 &hat might they not know7 &hat unusual e'perience of yours will most intrigue

them7 &hat would you tell your own daughter or son, in private7 &hat is most important in your life and how hasthat changed over the years7 &hat might be most important to these graduates in five or fifty years7

#5 SPEAK SLOWLY AND WELL

If only for a few moments, rescue your audience from the sheer velocity of this century with a clear, considered voice.

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7/24/2019 Some Suggestions on Writing a Commencement Speech - Humanity.org

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5s you put pen to paper, these three speeches, among all the e'cellent ones in our archive, may provide the

best inspiration6

ar!ara "ingsolver#s89::< is so =uietly powerful and so spare, her choice of phrase so commanding and

right for the occasion. 5lso, she remains personal and positive, even gentle, throughout what is essentially a

very tough message, asking )%ave we lost our courage7* and )&ill we hold on to our hope7*

ono#s89::>< I like for its sense of urgency, its directness, its fresh, Irish charm. %e captures his audience so

damn well. 8No surprise there?< 5nd his was an unusual and startling message, )Your degree is a bluntinstrument. @uild something bold with it?*

$oni Morrison#s89::A< is among the most mature, sobering and real, spectacularly so. 3he talks of )true

adulthood*. 3he connects so well to what is human, leaving us with the so very graceful phrasing, )I see your

life as already artful, waiting, "ust waiting and ready for you to make it art.*

Bkay. I can$t stop there. (y other recommendations would be$om %riedman#s8so digestible